Charles Dickens introduced the Ghost of Christmas Present more than 180 years ago as the embodiment of generosity, abundance and the immediate spirit of Christmas. Since then, countless actors have stepped into the green robes across stage, television and film.
In Ti West’s Ebenezer, Tramell Tillman is giving the character something audiences have not seen in a major live action studio film adaptation before.
A Black Ghost of Christmas Present whose identity is not simply incidental to the casting.
Tillman appears to become the first Black actor to portray the character in that particular tradition of major live action studio adaptations, adding another chapter to the long history of one of Charles Dickens’ most recognizable spirits.
But what makes the milestone more interesting is what Tillman chose to do with it.
Rather than stepping into a familiar costume and treating race as irrelevant, Tillman worked with director Ti West and the film’s makeup, hair and costume departments to build a version of Christmas Present that reflected his Black identity, his physical environment and the spirit’s rapidly disappearing life.
For Tillman, representation became part of the storytelling.
“It’s always my desire to honor who I am and never forget where I came from.”
A New Ghost Inside a Story Nearly Two Centuries Old
Paramount Pictures’ Ebenezer reimagines Dickens’ A Christmas Carol with Johnny Depp as Ebenezer Scrooge, once again confronting a bitter man with the consequences of the life he has chosen.
On one Christmas Eve, Scrooge collides with his past, present and future through a supernatural journey that could determine whether he gets another chance at becoming something better.
Tillman plays the Ghost of Christmas Present, joining Andrea Riseborough as Christmas Past and Ian McKellen as Jacob Marley.
The cast also includes Rupert Grint, Sam Claflin, Daisy Ridley, Arthur Conti, Ellie Bamber, Henry Lloyd Hughes and Charlie Murphy.
Director Ti West, best known for films including X, Pearl and MaXXXine, approaches Dickens through the language of a genuine ghost story. That makes the spirits feel less like friendly Christmas attractions and more like supernatural forces entering Scrooge’s life with a purpose.
Tillman’s Christmas Present may initially carry the warmth traditionally associated with the character, but there is urgency underneath it.
The spirit does not have unlimited time.
He has an assignment.
And he is dying while completing it.
Christmas Present Has Something to Prove Too
That mortality became one of Tillman’s primary ways into the character.
The Ghost of Christmas Present traditionally exists only for the present Christmas season. His brief life gives the character an unusual contradiction. He may arrive with enormous energy and generosity, but every moment spent teaching Scrooge is also another moment closer to his own end.
Tillman saw an opportunity to make that urgency personal.
His interpretation suggests that Christmas Present is not simply guiding another man toward redemption. There may also be something unresolved within the spirit himself.
Tillman explained that Scrooge learning the lesson does not necessarily give Christmas Present anything in return. Still, the spirit remains committed to completing the mission.
Perhaps, Tillman suggested, helping Scrooge do things differently represents an opportunity to address something Christmas Present failed to do when he had his own chance.
That gives the spirit vulnerability underneath all that power.
Instead of functioning solely as a supernatural tour guide through Scrooge’s current life, Tillman approached him as someone carrying history of his own.
That interpretation also became visible on his body.
Six Hours in the Makeup Chair to Watch a Spirit Die
Tillman spent approximately five and a half to six hours in the makeup chair each day becoming Christmas Present.
The challenge was not simply creating one elaborate supernatural appearance.
The character is continuously aging.
That meant the version of Christmas Present appearing in one scene could not look exactly like the version audiences saw moments earlier.
Prosthetic designer Barrie Gower and his team carefully mapped that deterioration from scene to scene, giving Tillman something physical that could also inform how he played the character.
The transformation extends through his face, scars, beard and hair.
Tillman described the character as a man of the wilderness, which immediately raised another question for the creative team: what would that actually mean for a Black man living in those conditions?
He joked that Christmas Present obviously was not wandering into a barbershop for a fresh fade and clean line.
His hair begins to lock.
It grays.
It falls out.
His beard changes with it.
Eventually, those locks begin resembling twigs, sticks and leaves as the character moves closer toward the earth itself.
His scars evolve into vine like patterns.
The effect creates the sense that Christmas Present is not simply getting older. He is physically returning to nature.
Blackness Was Part of the Design
That attention to hair was not a superficial addition.
For Tillman, it was fundamental to creating a version of the character that felt honest.
When discussing what it meant to portray Christmas Present as a Black man, Tillman made it clear that he had no interest in ignoring who was underneath the prosthetics.
“I wanted to honor my heritage. I wanted to honor my people, my community in this way, in this story.”
That intention influenced who needed to be involved behind the camera as well.
Tillman spoke about the importance of having artists who understood Black hair, Black skin and elements of Black history involved in creating the character.
His point is simple but significant.
If this Christmas Present is Black, then the details should reflect the reality of a Black man.
Putting him into the wilderness should affect his hair differently. Aging should account for his skin. The design should not simply take the appearance traditionally associated with the character and place Tillman underneath it.
That approach helps explain why the casting feels more substantial than simply placing a Black performer into an established role.
Tillman wanted the character to remain rooted in Dickens while also being unmistakably his.
He wanted Black viewers to recognize themselves in the result.
The Ghost of Christmas Present Has Changed Before
The character has never belonged to only one interpretation.
Dickens originally described Christmas Present as an enormous, joyful presence surrounded by food, warmth and abundance. Yet beneath that generosity sits some of the story’s sharpest criticism of poverty and indifference.
That contrast has allowed filmmakers to reinvent the spirit repeatedly.
Some adaptations emphasize his booming warmth. Others turn the character into comedy, menace or something more introspective.
Black performers have also contributed to that history before Ebenezer. Whoopi Goldberg voiced the Spirit of Christmas Present in the 1997 animated adaptation of A Christmas Carol, while Daniel Kaluuya provided the voice for Christmas Present in the 2020 film, with dancer Mikey Boateng physically portraying the spirit.
Tillman’s place in that lineage is more specific.
With Ebenezer, he brings the character into a major live action studio feature as a Black man and makes that identity visible within the design and interpretation itself.
That distinction matters.
Representation is often discussed simply in terms of who gets cast. Tillman’s performance presents a more interesting question: once someone gets the role, does the production allow that performer to bring their identity into it?
Here, the answer appears to be yes.
Collaboration With Ti West Built a Story Into Every Detail
Tillman credits constant collaboration with West and the film’s creative departments for making that possible.
Costume, hair, makeup, prosthetics and performance had to communicate with one another because each piece was telling part of Christmas Present’s history.
His clothing was deliberately more organic than the materials associated with Christmas Past.
Fur, leather, cotton and other natural textures helped suggest a character connected to the wilderness.
Then the makeup and hair continued that story as his body deteriorated.
The details gradually reveal where this spirit has been and where he is going without requiring the film to explain everything through dialogue.
That physical storytelling is particularly important for a character who has to establish an entire existence during one section of Scrooge’s supernatural journey.
Christmas Present may only have a short amount of time.
Tillman and the creative team make sure every part of him uses it.
Johnny Depp Becomes Ebenezer Scrooge
The transformation at the center of the movie is not limited to its ghosts.
Paramount has also provided an exclusive look at Johnny Depp’s transformation into Ebenezer Scrooge, showing how the actor and creative team developed this new version of Dickens’ infamous miser.
Depp brings his own eccentricity to the character while stepping into one of literature’s most familiar roles.
That transformation works alongside the larger idea behind West’s film.
This is a story audiences know.
The challenge is finding enough humanity, horror and specificity inside it to make them look again.
Tramell Tillman Makes Christmas Present His Own
There is an understandable temptation whenever another A Christmas Carol adaptation arrives to ask whether we really need another one.
It is a story that has been retold for generations.
But longevity can also create opportunity.
Every new interpretation gets to reveal something about the era and people telling it.
Tillman’s Ghost of Christmas Present does that by taking one of Dickens’ most recognizable spirits and allowing a Black performer to inhabit the character without leaving his Blackness outside the costume department.
The hair matters.
The skin matters.
The wilderness matters.
The heritage matters.
And beneath all of that is still the same essential purpose Dickens gave the character in 1843: force Scrooge to look at the world directly in front of him and decide what kind of man he wants to be while there is still time to change.
For Tillman, that limited time creates the urgency.
For Ebenezer, his interpretation gives a nearly two century old ghost another story to tell.
Ebenezer opens exclusively in theatres, Dolby Cinema, 4DX, D BOX and premium large formats on November 13, 2026.
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I’m a dedicated aficionado of all things movies, pop culture, and entertainment. With a passion for storytelling and a love for the silver screen, I’m constantly immersed in the world of cinema, exploring new releases, classics, and hidden gems alike. As a fervent advocate for the power of film to inspire, entertain, and provoke thought, I enjoy sharing my insights, reviews, and recommendations with fellow enthusiasts.