Ghosts’ Román Zaragoza Talks Sas’ Power, Bonding With Jay and Who Geeked Out Over Star Trek Homage

Warning: The following contains spoilers for Thursday’s Ghosts. Proceed at your own risk!

Ghosts’ latest episode beamed up a new ghost power, when it was revealed that Sasappis can enter dreams.

That was pretty neat on its own, but Sas’ ability got even more interesting (and sneaky) as he used it to go into Jay’s dreams and influence his decisions on Sam’s behalf. But when Jay became hurt that their one-on-one dream bonding time, which involved a basketball game and Star Trek role playing, was a manipulation, Sas apologized for the betrayal and simply hung out with Jay.

Below, star Román Zaragoza talks about his character’s powerful ability, whether Sas and Jay’s new connection will make Pete jealous, and who geeked out most over that Star Trek scene.

TVLINE | Did you have any theories going into this episode or any predictions about what you thought Sas’ power might be over the past two seasons?
Well, I’ve always been thinking about it, but it was about a year ago that our showrunners, Joe Port and Joe Wiseman, reached out to me and were like, “Hey, we have an idea for your power,” and I’m like, “OK, let’s hear it.” So we talked about it, and I was just so excited. I’m like, “This is such a cool idea! Yeah, I’m game. This is awesome.” But it didn’t happen [in] Season 2, so I was just like, “Oh, it’ll happen one day,” and then we got the script for Episode 2 for this season, and I just love what they did. I loved how I went into Jay’s dreams, and the Star Trek sequence, the basketball sequence. It was just such a blast to shoot and to work with Utkarsh [Ambudkar] and our director, Jay Karas. I just had a great time. It was my first time really doing prosthetics, too, so that was really fun, to have those ears and everything.

TVLINE | You said you first heard about it from the Joes a year ago. That’s a really long time to hold onto this secret. Did you let any of the other cast members know? Or did you keep your lips completely sealed?
I think I kept my lips pretty sealed. I don’t even think I told anybody. I think they were trying to keep it under wraps because they weren’t sure that was how they were going to go. I feel like I kind of forgot about it. I think maybe I might have mentioned it to one to two people, like, “Yeah, I heard something once the Joes told me…” But for the most part, it was like, we had no idea, and things change all the time. I guess I’m good at keeping secrets. [Laughs]

TVLINE | I think the only better secret keeper than you is Sas, himself, because he kept this secret from all the other ghosts for hundreds of years.
That’s true! That’s a really good point. He kept a lot of secrets. He’s good at keeping secrets. But as we see, these secrets are coming out, and I think he would have preferred to have kept it a secret, but too late now!

TVLINE | How do you think this power plays into Sas as a character and who he is?
This power is a pretty intense power, and I think it shows he’s a powerful being. And he is also incredibly mischievous, and so he uses it to be his little devious self. But he’s learning to navigate that better and maybe he won’t be doing stuff like that anymore, which we both know is not going to happen. He will continue to use it for his little mischievous ways, but maybe he’ll use it in other ways and hang out with Jay more and really develop a friendship with him. But this power is so cool. It shows how connected to the spiritual world he is and how he’s just a powerful being.

TVLINE | Are we going to see more of his power in the future episodes? Is he going to be using it to form even more of a bond with Jay?
I hope so. I really want it to. It could be really beautiful to see how Sasappis’ relationship with Jay continues to develop and how they can relate and connect. I think there’s so much to dive into with those two characters. So I’m sure we’ll see more there. I’m sure we’ll see Sas go into other people’s dreams, maybe some ghosts’ dreams, who knows?

TVLINE | It was really wonderful to see Sas and Jay interacting face-to-face. What was it like getting to film those scenes and actually get to speak to him and not just kind of around him?
Oh, it was so much fun. It was really cool to see Utkarsh, too, because the guy’s incredible. It was a really interesting moment to be like, “Oh, yeah, I don’t think I’ve ever really acted with you. I’ve acted adjacent to you.” But to really act with him and to connect with him and to have those really meaningful scenes was powerful. He’s such an amazing actor, and I really look up to him, and it was beautiful to have those scenes with him. And our director, Jay Karas, was incredible. We just had a lot of fun with it.

TVLINE | Jay and Pete have always had this unique bond even though they can’t actually interact. Now that Jay and Sas can interact, might we see a jealous side come out of Pete?
Oh, for sure. I’m waiting for that to happen. I was even alluding to Richie about this. I’m like, “Are you nervous that Sasappis is going to take over as Jay’s best friend?” So we’ll see what happens. We’re going to see some darker sides of Pete because he’s losing his best friend.

TVLINE | Correct me if I’m wrong but I feel like this episode might be the first time you’ve ever gotten to change costumes on the show.
This is the first time I’ve ever worn something that wasn’t period-specific for me. There was one episode, “The Tree,” where I wore a couple of different outfits, but they were all pretty similar. But I had never worn anything that was different, not [from] my time period. So it was so fun. Also, I think it’s really important to see Native representation not just represented in 1500s garb. We want to see contemporary representation, and so I’m really excited that I was able to wear this referee outfit, I was able to wear the Star Trek outfit with the ears. It’s going to be so fun to see how just impactful this episode is going to be [with] him in a different outfit. I’m really excited about that.

TVLINE | The production value on that Star Trek dream sequence was so impressive. What was it like filming in that environment, getting into that character? We’ve never really seen anything like that on the show before. And are you a Trekkie?
[Laughs] Well, first, it was intense. We did prosthetics. I just had my ears, but Mark, played by our amazing man Tristan [D. Lalla], his face was covered, and what they did for him was incredible. He was in the chair for about four hours, getting that on in the morning. I think mine took about an hour and a half to two hours. But I was, like, wow. I have such respect for actors that shoot these Lord of the Rings movies and all these things, because it takes so long. Hats off to these special effects people who can create these incredible outfits, these incredible characters. It’s so cool. Getting to shoot that was a blast, and we had to shoot on location for this, and I think they brought in the real chairs from [the] Star Trek [series] on Paramount+. So it was really cool. It was like, “Wow, this is the best.” We had a great time. And I can’t identify as a Trekkie. I have such respect for the Star Trek universe, but I haven’t dived too deep into there. I’m going to have to dive in more.

TVLINE | When I talked to the Joes, it sounded like Utkarsh is the Trekkie in the cast.
Oh, yeah! He, for sure.

TVLINE | Was he geeking out when you were filming?
He, for sure, was! Oh, man, he was so excited. Especially when we got our outfits and everything, he was having a good time.

TVLINE | We saw a little bit of how the ghosts are adjusting to not having Flower around in the season premiere. You guys are also such a close cast off-screen. How has it been filming this season without that character and without Sheila Carrasco around?
Oh, man, we feel it so hard. She is such a big part of the show, and she has such a big heart. She’s very missed. It’s been really hard not having her. We’re such a family, so when you lose one person, you just really feel it.

Ghosts fans, what did you think of Sas’ special ability? Hit the comments!