Ci Hang Ma and Miles Elliot on Belonging, Isolation, and Finding Your Place in School Spirits
When School Spirits expanded its afterlife in Season 2, it introduced two new voices that quietly reshaped the world of Split River High. Ci Hang Ma and Miles Elliot joined the series as Quinn and Yuri two spirits navigating belonging, isolation, and identity in a space where the rules are anything but stable. In conversation with The Extra Mile, the pair reflect on stepping into an already-beloved universe, exploring the emotional layers of their characters, and what Season 3 reveals as the mystery deepens.
TEM (The Extra Mile) : You were both newcomers in season two. What stood out to you about kind of the world of School Spirits when you first joined the cast?
Miles: I mean, the people, I’d say, in terms of the cast, the crew, everybody is so welcoming. They’re so fun. It’s so fun to go to work. We really do have a great time, you know, and I think it shows in the work we’re doing. You can tell we’re having a good time because we are. So I think that was so, so fun. And also joining this like lore. We have such an amazing cult following and fan base and I’ve been so grateful to just be a part of it and to, you know, meet people who love the show and for them to tell me how much it means to them. It’s so, it’s so cool and it’s really, it’s really exciting.
Ci Hang: I had a moment when I, one of the first scenes that I shot with the crew in season two, I just had a moment where I stood there with, you know, all of you around me and I thought, oh my gosh, I’ve seen, you know, Rhonda and Wally and Maddie on television and now they’re standing right in front of me and I’m talking to them. So that was really cool. That was surreal.
TEM: Quinn and Yuri, I feel like enter kind of the story in season two after kind of makes it clear that the afterlife isn’t as stable as it seems. How would you say that shaped the way that your characters kind of move through this world?
Ci Hang: Um, that’s a really, yeah, that’s a thinker. I think, uh, you know, you, you, it depends. I think it depends on the ghost and it depends on how long they’ve been in the afterlife. I think somebody like Rhonda, and I mean, you should talk to Sarah about this, but Rhonda has been trapped for what, 60, 80 years?
Miles: Yeah, super long.
Ci Hang: Something like that. Like, what is that like? You know, I don’t, I don’t know if anybody would want to stay that long. But for another character, maybe someone like Quinn, who’s just woken up in this afterlife and they, they weren’t able to fully express themselves in, in when they were alive, but now it almost feels like they have a second chance. They have new friends. They find new belonging and what else can they do, even if they’re trapped in a school?
Miles: And I think, I think Yuri, it’s so interesting because he sort of mentioned in season one sort of offhandedly by Milo’s character and you know that I’m playing this character who’s been around the entire time, who kind of knows these people, but is really isolated himself, but is familiar with them. So that was definitely something when I first was joining the show in season two and approaching my scenes with, with Nick and with, and Sarah and Milo and figuring out how familiar are we with each other? How much do we know each other? Cause that was, it was really interesting. He’s been there the entire time. He’s been there longer than Nick’s character, but he’s just decided to really isolate. So that was interesting dynamic to play with. TEM: What’s like one thing in season three that you guys can share that reveals about your characters that like fans might not expect?
Ci Hang: I’ll say Quinn is a much more emotionally expressive than you fans might have seen them in season two. Different colors.
Miles: I’ll say you get to see multiple sides of Yuri and I mean that in the maybe literal sense. You’ll see, you’ll see what I’m talking about.
TEM: Was there ever like a moment in like your career where you had to go the extra mile? Like what does that mean to you?
Miles: Oh geez. Great question. I think that’s kind of the life of being an actor to be honest. I think you’re always striving. You’re always working. Auditioning is the job and you always have to go the extra mile if you love it and you know, I love it. And so I even think auditioning for this, like it was all about that and going the extra mile. And then oftentimes you find, at least I found when I got this job, the times when you aren’t really thinking and you’re just sort of being yourself, that’s when you shine the most and that’s when people are drawn to you the most.When you’re not striving even, you’re just sort of being. So I think that’s something I actually really learned in the booking process of this show that I’m trying to take with me.
Ci Hang: But that’s probably after so many years of experience that, you know, confidence comes from experience. Totally. Like if you didn’t have that, you would have been so nervous.
Miles: Oh totally. Absolutely. Yeah.
Ci Hang: Yeah. Going the extra mile. Quinn is in the marching band and prior to joining the show, I had never even touched a brass instrument before, sorry to the fans, but I was so worried that I didn’t want to look fake holding a mellophone so I took trumpet lessons so that I would know how to hold this thing at least and, you know, look like reasonably proficient.
Miles: Yeah. Our trailers are next to each other and I remember I would hear a little bit of music and I’d be like, oh Ci Hang’s practicing.
School Spirits Season 3 premieres January 28 exclusively on Paramount+.