How ‘Pluribus’ found Zosia: Casting directors say they needed ‘the loveliest person in the world’ to offset Carol’s misery
Marcus James Dixon
While Pluribus features its fair share of recognizable actors — including Rhea Seehorn as Carol Sturka, Miriam Shor as Helen, and John Cena as himself — the casting directors pride themselves on discovering "so many interesting faces" to keep things fresh.
That meant filling out the cast with supporting actors like Karolina Wydra as Zosia and Carlos-Manuel Vesga as Manousos, plus so many guest actors "that took us almost a year to find, all over the world," the casting team of Sherry Thomas, Sharon Bialy, and Russell Scott tell Gold Derby. The trio previously worked with the Pluribus showrunner, Vince Gilligan, on Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul.
The Apple TV original series tells the story of a worldwide phenomenon that connects all of humanity into a blissful hive mind. Critics are praising Seehorn's first lead performance as the fantasy romance author who somehow survives it, only now she's the most miserable person on Earth.
Specifically for the character of Zosia, one of the affected humans, Wydra had the impossible task of playing "the loveliest person in the world" to offset Carol's misery. The casting directors had known Wydra from years ago (the actress previously had roles on True Blood and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. but had taken a break to spend time with her family), and suggested her for the part after tracking her down. Wydra went through a "testing process" with Seehorn to make sure they had chemistry, and the rest is history.
Gold Derby: When you all read the pilot script for the first time, what went through your mind?
Sherry Thomas: "Huh?!" [laughs] It's very dense, so you really have to pay attention.
Sharon Bialy: I think I was just like, "Here's the genius of Vince Gilligan yet again."
Russell Scott: It was very exciting. We've worked with Vince for so long, and this is the first time that it's been something different from the Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul universe. We get to cast all kinds of different roles and characters, because it's a completely different world.
Some of the episodes don't have much dialogue, which is very unique, right?
Bialy: It's all written out, though. That's some of the beauty of Vince's writing. It's so visual, and he really writes everything out, or his other writers do. He even will write something like, "And I know casting can find this," in the script.
Thomas: Yeah, it's still 62 pages.
Scott: Like Sharon always says, the first time we read it, we're just so involved. It's like a little novella or something. And then we have to remember, "Oh yeah, I have a job to do," and we go back and read it again.
How did Rhea Seehorn become involved in Pluribus?
Bialy: Vince wrote the part for her. While he was working on Better Call Saul, he actually had this idea of this show, but he had it with a man in his mind. Because he loved working with Rhea so much, he decided to write it for her. After I read the script, I called her and I said, "Oh my god, Rhea. You've got the greatest gift anyone in this acting community could ever dream of."
Thomas: I think he was really wanting to highlight her. I think he felt, as we all did, she was not recognized as much as she should have been on Saul.
Scott: Her lead performance in this is gonna be hard to ignore. There's so many episodes where there's not even any dialogue, and it's just her reacting, and you're experiencing everything through her face, and her emotions.
Tell us about how Karolina Wydra got the part of Zosia.
Bialy: We knew her from years ago. We used to bring her in quite a bit. It would be between her and someone else, and for whatever reason, she might not have gotten it. That was the time when people came into the office, and we established a relationship with her. We just fell in love with her back then. She did an episode of Sneaky Pete — we did the pilot, but not the series. But then she took a hiatus because she had children. So, she had no agent and no manager.
Scott: We tracked her down through her commercial agent. It wasn't a situation where there were managers or agents repping her and pitching her and suggesting her. It was just that we knew her from previous jobs.
Thomas: And scouring, and going back through old lists and books, and going, "Wait, whatever happened to her?"
Scott: We had been seeing people for a very long time at that point, and we kept going, "Who else is there? Who else do we love?"
Did Rhea and Karolina have to do a chemistry read to make sure they gelled with each other?
Bialy: We went through two testing processes with a group of actors who were wonderful, but just not what Vince was looking for. The instinct we had was that you fall in love with Karolina as soon as you meet her. That's what Vince needed. She needed to be the loveliest person in the world, opposite Rhea's character. So, yes, they did read together.
How did Carlos-Manuel Vesga as Manousos come onto the show?
Bialy: We actually ended up hiring a South American casting director to help us scour Colombia, Paraguay, etc. Vince really wanted to try to get an actor from one of those countries, not just Mexico. We saw his audition, and he happened to come up to visit his sister. I think it was Christmas break, or something like that. We met at our famous Gelson's in the Valley, and we just sat and talked for like an hour. He is a very accomplished theater actor, and a wonderful human being, and really smart. It's important to have the right combination of personalities on a set, so we spend a lot of time trying to get to know some of the actors before we cast them.
Thomas: This is the perfect pairing of the essence of the actor with the essence of the character.
There is the potential for any celebrity to come along and make a cameo, calling themselves "we," as a part of the hive mind. John Cena was a big get!
Scott: We had made a list of ideas and sent to Vince. It needed to be someone who was trustworthy and the most unexpected person you would hear talking about and explaining to Carol that they're eating people. We all got on the phone with Vince at one point, and were just throwing out ideas and suggesting various actors that we love. He sparked to that idea immediately when we suggested it. John is a very busy person. He was shooting his show Peacemaker in Florida at the time, so they sent a whole crew to film that on a Saturday, on his day off. I think he did two or three takes, just because he was there. But Vince said he nailed it the first time.
Bialy: We all thought he was a really good actor, but he's, you know, a personality, so you don't know what's gonna happen. Vince was blown away that his first take we could have used. The whole thing was memorized, ready to go — such a pro.
Miriam Shor guest-starred as Helen. Had you worked with Miriam before?
Bialy: It was new for us, but we all know her work. The thing with Vince is actors, even at her level, have to go through the process, because he needs to hear the words. And many actors will do that who wouldn't normally.
Scott: I've been obsessed with Miriam Shor since she played Yitzhak in Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
Bialy: That's right. We all were big, big fans. And luckily, Miriam Shor is all about the work, and not about an ego.
Tell us about casting some of the actors who audiences don't recognize.
Bialy: This is a world that's created with so many interesting faces that nobody has ever seen, that took us almost a year to find, from all over the world. And they really deliver. It was a mixture of people that we knew and auditioned, but mostly, even for us, people we reached out to, to find the correct ethnicity.
Scott: The Mongolian actor, I believe was a truck driver, but he also sang opera before he moved to the U.S. [Darinka Arones as] Kusimayu, the Peruvian girl, was a big search. Vince wanted someone who speaks Quechua, which is a very obscure language that they only speak in Peru in the mountains. But she happens to be studying it at NYU.
What can you tell us about Samba Schutte, who plays Mr. Diabaté, an antagonist to Carol?
Bialy: This is a funny story, because he self-taped his audition, and Russell and I watched it, and we got so excited. But it needed some adjustments, because it was so big, and we had to help him with the tone. We decided to call him back, and we did it over Zoom. It was so personal, and we were talking to him for so long, and working with him, that Russell and I were convinced he had come to the office. His wife was with him at the premiere and said, "No, you guys, it was over Zoom, because I was in the other room!" I think it's an example of taking the time with talent, and bringing out the best in them with Vince's style.
How did Seehorn's Better Call Saul cast mate Patrick Fabian get involved as the voice of the operator?
Bialy: That was a Vince surprise, and he didn't tell Rhea it was happening. She stayed in character, and then when they said cut, she just burst out laughing.
Thomas: It's the perfect voice to hear over and over and over again.
Have you seen any of the scripts yet for Season 2?
Scott: I don't think they exist yet. I think they just started in the writers' room.
Bialy: The show was actually picked up for two seasons right away, but it was kept a secret.
Thomas: I don't think there's been a show in a really, really long time where people are excited to show up exactly when it drops, waiting to click the button.
Bialy: Including us!
The season finale of Pluribus will stream Dec. 24 on Apple TV.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
