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While the actor’s strike went into effect on July 13, there are still some stories coming out from before the strike. I guess outlets like People Magazine, Variety, and The Hollywood Reporter are releasing older stories here and there to stretch out promotional content as long as possible. This is one of those stories that predates the strike. Rosario Dawson is starring in Disney’s upcoming movie Haunted Mansion, which is a reboot of the Eddie Murphy movie of the same name from 2003. It just came out on Friday, so she and other union members can’t do any promotion for it right now because of the strike. Prior to the strike, she was interviewed by People about a commercial she made with State Farm that has a tie-in to the movie (how to file a claim when ghosts are tearing the chandeliers out of your ceiling!). She was asked about ghosts which makes sense because of the content of the commercial and the movie. And Rosario said that she has had encounters with ghosts, and feels a spiritual connection to her grandmother, who has passed away.
Rosario Dawson is no stranger to spooky encounters!
As Dawson, 44, spoke with PEOPLE recently about State Farm’s new Haunted Mansion-themed property damage commercial — before the Screen Actors Guild went on strike July 13 — the Haunted Mansion star revealed that she has “definitely had some ghost experiences over the years.”“Growing up, you know, my name is Rosary — I grew up praying. We grew up very spiritual,” she says. “I think we absolutely believe in things and have faith that there’s a lot that we don’t see and that we don’t know. And that it has its own presence, you know.”
Dawson stars in the new Disney movie as a woman named Gabby who purchases a mansion only to find that it’s inhabited by a number of ghosts and ghouls, including Jared Leto’s Hatbox Ghost. The actress notes that she has at times felt a supernatural connection to her late grandmother.
“I’ve felt her presence over the years at times and her directly speaking to me and looking out for me,” she says, adding that she loves “the kind of energy” horror-themed movies bring to a production.
“You know, some people [with] spooky stuff, they lean in or they turn away, but most people do believe there’s something there,” she tells PEOPLE. “You know, like, so having [Haunted Mansion set] in New Orleans, promoting it there, like, there’s just such a celebration and connection I think, in my culture and my family.”
It’s weird to think that State Farm recently decided not to sell any new home insurance policies in California because the effects of climate change have made it too expensive for them to pay out claims. (They’re doing this while also continuing to invest in fossil fuel companies, which is the kind of hypocrisy that stinks to high heaven.) Anyway, Rosario’s answer about ghosts is kind of vague but I get what she means. I think it takes intellectual humility to admit that we don’t know everything and sometimes people have experiences that are hard to explain or spooky. I don’t see apparitions or orbs or anything like that, I can just sometimes feel a presence or an energy. It isn’t always sinister. Sometimes you just get the impression that you aren’t alone. I’ve had a similar connection to my grandma, feeling her presence with me at certain times. The Haunted Mansion movie looks cute enough but it’s a weird time to release it, in high summer. It should be a Halloween movie for sure.
Why did they redo this movie again when they literally just did one with the Muppets?
I neither believe or disbelieve in ghosts, but I err on the side of safety meaning we have a small cemetery on our property and we make sure it is maintained with nice plants and I say a blessing when I walk by. The tombstones date back to the late 1800s.
But for a few years after my dad died (I was 32 when he passed), he would “visit” me in my dreams and give me advice. It was both comforting and a little surreal. I’m sure it was my subconscious being like “this is what dad would tell you to do right now” but it felt so real!
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Rosario is luminous
My son turned 6 the month we moved into a 100+ year old house. We’d been there about a week when he asked me who the little boy was that he kept seeing in his room.
Couple of months later we decided to clear out the crawl space under the house and found a very small tombstone for a boy named Samuel. I went to City Hall and found birth records. There were no death records though.
For the entire 16 years we lived there, Sam was a mischievous presence in our lives. My son aged normally, Sam stayed a little boy. We would come home to all the lights on. My jewelry would move from my dressing table to the mantle over the fireplace in the living room. My son’s school work would be turned upside down or for one of his pieces he drew when he was very angry with me, it was turned around so the back faced the room and the angry picture faced the fridge. At first it was weird, but after awhile we just lived with him. Me, my son, our two dogs and Sam…the little boy ghost. When we left the property after 16 years, I surrounded the house with white candles, lit them and said prayers of release and thanks for his ‘protection’ and his mischief, hoping Sam would be able to settle peacefully. Sometimes, I think he followed us. Probably cause I still think of him quite often. Mostly I hope he can join up with some loving ancestors (his or mine, doesn’t matter) and be at peace.
On a completely different level, sometimes I see halos of colour shimmering around a person. Sometimes it’s just around their head, sometimes it’s around their whole bodies. I don’t control it (wish I did!). Sometimes it’s evident what the coloured glow means, sometimes it’s not. I wish it would show up and tell me when a person is lying, or something, but it doesn’t. It just is something I live with.
One last thing…my dad died almost 20 years ago. To this day, I can sometimes hear his voice in my head “c’mon girl, you can do this” type thing. And it’s always when I’m at the end of my rope doing something difficult and just about ready to call it a day. Dad says “with a little EE and EG you can get this done” (EE=extra effort, EG=Elbow Grease), and sure enough, I usually CAN get ‘er done. I have no problem with the idea the ancestors are watching.
Decades ago, I lived in a small cottage that had belonged to a little old lady. One day when I was in the living room, I looked up to see her walk across the kitchen to the opposite counter. Not an open floor plan, just a wide doorway. She stood there momentarily and then vanished. I hadn’t ever seen her picture, but was able to pick her out of a photo a neighbor had. I don’t know the truth about what ghosts are, but I know what I saw was real.
My dad passed away last year and I’ve often wished he’d come to me. But my dad was a staunch atheist who believed that when you die, that’s it, blackness. So maybe his version of death was right for him, while other people who believe your soul lives on have their own version, and their beliefs continue even after their gone.