‘Ghosts’ Star Román Zaragoza Shares How He Measures His Worth in Hollywood

And, yes, we asked if he believes in ghosts!

When he was 4 years old, Román Zaragoza watched his father from the wings as he performed on the Broadway stage and the impact this had on the boy’s life resonates today with his leading role on a hit primetime sitcom.

Zaragoza, who has an extensive resume on the stage, film, and television, portrays Sasappis, a cynical member of the Lenape tribe and the second-oldest ghost residing in the Woodstone Mansion on Ghosts, returning tonight for season 2.

The show, adapted from the hit 2019 BBC One series of the same name, follows Samantha (Rose McIver) and Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar) a couple who receive a beautiful country home, only to find it is falling apart and inhabited by a number of previous deceased residents.

On Ghosts, Zaragoza clearly shines as Sasappis, a blunt troublemaker who tries to fill eternity by having a little fun and creating some drama. Season 2 premieres on Thursday, Sept. 29.

Related: Everything to Know About Ghosts Season 2

When Zaragoza was 15, he began working with Native Voices at the Autry, the only Equity Native American Theatre Company. It was there that he met his mentor, Randy Reinholz, who made an influential impact on Zaragoza's life as well as his show Off the Rails at Native Voices, which was later selected to go to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

While every actor looks forward to becoming part of an ensemble that feels like family, Zaragoza says in Ghosts he has truly found a second home, as well as a mega-following of fans in the U.S. and around the world.

“Every day I come to set I’m constantly thinking how blessed I am because it's a fun show to work on, and we have an amazing audience and fanbase of people who love the show,” Zaragoza exclusively tells Parade.com.

“We have millions of people watching every week and it really blows my mind,” he adds. “It’s definitely way beyond any of my expectations.”

Read on for more about Román Zaragoza’s brilliant stage, TV, and film career and how his passions for life were formed at a young age watching Gregory, his actor-father weave magic on the Broadway stage.

What should we be looking forward to in season 2?

There are so many exciting things that happen. Get ready to dive into the relationships more and get ready for some awesome guest stars. You will get some exciting backstories and some things that are unraveling. We got a lot of fun stuff, and the news came out that we have a Christmas special, so that’s also going to be a lot of fun.

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Do you feel like your character, Sasappis, is still evolving? Is everything on the page or do you get to improvise?

Obviously, it’s evolving so much this season. It’s been so much fun to get to see new colors and sides of him and a little more backstory, so I’m really excited for people to see season 2 because you just see a lot of new relationships with the other ghosts and Sasappis. He’s definitely evolving and so much to look forward to for him in season 2.

We do a little bit of improv, but not too much. Definitely, we get to play. But it’s network TV, which means we move extremely fast. There are some moments where we get to improv, and we’re always crossing our fingers that it’ll make the cut, and sometimes it does, which is great fun.

What were your expectations when you were cast in the series or read the initial scripts versus what actually happened?

I try not to go in with too many expectations, but when you hear CBS is involved, you get really excited. I’ve been part of pilots in the past that haven’t been picked up, so I really didn’t know. It has become beyond my wildest dreams. I’m always counting my blessings.

When did you and Rose McIver and the rest of the cast look at each other and say, “Wow, we have a hit?” I feel like the show was a bit of a sleeper that caught on in the middle of the season.

I think it was probably one of the first times we had an in-person event. When we saw people lining up and being excited about the show, that was for me when it started to feel really real because we’re in Montreal, so we’re so disconnected from everything. A lot of it was just on paper that it was doing well, but when you really feel it in person, it becomes visceral, and [when] you get to meet the fans, I think that’s probably when I was like, “Wow, I think we got a hit here.”

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Do you believe in ghosts?

Yes, I do. I believe in spirits. I believe that the line between life and death is a thing closer than we realize. I’m a big believer in energy. Growing up I definitely felt very connected to my grandfather whose name I bear. I used to say I could talk to him and see him. This was before I could even remember, so my parents would tell me this. I definitely believe in ghosts. I think there is a much bigger connection between life and death and the ones that we have lost. Yeah, I think it’s beautiful.

Talk about the quirkiness of the show, because as we all know, it’s a little bit out there.

For sure, it is a little out there. You have to suspend disbelief and dive in with an open mind. So, yes, we are very quirky. We have such an awesome team with our cast and then writers, everyone is super quirky and weird and funny. I’m so grateful to be part of this family where I can really express my quirkiness as well. It’s been just a really exciting journey to have that safety within this family.

And again, this cast and team, we’re trapped up here. Not trapped, but we are living up here in Montreal all together, so we’ve just gotten so close. We always hang out on the weekends together, and we have just gotten so close. It’s been really nice. I think you really see those real colors coming out on screen because our relationships off-screen are developing as well.

I have heard from Carole Aaron of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel that she felt so welcome on your set as a guest star and that everyone was so inviting.

Oh, that’s great to hear. We loved having her. She’s absolutely incredible.

Do you have a favorite episode from season 1?

The two favorites that I loved shooting were "Pete’s Wife," which was so much fun, and it was the first time I had a bigger storyline. This one was with Thorfinn, with Devan Long, where we got to watch a reality show together and developing that relationship was really cute. Then, of course, Richie on that episode is incredible.

Then also "Ghostwriter." That episode that dived into Sasappis’ backstory was so meaningful for me because my father got to play Sasappis’ father. So that was really, really cool. Having him on set was such a blast. I love my dad, Gregory, so much so it was just really so special to have that moment.

What was it like watching him on Broadway in the 1999 revival of Annie Get Your Gun?

Broadway is magical anyway, and then to watch that person who’s your dad on that Broadway stage bringing this magic to life, I just can’t imagine how amazing that was.

It was honestly so surreal to even look back at because those are some of my earliest memories. I was pretty young, but I remember just the overture starting and the scrim coming up, and being backstage and everyone being so kind. And Bernadette Peters, come on. She was like my godmother for a little bit of my upbringing. I fell in love with the theater so early because I saw how it is just about community, and it’s about having fun and performing for people. It really sparked something in me very, very early, so I’m very grateful for that.

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How old do you think you were in those wings?

I was 4 years old while watching my dad. These are definitely some of my first memories. I don’t even know how many times we saw the show. I couldn’t tell you. From those early days, musical theater has always had my heart.

Your dad is obviously still performing, does he still do theater?

He does primarily film and TV now.

What did he teach you about the business?

So many things. I owe my father so much. I think one of the things I always try to hold onto is a lesson he taught me from his old acting teacher Tim Phillips, which is to do your best and forget the rest. So much of this industry is out of our hands, especially as actors, so you just have to go in there and do all that you can. And then forget about it, because you might not get that role for 10 million reasons and you can’t let that get you down. You’ve just got to measure your worth by your dedication and love for the craft.

Tell me about working with Rose McIver. Did you know her or her work before Ghosts?

I did not know Rose personally. I definitely knew of her, she has been working for ages. I grew up watching her in Disney Channel stuff, and then of course having her be in iZombie, she’s been huge for so long. It was so exciting to get to work with her.

And you know when you meet somebody who has been working for a long time, you create these ideas about what they’re going to be like, and she is just the nicest and kindest soul ever. I am just so grateful I get to call her one of my close friends. And whenever she’s on set I always feel safe. I’m just so, so, so grateful for her. I love her dearly. She’s the best No. 1 that we could have ever asked for.

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Why do you think the show clicked so well with viewers?

I think there are so many reasons. For one, I think our writers have really figured out a really beautiful formula of really bringing humor but also heart to the screen. And our whole team is able to really bring that to the forefront, and talking about it, how important it is in this world right now. There’s so much turmoil and chaos that sometimes we just need to come down to family. And we need to laugh a little bit, we need to cry a little bit, we need to feel and we need to connect.

I think during the pandemic people really just connected to being trapped with a bunch of people you maybe don’t want to be trapped with, and having to deal with it. I definitely got to give a bit of a shoutout to our showrunners Joe Port and Joe Wiseman, and the whole writers' team, because they’re just amazing. And I’m just grateful to get to be part of bringing their words to the screen.

Do you have any other projects coming up?

I have worked on a couple of other things. I’m a producer on a short film that we shot last year and we’re going to be hitting the festival circuit pretty much this year or next year. So that’ll be coming out, it’s called This is Their Land, and I’m very proud of it.

It’s about the Modoc War of 1872-1873, it’s a real war that occurred between the Modoc people and the US Army. I’m just really excited to be able to illuminate this rather untold history. I don’t know about you, but I didn’t really learn much about it. I went to California middle school and high school, and this war took place in California and I didn’t learn about it. I’m excited to be able to tell these stories of the oppressed and bring them to life a little bit.

Are you learning anything about different periods of history from the characters in Ghosts? Because every character has a backstory and everybody’s from a different time period.

Yes, I think there are some fun times that we get to learn, we get to dive into different time periods. Like recently we’re diving into Isaac’s backstory. It’s always fun to learn a little bit more about our Founding Fathers and stuff like that. Everyone has such an interesting time period to dive into. And I definitely like learning more about the Lenape, and what’s happening with them today and their traditional ways, it’s really exciting.

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How are we doing as a society when it comes to diversity? Is this getting any better?

I try to gauge it by what I used to audition for and what I am currently auditioning for and what I’m working on. I grew up as a child actor auditioning for things, and a lot of the roles I would go out for were very stereotypical and borderline racist. So now we’re seeing a shift, and I think primarily we’re seeing a really big shift because we’re seeing diversity in writer’s rooms, we’re seeing the diversity in the higher-ups with showrunners and writers and directors.

I think when we see that representation more, then the on-screen representation will be more three-dimensional and human. Because if you have somebody who’s not maybe that race or understands that actual story or that actual experience, then sometimes it’s a little bit hard to write about it. So, I think we’re definitely moving in the right direction. There’s definitely always more that we could do.

I think that our cast is diverse, but so is our writers' room. I feel incredibly safe because I have John Timothy who is Muscogee Creek in the writers' room, so I wanted to make sure we had a native writer in there so that there’s not just a native voice on screen but also writing the scripts.

Does having to wear the same costume in every episode bother you? Or is that easier?

Honestly, I love wearing the same costume over and over because I don’t have to go to fittings and I know how it works, so every day is the same thing. I have kind of a routine at this point, which I love. I’m from the theater, I worked at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival for a few seasons. When you get to do a show a hundred plus times and get to go to work day after day, it’s fun because I know what needs to happen. That’s what I feel like with Sasappis. I know how it needs to go. I know what needs to be buttoned, I know what needs to be tied. It’s nice, I like that consistency.

If someone hasn’t watched Ghosts season 1 yet, why do you encourage them to try the show?

Watching season 1 is so much fun. It’s such a fun show and it’s a quick show to stream. It’s 22 episodes, it’s network TV where you can put it on and before you know it, you’re six episodes deep. It’s such a fun show to watch. Check it out for the humor, for the laugh-out-loud moments, and then also the really sentimental moments, and it's fun for everyone, you can watch it with your family. My 4-year-old cousin watches it and he loves it.

Season 2 of Ghosts premieres on CBS on Thursday, Sept. 29, at 8:30 p.m. ET.

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