Danielle Pinnock didn’t say “Boo!” when Ghosts creators Joe Port and Joe Wiseman asked if they could tap into her real-life body positivity journey for season two.
The actress, who plays deceased 1920s jazz singer Alberta on the CBS comedy, revealed that when the two showrunners approached her to see if she was comfortable exploring this storyline in the new season, her response was, “Absolutely.”
The Oct. 6 episode follows Alberta as she embraces a tough truth: She ratted out her rival Clara in order to get ahead in her career. While this went against everything she stood for as a flamboyant flapper, Alberta admits that turning on Clara was the only way she, a plus size performer, could’ve gotten a chance to shine.
Danielle did more than just portray this vulnerable story, however. As Danielle detailed, Alberta’s monologue, where she declares that she has to be her own “loudest fan,” came from a conversation she had with the showrunners.
“We talked about that scene a lot,” she recalled. “They were like, ‘What is the thing that gives Alberta her confidence? And in this moment, we want to see her being vulnerable.’ And I told them, ‘For me personally, if I’m not ride or die for myself, nobody else can be.'”