Sheila Carrasco, who brings to life the beloved character Flower on the CBS comedy Ghosts, embraces the boundless possibilities of her role. With the show enjoying a successful run, recently renewed for two additional seasons, Carrasco remains eager to further explore the depths of her Woodstock-inspired hippie character. Speaking with DECIDER about the upcoming fifth season, she expressed excitement for Flower’s evolving journey, hinting that unexpected twists await.

“Truly, anything is possible with Flower,” Carrasco mused, her enthusiasm palpable. “If someone suggested she was the first woman on the moon, I’d say, ‘Sure, Flower might have done that and just forgotten.’ She’s incredibly fun to portray.”

In the narrative of Ghosts, Flower stands out with her intriguing backstory. While she now embodies the free-spirited essence of a hippie, her origins are quite different. Born Susan Montero, she was once a dedicated athlete before embracing a more laid-back lifestyle. Her untimely demise—resulting from an affectionate attempt to hug a bear while under the influence—adds a layer of humor and complexity to her character. For Carrasco, portraying such an uninhibited spirit is a dream come true.

“The writers have excelled in developing Flower’s character, revealing more about her with each season,” Carrasco noted. “She’s unique among the ghosts; her transformation from the person she was to the Flower we know is a complete turnaround. The more we discover, the more intriguing her story becomes.”

“The writers have done a great job of really fleshing her out more and more every season and learning more about her. She’s the only ghost that, in her actual alive days, kind of made a complete 180 from all we know about who she was before she actually became the Flower we know today. The more we learn, the juicier it gets,” she explained.

Keep reading for DECIDER’s full interview with the actress for Ghosts Season 5.

DECIDER: I have to start by asking after Episode 1 of Season 5: Do you think that Flower, even for half a second, thought, “I’m going to sacrifice myself for Jay?”

SHEILA CARRASCO: No, because that’s what went through my mind when we were filming that scene. And every time it happened, I was like, “Well, what would Flower do in those moments? And I think she was just so Supportive of all these other people that she didn’t even think about herself.” She may be a little bit selfish. 

She took a backseat role on that one and it’s okay, because I don’t think I would have done it either personally. 

And also, she’s tripping out pretty hard. So this whole thing for her is way more intense than for anyone else.

Even in the next scene, she’s like, “I can’t believe we lost Doug.” And it’s like, “No, Flower, you were there.” Do you think there’s anyone at Woodstone that she would sacrifice herself for? 

Yeah, definitely. I would say probably any of the main eight ghosts. I think she wants so badly for Hetty to adopt her or be her sister or something. And she loves Alberta, and she loves Pete and, of course, Thorfinn. And then there’s Isaac, who — I always have this backstory with him, and we laugh about it on the side — she thinks Isaac has an unrequited love for her, and it’s like, “Sorry, Isaac, I can’t. Not in this lifetime but if things don’t work out with Thor, maybe I’ll hit you up.” She just loves all of them. 

It’s so funny you say that because I always love asking actors the little tidbits that they’ve maybe — I’m going to make a bad pun — baked into their roles. And I feel like you probably have some good ones.

I recently was talking with Rebecca [Wisocky], I realized as we were watching Bela (Punam Patel) in a scene, that she is our love child. She’s like a mix of Hetty and Flower, and we both really care about her and so it’s just fun for us. We always like to lock arm in arm and, you know, we walk around during those scenes like, “She’s going to make the right choice. Oh, I hope she does.” And then also, I always joke that Nigel and Flower are secretly best friends and they give each other all the gossip.

Well, I know you guys are at least several episodes into filming Season 5. How’s it going? How is Flower’s story shaping up this season?

Yeah, it’s been so fun. We have a really awesome Halloween episode this season. The mummy that was briefly referenced in last year’s Halloween episode is coming back. And it’s pretty kooky. There’s a lot of chaos. And for Flower, I’m really excited to tease that we will see the smarter side of her at some point. We saw a little bit of it last season, but we’re going to see a little bit more, it’s full force and it’s it’s she’s she’s pretty impressive, I think. And it was really hard for me to switch my brain and say more words.

I love that even five seasons in, she’s still surprising you. You’re just finding that these scripts come to you and like, “Okay, why not? Yeah, let’s take her down this avenue.”

Literally anything could be true. If you said, “Oh, she was actually the first woman on the moon,” it’s like, “Oh, okay, yeah.” Flower may have done that and then she forgot about it. She’s awesome. And the writers have done a great job of really fleshing her out more and more every season and learning more about her. She’s the only ghost that, in her actual, alive days kind of made a complete 180 from all we know about who she was before she actually became the Flower we know today. The more we learn, the juicier it gets.

I was refreshing my memory on some of Flower’s backstory and I was reminded of the fact that she played basketball and had to stop because of her “pointy elbows.” Five seasons in, is there something you were recently reminded of about the character?

Yeah, actually, the basketball thing recently because I also remembered she had like four brothers. I mean, she has so many non-sequiturs and little stories that it’s like, who else did she sleep with and what other crazy things. There was a line where she [said she] roomed with Janis Joplin and it might have gotten cut or something, but I want to know about that. There’s so much that gets cut that I think will eventually probably make its way back.

I have to ask, we know that Utkarsh is going to direct the season. How excited are you for him and what do you think his directing style is going to look like?

I am so excited to be very surprised. I know he’s going to be great at it, but he’s such a goofy goof on set sometimes that I’m like, “Oh, he’s going to like, let us go crazy. We’re just going to get to improv and have so much fun.” But then there’s another part of him that’s brilliant. Like, his parents are like scientists and stuff and he’s technically one of the best actors I’ve ever worked with. He’s just very relaxed about everything, but he knows exactly when to hold or match something. He and Rose [McIver] both, it’s why they’re number one and two on the call sheet, they can get their take in one if they need to. If you want another one, they’ll give you something different. You know, they’re very technically good. I could also see him being technical with all of it , and kind of quiet and very specific. So we’ll see. I don’t know what to expect. And I think no matter what, it’s going to be brilliant. 

Do you have any hopes to maybe direct an episode of the future? Is that something you’re interested in doing?

Rose, for sure, inspired me two seasons ago. She was shadowing when she was like seven months pregnant during Season 3, and she’s just one of the most together people I know, which, she would laugh out to hear me say, but she actually is. And she’s brilliant and she’s so good at everything, but she’s really, really good at directing and seeing her do it last year with a baby at home and also as number one, working those hours, I was like, “If she can do it, I can figure this out.” And I’ve always wanted to do it. I was a directing major in undergrad for theater, and so I’d like to see how my skills could translate to film. I still have a lot to learn, so I don’t know if I’m going to do it on the timeline of the show, because I’m the kind of person where I’m like, I need to go back to school. But yeah, I’d like to get there and figure it out because I think it would be really fun.

I know welcoming a baby in the middle of something like this is never easy, too. You make it look so effortless, even when it’s not, I’m sure. What has been the best and perhaps the most challenging part about this stage?

I’m so grateful that I have a really great support network. I have an amazing husband that is just there for us as a family every single day. And I want to give flowers to anybody that’s a single parent because I don’t know how you do it and we don’t do enough for you guys. But I think like the hardest thing, honestly, has been lack of sleep and just bandwidth for myself. But at the same time, it’s rewarding because I don’t want to miss any moments and I don’t want to have less time with her so that I can have more time to do my hair in the morning or whatever. Some days I need to and I’ll do it, but you’re always sacrificing something and no matter what, the sacrifices for me is always worth it when it’s to spend time with her. I’m lucky, too, that I get to have long hiatuses between the seasons in order to do that. And it’s just been really enlightening. You have no idea until you walk through that door how life-changing it’s going to be for the good and the bad. Because it’s a lot harder than you might think. 

Well, you have at least one more season of job security after this. How did it feel to see that two-season renewal come through?

Huge. My husband and I decided to move across the country to be closer to Montreal. We bought a house in Woodstock, New York… it just helped us to be able to see the next five to 10 years of our life so much clearer. When you get a one-year renewal, you’re actually getting a six-month heads-up, like “I know I’ll be in Montreal and then I don’t know if I’m going to work after that.” It felt like we could never plan more than like five months ahead for the last five years. It’s been really great. 

Last question: What are you most looking forward to fans seeing this season?

I am most excited for the fans to see more of the smarter side of Flower. That was a really fun thing to start exploring last year in Season 4. Definitely the Halloween episode, that’s going to be really, really wild. And I think that there’s just more togetherness. I think that as Sam grows and has more boundaries with the ghosts, things start to balance out in a nice way.

Where To Watch Ghosts

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The first two episodes of Ghosts Season 5 are now streaming. New episodes air on CBS Thursday nights and stream the next day on Paramount+.