HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Working on "The Ghost Whisperer" has already started spooking comedian Jamie Kennedy.

His character, professor Eli James, died — briefly — in a house fire at the beginning of this season. Guess what happened around that same time?

The set used for Eli's apartment caught fire and was destroyed in a real-life blaze. Though the fire swept through an entire lot, only "The Ghost Whisperer" set was fully consumed and destroyed.

"That's some scary (stuff)," Kennedy says with a small laugh.

The comedian talks about the incident when recalling what it's like to be the newest cast member on the CBS Friday-night hit starring Jennifer Love Hewitt.

Kennedy is playing a therapist who died and then came back to life with the ability to hear ghosts. He says he assumed "Whisperer" would be his first major chance at doing dramatic work.

Instead, they wanted him to relax his character.

"The producers said they wanted me to play a therapist in a 'Jamie Kennedy' way," he says. "Do I get to do dramatic stuff in this show? Sure. I had a scene when I got to cry my eyes out. I couldn't believe I could do it. It's a really touching show."

Often, though, Kennedy gets to use his comedic skills to lighten up a show known primarily for its darkness.

"I get to be funny. I get to be supernatural," he says. "It's a different side for me."

After years of doing standup and small acting roles in films and TV, Kennedy's first leap into series television was the hidden-camera show called "The Jamie Kennedy Experiment," the hottest show on the WB in 2002. On it, he pulled practical jokes on the unsuspecting.

He parlayed that success into feature films such as "Malibu's Most Wanted" and "Son of the Mask."

Doing scary isn't really so different for Kennedy, however. A resume highlight is the slasher hit "Scream." (He's appeared in the sequels and is slated to do "Scream 4" next year.)

Now in "Whisperer," Kennedy describes star Hewitt as being "really sexy, but she's also really funny. Not a lot of people know that about her.

"I tell her all the time, 'You need to put that out there more.' She also calls it as it is. She doesn't pull any punches. She's in command of her own life."

Kennedy appreciates that freedom and her candor. He says that kind of directness is rare in Hollywood, where few people will speak honestly about anything work-related.

He auditioned for "Whisperer," but says he's amazed by the hoops an actor must jump through for most work.

"I always thought if I did really funny stuff — was nice and professional, got along with everybody and knew the lines — that the reputation would always go beyond," he says.

"That's only part of it. You also have to work the business angle. It took me 15 years to figure that one out.

"I'm like, 'Really? I have to go shopping somewhere or be seen at a certain place to get work?' Literally, it's amazing to see the circles I see now by doing that.

"It's crazy. Now that's scary."