For young actress Ella Beatty, starring in “Ghosts” onstage at Lincoln Center Theater is a full-circle moment.
”When [Juilliard] was founded, that idea of sending students across the street to perform in Lincoln Center was so incredible,” says Beatty, who graduated from the drama program in 2022. “And so to be able to do that is really wonderful, and feels familial.”
Sitting at a table inside the sunny Vivian Beaumont Theater, she takes in a nearby display highlighting performers who’ve made their mark on the stage throughout the years. Soon, she’ll head to rehearsal, followed by a preview performance later that evening.
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Beatty is currently starring in “Ghosts,” a moral thriller written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen in 1881. The play explore themes of family secrets and morality, and is rooted in plot lines that are still considered taboo more than a century after it was first performed.
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“I had known that it had provoked a big reaction in people in its day,” Beatty says of Ibsen’s work, adding that she was only loosely familiar with “Ghosts” before being cast. “When I got the initial audition, I thought I should read it to go in for the audition, and that’s when I really first was like, ‘Wow, this is really intense — and still feels very present,’” she adds. “ He was not afraid to rustle feathers and be provocative.”
Ibsen’s original play was adapted by Irish playwright Mark O’Rowe for the new staging at Lincoln Center, which is directed by Jack O’Brien. “The changes aren’t massive because [O’Rowe] wanted to honor Ibsen,” Beatty says. “But he was able to adapt the language to feel current, and feel still period.”
Beatty was cast in the production in late 2024 following her Broadway debut in Tony-winning play “Appropriate,” which closed last summer. Both plays are intense family dramas exploring generational trauma.
“I think both ‘Appropriate’ and ‘Ghosts’ are about what we take from our parents [and] what we take from our grandparents,” Beatty says. “How much of that is in our bodies and our minds without a real consciousness of it? How is familial trauma passed down through the unconscious through the conscious? I think both of those plays are really trying to deal with that.”
In “Ghosts,” Beatty plays Regina, a young housemaid whose connection to the rest of the characters is unearthed, and become much more complicated, over the course of the play.
“ I’m still learning about her,” Beatty says of her character. “But she’s real tough; I’m really inspired by her toughness. I’m excited to lean into that part of myself. She’s ambitious. Love that part of her,” she adds. “She’s one of the people that comes out of the play [and] I have hope for her. I have hope for her journey. I have hope for where she goes.”
The production costars Levon Hawke as her character’s love interest, as well as Billy Crudup, Hamish Linklater and Lila Rabe. ”Master class,” says Beatty, summing up her scene partners. “I’m so lucky to be able to work alongside them and watch them.”
Beatty grew up in Los Angeles surrounded by acting greats, and had an early introduction to the entertainment industry as the daughter of Warren Beatty and Annette Bening. “I think I knew I wanted to [be an actor] before I even knew it was a profession,” says Ella Beatty. “I certainly grew up so immersed in it and I saw it all the time, but that spirit of playing and make believe was something that I had in me innately. I don’t remember a time where I wasn’t playing make believe or pretending to be somebody else.”
After high school, she moved to New York to attend the drama program at Juilliard, and made her TV debut last year in “Feud: Capote vs. The Swans” as Kerry O’Shea, the daughter of Truman Capote’s lover. She joined the cast of “Appropriate,” taking over the role played by Elle Fanning for the opening, last March. Beatty also has a supporting role in recent Sundance hit “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” which stars Rose Byrne.
”Listen, I’ll go where they’ll have me,” says Beatty, asked whether she finds herself drawn more toward the stage or screen.
“But there’s something so special about being able to do theater,” she adds. “It’s kind of a rare opportunity when you get to do it. I mean, it’s the best feeling in the world. I love doing theater — but there’s something really individual and unique about doing TV and film too,” she continues. “Both are so specific and fun in their own capacity, and are different modes of storytelling that are both satisfying.”