David Harbour stars in the new horror comedy We Have a Ghost as Ernest the ghost. We Have a Ghost centers around a house that has long been haunted by Ernest before being bought by a family who recently moved in. When Ernest fails to scare them away and connects with Kevin, the teenage son who feels like an outsider, the pair become friends and begin searching for the truth about Ernest's past. At the same time, Kevin's brother and father make a video of Ernest that goes viral, making the ghost a social media sensation overnight and putting them on the CIA's radar.
We Have a Ghost is written and directed by Christopher Landon. We Have a Ghost is based on the short story "Ernest," written by Geoff Manaugh. The movie has an impressive cast, including David Harbour, Anthony Mackie, Jennifer Coolidge, Tig Notaro, and Jahi Di'Allo Winston.
Screen Rant spoke with David Harbour about playing Ernest the ghost in the new movie We Have A Ghost. Harbour explained how he found the physicality of Ernest given he has no dialogue in the movie and how ET helped inspire him. He also discussed finding Ernest's look including the comb-over.
David Harbour on We Have a Ghost
Screen Rant: Incredible job with Ernest the ghost in We Have a Ghost. You're able to show so much emotion with just your expression. Can you talk about bringing Ernest to life and only playing him physically? No pun intended there.
David Harbour: Yeah, I was scared because he doesn't have any lines, right? So it's like, "How are you going to reveal this guy?" But I thought a lot about that movie ET, and how expressive that little alien was with just a little finger and a puppet. And there's something about the simplicity and the stillness of Ernest that I found really profound. And the fact that there is all this cacophony around him of this TikTok world and this family who's somewhat disjointed and disconnected.
He's this old guy who's been forgotten, who lives in the walls, who has this deep secret. There was something about that really guided me about this other factor. He was alien to this world; he was uncomfortable with it. And there was something about that, that I really latched onto and that allowed me a real focus.
I know that you just mentioned ET, but I love the physical comedy that you have in this. It reminds me a lot of Charlie Chaplin and that style of comedy. How did you approach that, and did you find any inspiration from the silent movie star era?
David Harbour: I didn't, actually. If I had five years to work on the movie, I probably would've gone and watched all those movies and thought about that style. But the problem is, those guys are such masters at their specific style, and I'm such a different actor that I felt like if I looked too much at that style and tried to do Buster Keaton eye-rolling things, it would just be awful. I really stuck to what I know how to do and trusted that it would resonate on my particular instrument.
But physical life is always interesting to me. All that physicality, all that behavior, the way his body is and who he is, was always very important. But yeah, I just couldn't get into that silent film stuff. It would've taken me down such a path, and I don't think it would've been good.
That rabbit hole, man. I've got to ask, what inspired Ernest's look?
David Harbour: I was into the comb-over idea because, again, I wanted him to have two things. I wanted him to feel like a scary old ghost in a house. At first, when you initially see him, and always in those movies, it's always some guy or some old woman who was like, "Eh, I'm going to kill you." And so I wanted you to have that feeling. And then the other thing was I feel like nowadays there's something about our hairstyles and the way we are where it's like, I'm in my forties, but I don't look like a guy my grandfather's age who was in his forties.
That there's a certain look that those guys have that feels like very other and very anti-technological. And I felt like the comb over was just a very simple, strong image of that. I don't know guys anymore that really have comb overs. I feel like it was a product of a different time. I wanted that feel to him, that he had this other quality. And that's where a lot of the look came out of. He's a guy that got lost in time while time moved on.
About We Have a Ghost
Based on the short story "Ernest" by Geoff Manaugh, We Have a Ghost follows a family that moves into a house haunted by Ernest. One of the teenage boys, Kevin, bonds with Ernest and decides to help him discover the truth about his past and hopefully move on. Meanwhile, Kevin's family make a viral video about Ernest turning him into an overnight sensation and putting a target on all their backs that brings the CIA knocking at their door.
Check back soon for our other We Have a Ghost interviews here:
- Anthony Mackie & Jahi Winston
- Christopher Landon
