Ghosts Star Danielle Pinnock Explains Alberta’s Shocking Secret

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On the latest episode of Ghosts, Thorfinn (Devan Chandler Long) starts to figure things out after Todd (Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll) shares a surprising discovery.

Todd, the mansion’s singer, Alberta Haynes (played by Danielle Pinnock), has no documented history before 1923. This surprises one of the ghosts, who questions another resident. He learns that Alberta is a fake name – her true identity is Esther Greene. Before becoming a jazz singer, Esther was a ventriloquist, but she switched careers after a deeply upsetting event where her puppet, Murray, was destroyed.

Pinnock shared with TVLine how surprised she was to learn the truth about her character. She found the reveal funny and admitted she’d been hoping the show would take Alberta in an unexpected direction to make things more interesting. She believes the Ghosts writers handled it perfectly.

I was completely surprised! Over the past four seasons, we’ve created some really touching flashback scenes for this character, and I wondered if I could try something a little different for Season 5. This episode, written by Emily Schmidt, was amazing. When I first read the script, I was shocked to see a puppet involved – it was unexpected!

Pinnock prepared for her role by working with a ventriloquism coach, practicing with two puppets during rehearsals. She really enjoyed the challenge of learning to throw her voice, though it was a bit stressful. She only had four days to master the skill, which required a lot of dedication, but she successfully pulled it off and was proud to add ventriloquism to her repertoire.

We did a table read that day, and I worked with a ventriloquist coach. I practiced with two puppets – one made of wood and a softer one – on Thursday. We actually filmed the scenes on the Tuesday before. The turnaround time is quick – you can get a script on Thursday and need to be fully prepared by Monday. As an actor, I always aim to do my best work, so working with the coach was really enjoyable. I even thought I could audition for a live-action version of ‘Avenue Q’! It was a lot of fun, and now I have a new skill to add to my repertoire. I was initially worried about learning to throw my voice and manipulate the puppets in just four days, but it ended up being a great experience. It brought back a sense of childlike wonder, figuring out how to make the puppet feel alive through expressions and movement.

The actress shared her feelings about her character’s death on the show. Though she was sad to see Murray go, she believes it was the catalyst that allowed her to follow her passion for music. Ultimately, the tragic event paved the way for her character, Alberta, to achieve her dream of becoming a jazz singer, as the actress explained, “Sadly, Murray is gone, but it’s because she wanted to transform into the amazing musician she was meant to be.”

Ghosts airs new episodes on Thursdays at 8:30 PM ET and 5:30 PM PT on CBS.

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2025-12-12 07:28