Celeste O’Connor Talks ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife,’ Upcoming Projects, and New Production Company Pedestal

Photo Courtesy of Craig Barritt/Getty Images for ReedPop

Celeste O’Connor is not your average 22 year old. Celeste’s breakout role was in “Selah & The Spades” as Paloma Davis and followed up with the blockbuster hit “Ghostbusters: Afterlife”. They founded their own production company Pedestal which focuses on celebrating stories of marginalized people through photography and video and also graduated this year from John Hopkins University with a degree in Public Health. It was announced last month they would star in “A Good Person” alongside Florence Pugh and Morgan Freeman. Safe to stay Celeste has been busy and is just getting started. 

Here’s an excerpt from our interview below: 

WITB: So I feel like you first got on people’s radar with the film Selah and the Spades. And I think that movie was so important because we never get to see black characters go to boarding school or, you know, kind of in these luxury settings. So I know for someone like me, that was really exciting to see. How cool was it to actually get to be a part of that film?

CELESTE: I love that film to this day, whenever anybody says they’ve seen it, I’m like, yes, my favorite. Um, but it was, it was actually a really incredible experience for me personally, because that was like, I grew up, I went to a private school for high school and, and being on that set was the first time that I was ever really around like a group of black creatives and Tayarisha, the director. Um, she was just like the biggest role model for me and like the best mentor and sweetest friend. Um, and, that was like a really transformative experience to see a black woman who’s not that much older than me in this position of power, really like, um, secure and confident, strong in her creativity and taking charge. And just so being in that space was really powerful. And then also meeting lovey and Jerome and the whole crew, the whole crew was majority black, too. It was transformative for me to be in a space where I felt like I can be proud of my blackness and I can be a creative. And all of those things mixed together are really powerful and beautiful.

WITB: Yeah. I think 100%, that’s what the film represented for me and for a lot of people who love that type of stuff, but don’t normally get to see ourselves in it. So it was great. It was super awesome. And then now you were in Ghostbusters: Afterlife, which, you know, is a big budget multi-billion dollar film. Like what is, what is the difference between going from something like Selah and the Spades to a big budget film like that?

CELESTE: Yeah, it was, it was really, um, it was like a jarring experience to go from Selah to Ghostbusters. Um, but it was cool because I think the experience that I had on Selah & The Spades gave me the confidence that I needed to be able to navigate a space like that because, you know, those kinds of movies are like majority white and they’re like much bigger crews, like just much figure productions in general. And so I think, like, I think the experience that I had on Selah was what gave me, um, yeah, like I said, the confidence, the ability to navigate that of space. And then I got there and I was all intimidated and nervous. And then I met Jason, um, and he also kind of comes from the indie filmmaking world. And this was his first kind of experience with a huge studio as well. So we kind of connected on that level. And then he made us all kind of feel like we were still making an indie film. 

WITB: Even though it’s like Ghostbusters, everybody knows Ghostbusters, you know, like it’s, it’s so hard to separate that, but that’s also really cool, um, as well. Andit’s just been announced that you’re going to be in a new film. So,you know, you’re just on a roll job after job booked and busy! “A Good Person” with Florence Pugh who is phenomenal and Morgan Freeman. Um, can you tell us anything about that?

CELESTE: Well, I don’t, I don’t know what I can say, but I, I’m just really excited to be, to just be working with some of the most incredible actors that you can be working with ever. You know what I mean? It’s just, it’s a really amazing experience. And I think like I am, I’m finding that I’m being challenged in new ways. Just working with people who are at a different level in their craft. I think it’s just been really amazing for me to watch and for me to be a part of and just like soak it up and learn and have fun and get to know them. You know, I think that’s like the biggest, the biggest opportunity is just to like, be a part of something and just even like to watch them and watch what they do.

Selah & The Spades is available for streaming and Ghostbusters: Afterlife is currently in theaters. Click to watch the rest of our interview here.