-I've heard tell that the set in the Catskills was haunted.
Is there truth to this?
-Well, we'd heard there was a ghost.
It was a very, very old resort.
We heard there was a ghost.
Thankfully, we didn't shoot in the building where the ghost
haunted or however that works. [ Laughter ]
But we heard some weird --
-And it's nice, by the way, that the ghost stays to one building.
-That's right. -And let's you work around.
-That's exactly right.
We're very grateful to the ghost.
We just had some weird stuff happen while we were there.
-So you buy into it? -Well...
Okay, so here's the thing.
I did not buy in to the whole ghost thing until --
A couple of years ago, we shot my final episode
of "House of Cards" in Santa Fe.
No, we shot it in Las Vegas, New Mexico,
which was about an hour outside of Santa Fe.
-It's very disappointing.
It could not be more different than Las Vegas, Nevada.
[ Laughter ] -Couldn't be --
The first time I saw the sign,
I really thought we were going to Las Vegas.
-I was very confused by Las Vegas.
-My wife's family is from near Albuquerque,
and the first time I visited,
you see a sign that says "Las Vegas, 100 miles."
And I thought, "Here we go." -It's so close.
-And then... [ Laughter ]
-It's not the same, no. -It's not, no.
-Las Vegas, New Mexico, is kind of a ghost town.
-They say -- They call it "The city that always sleeps."
-Yes, exactly. [ Laughter ]
That's really good.
But we stayed in this hotel called The Plaza.
A little bit different from the Plaza here.
And -- And, you know, basically, I walked into my room there
and was overcome with this really weird feeling,
which is so unlike me.
I just walked in, and it felt so strange.
And I've never done this in my life,
but I went downstairs, and I sort of said
to the front desk girl --
I was really embarrassed about it.
I said, "Would you -- I'm sorry.
Do you have another room available?
Do you mind if I swap rooms?"
And she looked at me in what I now feel like
was a really knowing way and kind of went, "Yes.
I'll give you a room in the new wing."
-Oh! -Gave me another room,
and I walked into the room in the new wing
and was twice as creeped out.
Like, really was like --
I'm having all these weird feelings.
And I went back down, I was like, "I'm so, so sorry,
but I'm actually gonna take the first room.
Do you mind?" [ Laughter ]
Spent the night in the first room,
was like, "I'm being a freak."
And the next morning, woke up, and flying around set
were these rumors that one of our transpo guys --
big, masculine, kind of scary dude --
had woken up in the middle of the night
because he heard this big crash.
And he kind of went, "Who's there?"
And someone said, "Oh, don't mind me.
I'm just looking for my jewelry."
And he marches downstairs and goes, "What the heck?
You can't send someone into my room in the middle of the night.
This is completely inappropriate."
And the woman at the desk went, "Oh, don't mind her.
That's just Cassandra. She's looking for her jewelry."
[ Laughter ]
And we're all freaking out and running around the set,
going, "We can't stay here. We have to leave."
And I believe in ghosts literally because
one of our New Mexican crew members went,
"Oh, don't worry about it. Completely harmless.
If you want them to leave you alone,
just leave an offering and thank them
for sharing the space with you
and ask them to just leave you alone tonight."
So I went back to the hotel.
I'm on the phone with a friend of mine,
who I'm expecting to go, "You know, you're being a freak.
Stop." And instead my friend goes,
"Run, get out. Get another hotel."
[ Laughter ] "Leave immediately."
So I'm on the phone with my friend, who's going, "Run,"
and I'm -- I've got these banana chips,
and I'm laying them out on the table, going --
-Banana chips?! -Banana chips!
It was all I had with me.
I mean, I hope they like organic food.
"Thank you so much for sharing."
-They're like, "I died 100 years ago.
You can't give me potato chips?"
-That's ri-- [ Laughter ]
I'm like, "Thank you so much for sharing the space with me.
Please leave me alone." [ Laughing ]
-And how did it go? Did you feel that --
Did you get a better night's sleep?
-I did. -Okay. Well...
-It's the truth, so I'm -- -There you go.
-I'm a convert. I believe in ghosts.
But, thankfully, the Catskills ghost left us to our business.
-Yeah. And now I'm assuming you always travel
with banana chips just in case. -Always.
Always, always, always. -This is -- a lot of --
I would imagine a lot of people,
even though you've had an accomplished career,
this is the favorite role you've played.
Your parents love "Maisel."
-They love "Maisel." I am alive.
I have my clothes on most of the time.
[ Laughter ]
I'm not crying and depressed.
They are thrilled. -That's wonderful.
-Very sweetly, my dad calls me all the time
and says that he's re-watched certain episodes,
and he quotes them.
This is absolutely my parents' favorite --
It's really sweet! [ Audience "Awws" ]
-It is great. And it's real --
I mean, again, as an actor, you never know
if you're gonna do anything... -Yeah.
-...that your parents like.
They might be proud of you and also watch other shows,
so it's really wonderful that both --
[ Laughter ]
-I mean, my dad may or may not have ever seen "House of Cards."
He's thrilled.
I think it wasn't real until this show.
-And, by the way, if I were your dad,
I would have trouble watching "House of Cards."
It was not a great road for you. -No.
I mean, you know, I got zip-tied and thrown in the back of a van.
It didn't end well.
-Spoiler alert! -Spoiler alert!
Do you still have to say that?
It's been six years! -[ Laughs ]
Maybe you were the ghost.
Oh.
[ Laughter ]
-Wow. -Wow.
This got really deep. -This is really...