Octavia Spencer was on Ellen DeGeneres’ show seemingly to promote her film Encounter, but she also admitted that she likes to show up during Ellen’s Giveaway Days. Octavia is a fellow early decorator like Casey Wilson. She has an artificial tree that she buys the tree scent for too. And because every holiday needs some ghosts inserted into them, Octavia talked about hers. In fairness, Ellen is the one who asked. And I’m glad she did because I had no idea Octavia had a ghost in her home. Apparently, she has the ghost of a former Westerner star who owned the home before her who drives off the cruddy people. But they have an understanding. They have “boundaries” to maintain an amicable living situation.
Octavia Spencer is revealing the unexpected guest she shares her house with: the ghost of a Western film star.
Spencer, 51, opened up about her supernatural roommate during a Friday appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. In a sneak peek for her episode, The Hidden Figures star told host Ellen DeGeneres that her home is haunted, but she welcomes the spirit’s presence.
“I need to know about your house being haunted, because I really love stories like this,” DeGeneres, 63, told Spencer, admitting to her guest that she truly believes in ghosts.
“I do too,” Spencer replied, before explaining, “I grew up watching Westerns, and I bought this house, and it was owned by a guy who did Westerns, so I must have been a fan of his.”
“I love him, because he kind of sorts out the bad people that shouldn’t be there,” Spencer explained. “He runs them out.”
“If they stay at my place, they don’t wanna come back. And that’s how I know that they don’t belong here,” she continued. “If you’re a person that belongs there, everybody is like, ‘Oh, your place is so welcoming. It’s so great.’ And that’s how I feel about it.”
When DeGeneres asked if she’s experienced any spooky moments at home, like doors closing on their own, Spencer said, “Well, when I leave for a long time he’s a little shady.”
“The doors close, the lights go off when I turn them on,” she said. “The only problem — I love my ghost, I just don’t want you bringing your ghost to my house. I don’t want anybody’s ghost thinking they can be friends with my ghost.”
Spencer added, “My ghost can haunt me, but he doesn’t haunt me. We have boundaries.”
I love every part of this story, but my favorite is the ghost getting his nose out of joint when she goes away for a while. That’s so Hollywood– pay attention to meee! I think it’s true, like the show Ghosts* suggests, once a human pays attention to a spirit, they don’t want to be ignored. It must be boring spending all that time unnoticed. But it’s paying off for Octavia because Dusty McGhost is filtering out the riffraff for her. I don’t know the ghost rules. A lot of people say they are bound by where they died. But I purchased a pair of pants for my son’s Halloween costume at Goodwill and in it was a linen handkerchief. It was soiled, which I know is gross and we washed it, but I think the owner was still connected to it. We included it in our Samhain ritual and invited its owner to come live with us. I swear to God I’ve smelled aftershave in various parts of the house since. Plus, he has a lot to say with our record player. He loves Jazz but not some of our 80s artists. Strangely, he enjoys Panic at the Disco. And a hand towel that was very much on the floor when I left a bathroom was on the counter when I turned around. I have a stocking for him but I’m not sure what you get a ghost for Christmas.
Hopefully Octavia’s ghost will like her take on A Christmas Carol with Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell. They star in a musical called Spirited on Apple +. Unfortunately, it won’t be out until next year. However, Octavia also produced an important documentary called Right to Try about trying to find a cure for HIV, although it also speaks to the larger problems with Big Pharma in general. That’s currently streaming on Peacock. No wonder Dusty McGhost is looking out for Octavia, she’s worth protecting.
*the CBS version of Ghosts has gotten better. The D&D episode was great. But the original BBC version is really good, if you haven’t seen it.
Photo credit: Avalon Red and Instagram
I owned a house that was 115 years old that had a ghost. The part about the ghost resenting when she left for periods of time resonates so much with me. I had recently got engaged and was frequently staying at his house, I returned after work one day and was rushing around to go to a baseball game and my ghost was pissed. When I got out of the shower as I was crossing the room I watched my blouse levitate and flip in mid air, I was shocked but still in a hurry. I then went downstairs to my kitchen and I had set out a water bottle and the lid of my water bottle
ricoshayed across my kitchen hitting the walls 3 times. Before I left I promised the ghost I’d return after the game lol
I love this! I love ghost stories of all kinds. She seems like she has such a great sense of humor about it.
I hope a lot of celebitches will share their little ghost stories and anecdotes, I’ll be back later to see if you do!
We grew up with a ghost in our old house that was kind and seemed to look after us kids. Dr. Woodmansey was the first owner and died in the house but that’s the most we ever knew about him. We’d blame him for it when one of us would get in trouble and all laugh about it. Nothing weird happened, just a comforting presence and low key puzzling things such as misplaced or disappearing items. As all 5 of us kids had children of our own we’d claim the good doctor took turns at each of our homes to help look over the kids. It feels true lol.
My childhood home wasn’t so old when we bought it, but things would go missing and we’d see people out of the corners of our eyes. So as a family we joked that we had a ghost, we would call it the ghost when we had some sort of experience. One day my brother brought home a friend who turned out to be a medium. She validated our experiences, told us it was a lady that frequented many homes on the block, and she didn’t like it when we called her “the ghost”. LOL! My dad refers to her as “the Lady” now and the activity has seemed to die down, but likely bc all of us have moved out of the house with the exception of my parents. Seems sweet to think that she might have liked all the commotion and energy at the house and acknowledged her.
OMG imagine not being invited over because the friendly Casper house ghost definitely won’t vibe with you. HAAAAAAAA! Oh Octavia what a wonderful excuse for not hosting people over. Especially, with the holidays coming up, no one wants to really deal with the type of crap that family and acquaintances can bring. Hence, the GHOST! Whew. Octavia! *round of applause* very creative solution.
P.S. I heard that a certain family in Montecito is being threatened by an unwanted visit by some British folk. Lend them the ghost.
P.P.S : I also love that the ghost and her have boundaries. Look at that. A respectful ghost (except when you are an undesired guest).
I love everything about Octavia Spencer!! I love her more now that I am hearing this story of her ghost!!! Leave it to Octavia for them to set boundaries, healthy ones at least!! I don’t think that there is anything bad in Octavia, except that I wish I lived near her!! I hope to see her in more projects!!!!
She was outstanding in Hidden Figures!! I see that she is on a sitcom but I watch so little tv shows, I will have to check this one out, as she is in it!
My theory about ghosts has always been that people attach their energy/spirit while they’re alive unless they die traumatically…which tracks for my house because as far as I know no one died there, but it was major bad vibes when we bought it. I guess previous owners had divorced and then lost the house because they couldn’t keep up with payments, and the people who flipped it were also evil so I think the house was just frustrated no one really cared about it.
We did a lot of maintenance and decorating which seemed to improve the energy. I also had to sage the house 3 times (doors especially) to sort of clear everything bad out. Now when people come over they say it’s so peaceful which I love. I’ve also noticed that those with bad intentions don’t stay for long or even make it through the front door.
She should send it to the White House. I’d love to breathe a sigh of relief about 2024.
But who was her western star ghost?! Do we need to do research?! I am so curious.
I love the Ghosts show. The D&D episode was fun. It’s a nice alternative to What We Do In The Shadows between seasons.