Rhea Seehorn in 'Pluribus.' Apple TV+ Share on Facebook Share on X Google Preferred Share to Flipboard Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Send an Email Print the Article Post a Comment Logo text When Vince Gilligan sold Apple TV on his Better Call Saul follow-up in 2022, we knew it was a genre drama with a two-season order and that Rhea Seehorn attached. And that's pretty much all anybody knew until the first two episodes of Pluribus dropped last week. Turns out, Seehorn isn't just the star of Pluribus. She plays practically the only character, the bulk of whose interactions are with the survivors of a global event that now share a single, cheery consciousness. They're terribly polite, albeit a little perturbed as to why Carol (Seehorn) didn't join the party. As the cryptic teaser states, "The most miserable person on Earth must save the world from happiness." Seehorn recently guested on The Hollywood Reporter's new podcast, I'm Having an Episode (Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple), to talk about her new showcase, the tonal tightrope walk it requires and keeping it all under wraps for three years. Related Stories Business Apple TV Abandons Extra Paywall for Major League Soccer Games TV Kurt Russell Is Alive -- but Perhaps Not Well -- in Apple's 'Monarch: Legacy of Monsters' Season 2 *** The premise of this show was kept secret for over three years. Is this the show you were pitched in 2022? No pitch. The initial conversation was Vince saying, "I wrote something for you if you're interested." Which is funny. I just said yes. First I cried and then I said yes. He wanted me to read the pilot but he wasn't ready to send it until maybe a month later? And as you've now seen, it's its own sort of self-contained film - the night that this event happened. It was bananas. I got really excited, but I didn't have a clue. I didn't understand what happens the next day when she wakes up. It sort of becomes a completely different show. I got episode two and I was like... this is just gonna keep getting weirder and weirder. The threat switches from a distinctly physical to a distinctly psychological threat between one and two, but it maintains this real slippery relationship with genre and tone. This would be a show I'd want to watch in a heartbeat. I can't believe I get to do it. I'm shocked that so much of this show was kept under wraps until the premiere. How did you navigate secrecy? I'm really happy that my friends and family, including my partner and my stepkids, love Vince's work so much that they don't want to know. They know nothing until it comes out. Vince said it was okay for Graham, my partner, to read the pilot script. But that's about it. And I'm thankful for that because I think it'd be really hard for me if people were pestering. We sign a lot of NDAs, but the bigger threat than legal ramifications is to disappoint Vince. Keeping it a surprise is so important to him, and he knows how hard it is to do. Rhea Seehorn with creator Vince Gilligan at the world premiere of Pluribus Nov. 4 in Los Angeles. Frazer Harrison/Getty Images What was Vince's biggest note on your character? We found her over the course of the episodes. We had to figure out who this person is in this new world. Her behavioral norms before are not relevant or not working anymore. But I do remember him reminding me that she is a very reluctant hero. Even when she goes to Spain to solicit help, she's hoping somebody else is going to lead the charge. She was hoping to assist in the revolution, not lead it. The frustration is, "My God, does it really have to be me?" There's so much drama in that, there's also so much comedy. We've all been in situations where you feel like you're the only one screaming that the barn is on fire and everyone's like, "Just have a drink. What is your problem?" And she is now literally the only one. We would remind each other about the grief she's feeling - not just of the loss of the whole world, but her partner and her buffer to the entire world is gone. That needed to have its own weight that isn't easily shed. Then somewhere deep, deep down, she has this thing where she's going to fight for what she thinks is right. That is probably the only thing that's similar to Kim Wexler, the character I played [on Better Call Saul]. Other than that, they're pretty much polar opposites. Is it easy for you to find the comedy when you're the only one in a scene? Well, my scene partners were brilliant. Karolina Wydra playing Zosia... what a deceptively difficult role. To figure out how to be a sentient being that has compassion and intelligence but cannot mirror Carol. As humans, we mirror each other. As actors, that's one of your biggest tools. She can't do that, yet she can't seem like a robot. She can't seem just... high. She has to be present. It's funny, because Carol is such a hot mess right now. She's so emotional and reactive, and it doesn't matter i