Emmy Winner Tramell Tillman Haunts Johnny Depp as the Ghost of Christmas Present in Paramount's 'Ebenezer'
By Y. Marie Kiven, Black Film Wire
Leicester Square, Monday night. The fog was optional. Tramell Tillman was not.
The Severance star (Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning) walked the global premiere of Paramount's Ebenezer as the man behind its Ghost of Christmas Present, and a week after an early haunting in New York, London got Scrooged properly.
The film is Ti West's gothic reimagining of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, with Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean, Edward Scissorhands) as Ebenezer Scrooge. It opens in theaters this Friday, November 13.
Scrooge doesn't stand a chance.
Ebenezer | Official Trailer. Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
From pre-med to Emmy history
You know him as Seth Milchick, the Lumon floor manager whose smile could clear a room. The road to that role was anything but straight:
Pre-med at Xavier University of Louisiana, aiming to be an orthopedic surgeon
Hurricane Katrina sends him to Jackson State University, where he switches to mass communications
An MFA in acting from the University of Tennessee
Over a decade in nonprofit and corporate jobs before acting full-time
September 2025: the first Black man to win the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
That category had gone its entire history without a Black winner. Tillman changed that, then gave the night's most-quoted speech, dedicating the win to his mother:
"My first acting coach was tough, y'all, but all great mothers are."
Now he's taking on Dickens.
[IMAGE: Tramell Tillman at the New York special screening of Ebenezer. | Image courtesy of Paramount Pictures]
This isn't your grandmother's Christmas Carol
In the book, the Ghost of Christmas Present is a jolly giant in a green robe, showing Scrooge what joy and want look like right now.
In a Ti West film? Don't count on jolly.
West is the director behind the horror trilogy X, Pearl and MaXXXine, and Paramount isn't hiding what this is. The tagline: "This November, prepare to be ghosted." The rating: PG-13 for frightening material. Nathaniel Halpern wrote the screenplay.
And Tillman already showed on Severance that a smile can be the scariest thing in the room.
The rest of the haunting comes stacked: Ian McKellen as Jacob Marley, Andrea Riseborough as the Ghost of Christmas Past, Rupert Grint as Bob Cratchit, plus Sam Claflin, Daisy Ridley, Arthur Conti, Ellie Bamber, Henry Lloyd-Hughes and Charlie Murphy.
Two cities, one haunting
New York. Depp, Riseborough and Tillman at a special screening, with director Ti West, producer Emma Watts and costume designer Catherine George. In the crowd: Tillman's Severance co-star Britt Lower, Kyle MacLachlan, Hayley Atwell and Patti Smith.
London. The global premiere in Leicester Square. Depp and Tillman were joined by Rupert Grint, Sam Claflin, Ellie Bamber, Henry Lloyd-Hughes, Charlie Murphy, Robert Strange and Freddie Lee-Grey, with West, Watts and writer Nathaniel Halpern.
Why this one matters
Let's be honest. For most of film history, the ghosts, the clerks and the carolers in A Christmas Carol have looked one way.
This year, one of Dickens' three spirits is played by the first Black man to win a supporting drama Emmy. That's not a cameo.
That's one of the three visits that changes Scrooge's life.
A year ago, Tillman was making history at the Emmys. This Friday he's haunting Johnny Depp in a studio holiday tentpole.
We'll be there opening weekend. Popcorn in one hand, nightlight in the other.
Who's who in Ebenezer
Paramount Pictures presents, in association with Domain Entertainment and Black Label Media, a Wattsco / IN.2 Production, a Ti West film, Johnny Depp in Ebenezer. Ti West directs from a screenplay by Nathaniel Halpern, and Emma Watts produces. Ti West, Adam Bohling, David Reid, Stephen Deuters, Jason Forman, Pete Chiappetta, Anthony Tittanegro, Andrew Lary, Molly Smith, Thad Luckinbill and Trent Luckinbill serve as executive producers. The film stars Johnny Depp, Rupert Grint, Andrea Riseborough, Sam Claflin, Daisy Ridley, Arthur Conti, Ellie Bamber, Henry Lloyd-Hughes, Charlie Murphy, Tramell Tillman and Ian McKellen.
Ebenezer opens only in theaters, Dolby Cinema, 4DX, D-BOX and premium large formats on November 13, 2026. Tickets are on sale now.
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