Image via Iain Armitage/Bertrand Calmeau/CBS
Published Apr 16, 2026, 9:00 PM EDT
Sam is a News Editor for Collider and a known lover of all things sci-fi and horror. She spends her days editing news stories, coodrinating exclusives, and working closely with writers to deliver their best work.
When she's not editing the daily news, she can be found hanging out with her wife (they're probably rewatching Ghosts for the millionth time), tweeting about romance, and cooking something delicious while belting to Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter's latest hits at the top of her lungs.
Sign in to your Collider account
Editor’s Note: This article contains spoilers for Ghosts Season 5, Episode 16, “Woodstone Royale.”
On the heels of yesterday's surprising release schedule change, Ghosts dropped a thrilling new episode that sees Sam (Rose McIver) and Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar) nearly make it out of their biggest dilemma yet before dropping them right back at square one, setting up some very high stakes (pardon the pun) as we head towards the Season 5 finale. Titled “Woodstone Royale,” the episode delivers laughs aplenty and may come in as one of the best entries of the season. Last week, Trevor’s (Asher Goodman) playboy antics spiraled so far out of control that it left him jobless and left Sam and Jay in dire financial straits. Now, the pair is willing to try just about anything to get out of their $200k debt to the IRS, including using the ghosts to cheat in an illegal underground poker game.
As the episode brings in a handful of fun guest actors to play the game’s high rollers, the Ghosts showrunners called upon a familiar face for CBS viewers. Young Sheldon star Iain Armitage plays himself in “Woodstone Royale,” and getting to do so was nothing short of a dream come true for the actor. Ahead of the episode, I sat down with Armitage to discuss his experience on the show, why it’s such an exciting crossover for Young Sheldon and Ghosts fans, and what’s next for him in his very bright future.
From the start, Ghosts has been perfect comfort food for Armitage, making it one of the only pieces of appointment television that he’ll tune in for without fail. When asked what made him fall in love with the show, Armitage told Collider, “That is a great question. Yeah, I'm not very subtle, especially when it comes to things that I love,” he laughed. “I feel like the occupational hazard of being an actor is that sometimes you get home after a long day at work acting, and you don't really want to watch TV. I just want to chill out. Ghosts is one of the only shows that I consistently would watch on the night it aired, right when I got home.”
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you'd actually make it out of alive.
💊The Matrix
🔥Mad Max
🌧️Blade Runner
🏜️Dune
🚀Star Wars
TEST YOUR SURVIVAL →
01
You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.
APull on every thread until I understand the system — then figure out how to break it. BStop asking questions and start stockpiling — food, fuel, weapons. Questions don't keep you alive. CKeep my head down, observe carefully, and trust no one until I know who's pulling the strings. DStudy the patterns. Every system has a rhythm — learn it, and you learn how to survive it. EFind the people fighting back and join them. You can't fix a broken galaxy alone.
NEXT QUESTION →
02
In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
AKnowledge. If you understand the system, you don't need resources — you can generate them. BFuel. Everything else — movement, power, escape — runs on it. CTrust. In a world of fakes and informants, a truly reliable ally is rarer than any commodity. DWater. And after water, information — the two things empires are truly built on. EShips and credits. The galaxy is big — you survive it by being able to move through it freely.
NEXT QUESTION →
03
What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you're honest about what you're actually afraid of.
AThat reality itself is a lie — that everything I experience has been constructed to keep me compliant. BA raid. No warning, no mercy — just the roar of engines and then nothing left. CBeing identified. Once someone with power decides you're a problem, you're already out of time. DBeing outmanoeuvred — losing a political game I didn't even know I was playing. EThe Empire tightening its grip until there's nowhere left to run.
NEXT QUESTION →
04
How do you deal with authority you don't trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
ASubvert it from the inside — learn its rules well enough to weaponise them against it. BIgnore it and stay out of its reach. The further from any power structure, the better. CAppear to comply while doing exactly what I need to do. Visibility is the enemy. DManoeuvre within it carefully. You can't beat a system you refuse to understand. EResist openly when I have to. Some things are worth the risk of being seen.
NEXT QUESTION →
05
Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn't just tactical — it's physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
AUnderground bunkers and server rooms — cramped, artificial, but with access to everything that matters. BOpen wasteland — brutal sun, no shelter, constant movement. At least the threat is honest. CA dense, rain-soaked city where you can disappear into the crowd and nobody asks questions. DMerciless desert — extreme heat, no water, and something enormous living beneath the sand. EThe fringe — backwater planets and busy spaceports where the Empire's attention rarely reaches.
NEXT QUESTION →
06
Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
AA tight crew of believers who've seen behind the curtain and have nothing left to lose. BOne or two people I'd trust with my life. Any more than that and someone talks. CNobody, ideally. Alliances are liabilities. I work alone unless I have no choice. DA community bound by shared hardship and mutual survival — people who need each other to last. EA ragtag team with wildly different skills and total commitment when it counts.
NEXT QUESTION →
07
Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they're actually made of.
AI won't harm the innocent — even the ones who'd report me without hesitation. BI do what I have to to protect the people I've chosen. Everything else is negotiable. CThe line shifts depending on who's asking and what's at stake. DI draw a long-term line — nothing that compromises my people's future, even if it'd help now. ESome lines, once crossed, can't be uncrossed. I know which ones they are.
NEXT QUESTION →
08
What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
AWaking others up — dismantling the illusion so no one else has to live inside it. BFinding somewhere — or someone — worth protecting. A reason to keep moving. CAnswers. Understanding what I am, what any of this means, before time runs out. DLegacy — shaping the future in a way that outlasts me by generations. EFreedom — for myself, for others, for every world still living under someone else's boot.
REVEAL MY WORLD →
Your Fate Has Been Calculated You'd Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
The Matrix
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You're a systems thinker who can't help but notice the seams in things.
- You're drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
- You'd find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines' worst nightmare.
- You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
- The Matrix built an airtight prison. You'd be the one probing the walls for the door.
Mad Max
The wasteland doesn't reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That's you.
- You don't need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
- You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you're good at all three.
- You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
- In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.
Blade Runner
You'd survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
- You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
- In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
- You're not a hero. But you're not lost, either.
- In Blade Runner's world, that distinction is everything.
Dune
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
- Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they're survival tools.
- You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
- Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You'd learn its logic and earn its respect.
- In time, you wouldn't just survive Arrakis — you'd begin to reshape it.
Star Wars
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn't have it any other way.
- You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
- You'd gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire's grip can be broken.
- You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn't something you're capable of.
- In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ
‘Ghosts’ New Episode Features an Epic ‘Young Sheldon’ Reunion
Image via Bertrand Calmeau/CBSArmitage’s presence on Ghosts is particularly special — not only were the two shows previously paired together on the network’s Thursday night lineup, but series star Danielle Pinnock held a guest role on Young Sheldon before she was cast as Alberta. “It's so funny, I have so many random connections to people on the show, some super close, like Miss Danielle Pinnock, who was in our show first, who Ghosts stole, and some tangential, like being in the same sorta communities, and I love everybody on the show so much,” Armitage said of feeling so drawn to the series. He continued, saying, "I think the humor of it, all of those relationships, and just the fact that it was one of the main shows that I would actually myself be a fan of, even after a long day at work, made me want to work on this for so many years. I'm so happy I finally got the chance."
Elaborating on his "ridiculous" full circle moment with Pinnock, Armitage was full of praise for his co-star, saying: "She is so consistently one of my favorite people in the world to work with. She is beyond talented, insanely funny, really like witty and quick, both in person and on camera. I couldn't think of a better person to play both roles. I've worked across from her, and she was such a funny Ms. Ingram in Young Sheldon, and I loved getting to fight with her on the show because the second the camera would stop rolling, we would be laughing and hanging out and sharing lunch together or talking." Of course, Armitage only had one complaint, wishing Ghosts had just killed him off from the start. He told Collider:
"Of course, on Ghosts, she is just drop-dead funny, no pun intended. Actually, the most torturous thing about being in the episode was, because of the fact that I'm alive, I don't actually get to interact with her at all, which was awful and really cruel of them to do to me. I wish they'd killed me off the bat. Also, it was really terrible because she's so funny, and I would hear her being hilarious in the scene and not be able to laugh."
As a bonus Easter egg for fans of both shows, Armitage was quick to point out that because Alberta and Hetty (Rebecca Wisocky) textually recognize him from Young Sheldon in the episode, "means that Alberta has seen a person who looks creepily like her on TV at some point." Which, as any fan of Ghosts will tell you, likely went straight to Alberta's ahem healthy ego.
Iain Armitage Has Been Angling For a 'Ghosts' Role Since Season 1
Image via Bertrand Calmeau/CBS"I got the call, and went, 'Finally!' I was overjoyed and so excited," Armitage said when I told him that Ghosts showrunners Joe Port and Joe Wiseman previously revealed to Collider that he was the first person they thought of when they were looking to fill the celebrity cameo for this episode. Having become a household name at such a young age, Armitage admits that "there aren't many things that I'm that big of a fan of that I would insist and even try and pull strings with," but Ghosts is the exception to that rule. "Every opportunity I've had at any CBS events, with anybody that I know that's a part of the show, I've always said, 'If there's any way you can get me on there, I'd be happy to.'" Armitage even referenced an early Season 1 episode with "a ghost newsboy," saying, "I remember watching, like, 'I could have played that!'"
While traveling up to Montreal to film in the middle of winter may be intimidating to some, for Armitage it simply added to the magic of his experience on set. "We filmed right before Christmas, and it was such a beautiful time of year to be in Canada, to be in Montreal filming. It was snowy and beautiful, and we had just been in LA and Vegas. So, it was nice to get some snow. It was sort of a perfect time and a perfect place for it to happen. So, even though I had to wait for years and years, it was great." When Armitage got to set for Ghosts he "felt right at home," saying the experience was like "putting on a glove that fits you just right.
This episode also marks a first for Armitage as he plays a heightened version of himself. "I didn't really think about the fact that this is the first time that I've played myself ever, aside from being in an interview or something, it's my first time sort of being myself on camera." While the experience was a "little weird" it was also, "really fun," as Armitage got to lean into the more exaggerated version of himself. "I think I'm a pretty mild-mannered person, which makes it really fun sometimes to do scenes on shows where you're fighting with somebody and getting really angry. You're doing some big, huge thing you would never do in real life. So, it's fun to, as myself, get to be a little bit different."
Related
Playing himself was "so, simple," Armitage felt like it was "cheating," in terms of acting preparation, and he revealed that the show's costume team went above and beyond when crafting his look for the episode. "The costume department went crazy in the best way possible," he told Collider. "They had gone through a lot of reference photos of the stuff that I wear in my own life, and they had an entire two racks of clothing of all the stuff that I loved, and they were putting it all on me. To the point where there was something that I tried on, there was a hoodie from a certain brand that I tried on, that I realized was a Canadian brand, and two days later, I went to a store and bought it because I loved it so much. So, they got it really right. It wasn't a lot of work, in that regard. But I got to kind of pick and choose and say, 'I really like this.'"
Thanks to the thorough costume work, Armitage was able to slip some real-life Easter eggs in with his choices, revealing, "For years, I've worn this [necklace] and I actually got to wear it on the show. They ended up finding a double that could kind of match it, like a little stick of metal that they were able to put on a similar necklace. It was fun to get to add little pieces of my own personality." Having a little more say in how his character looked was a breath of fresh air for the actor who, while grateful for his seven years on Young Sheldon, was delighted to have the freedom to help craft his costume.
Armitage Reveals the Hardest Part of Playing a Guest Star on 'Ghosts'
Image via Bertrand Calmeau/CBSWhen asked about getting to play on such an improv-friendly set, Armitage revealed, "I feel bad for anybody who isn't on set and doesn't get to hear some of the killer lines that don't end up making the cut, because there's something better that comes out. Pretty much every scene, there were one or two fully improvised lines, usually at the end, usually a good button on a comedic scene." Armitage went on to praise the cast, now well established in their on-set rhythm after working together for over 6 years. He explained:
"Also, there were certain people who are really, really fast, like Rebecca Wisocky is insanely quick. It's kind of uncanny, her ability to snap into her character and also to immediately pick up on the comedic thread in the scene, and all of the ad-libs that she spits out are so golden. That whole set are such high-achieving people, so being around them was a little scary because I didn't want to improv too much because I knew I was around masters."
Armitage is always picking up more knowledge and honing his acting skills in a very practical sense. He tells Collider that he's very used to subconsciously picking up mannerisms and techniques from people he's worked with, and getting to do so on the set of Ghosts was a real treat. "There are a lot of things that seem to really work for all of them on set that they're all really comfortable and familiar with, that were just cool to watch," he explained. "I was particularly impressed by Utkarsh’s ability to completely ignore this room full of people that his character can’t see. It's impressive to me to see when people have gotten so in tune with their own character that they've developed their own little methods and things."
In terms of specific skills he picked up for his next role, Armitage was quick jump at the opportunity to begin campaigning for his return to the series, "maybe I should be invited back for another episode and see what I can pick up next time. I think I should do that, and then I'll actually have a better answer."
Iain Armitage on 'Big Little Lies' Season 3 and What Sheldon Cooper Would Make of Woodstone
Image via Bertrand Calmeau/CBSWhile Armitage's character is doing research for a poker movie, the horizon is wide open for the actor in real life. When asked what's next for him career wise, he told Collider, "Not a poker movie, unfortunately. I mean, I'm turning 18 in July, so that's just three years away until I can hit the slots, I guess. But, yeah, I think for now, I'm in a very lucky position where I get to pick and choose exactly what I want to be a part of, which is really fun. So, I've seen a lot of scripts recently that are really interesting, or that look really fun, that might just not be quite right yet."
Big Little Lies recently picked up steam for Season 3 this week after showrunner David E. Kelley confirmed plans to finally move forward later this year and Armitage is hopeful for a return to the series, saying, "I think for the most part, the things I'm looking forward to are hopefully Big Little Lies Season 3 soon, and then a few interesting and weird indie projects that I've talked with the writers or directors of, and that I would love to do if they end up getting funding and going through."
Finally, I had to take the opportunity to ask Armitage what he thought Sheldon Cooper might make of Woodstone in a fully-fledged Ghosts x Young Sheldon crossover, and he was nothing short of delighted by the idea of getting to bring those two worlds together. "I now want to do a crossover episode so bad. Why didn't we do that three years ago?" he laughed. "I think he’d really be knocked for a loop because he's got a pretty scientific mind, and I don't think the types of paranormal activity that go on at Woodstone would fit Sheldon's worldview very well. I think he'd be pretty thrown." He went on to imagine what that collision might actually look like saying:
"I would love an episode of Sheldon running around trying to debunk the possibility of there being paranormal activity, ghosts, and bringing in EMF readers and all these different things, and being like, 'There's absolutely no way that this could be paranormal activity. According to whoever, it's impossible!' And then at the end, just getting, I don't know, jumpscared by Thorfinn or something would be really fun. See, you should be a writer for Ghosts or for Young Sheldon. Frankly, I'm upset that you weren't when you had your opportunity, when we were still filming, because that would've been a really fun crossover episode. That's the kind of thing I've advocated for years. So, even if I can't be Sheldon, at least now I can be on the show being Iain. So, I'm very happy."
You can watch our full chat with Armitage below and stay tuned at Collider for more Ghosts news.
Release Date October 7, 2021
Directors Christine Gernon, Jaime Eliezer Karas, Katie Locke O'Brien, Nick Wong, Jude Weng, Pete Chatmon, Richie Keen, Alex Hardcastle, Kimmy Gatewood, Matthew A. Cherry, Cortney Carrillo
Writers Emily Schmidt, John Timothy, Lauren Bridges, Sophia Lear, Guy Endore-Kaiser, Rishi Chitkara, Julia Harter, Skander Halim, Zora Bikangaga
-
Rose McIver
Samantha Arondekar
-
Utkarsh Ambudkar
Jay Arondekar
English (US) ·