Karolina Wydra on Making Zosia a Calming Presence for Rhea Seehorn’s Carol in ‘Pluribus’ [VIDEO INTERVIEW]
One of the most exciting and talked about TV debuts this year was Apple TV’s Pluribus, a dystopian sci-fi drama in which nearly every person on the planet is joined into a collective hive mind. The series was created by Vince Gilligan, the award-winning showrunner behind Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. For Polish-American actress Karolina Wydra, the call to star on the show was a dream come true. Many actors would love the chance to work with someone like Gilligan, but Wydra, who starred alongside Bad alum Bryan Cranston in the 2017 series Sneaky Pete, would have done just about anything for the opportunity. When she got the call about a mysterious new show and that Gilligan and Cranston had spoken about her, she was ready to say yes without knowing any of the details.
Wydra’s journey to the New Mexico set of Pluribus includes roles in a number of TV series: a six-episode arc on House, two seasons of True Blood, Justified, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and an appearance in the third season of Twin Peaks. But while she has become increasingly familiar to TV fans, it is her role as Zosia that is finally giving audiences a chance to get to know her and her talents.
Pluribus explores the complexity of humanity, art, creativity and other very human themes through a mysterious phenomenon that causes nearly everyone on Earth to be mentally joined together into a collective hive mind. Carol Sturka (Rhea Seehorn) is a cynical romance novelist who is somehow immune to the mind-melding and finds herself isolated while the collective searches for a “cure” and she tries to reverse the effect. Wydra’s character Zosia is the woman the collective sends to be Carol’s chaperone and guide. Her kindness and seeming happiness initially irritates and angers Carol, but eventually she comes to depend on Zosia and her calm presence.
Wydra’s role is complex and multi-faceted. She is tasked to simultaneously humanize Zosia as an individual, while also giving the audience reasons to care about her as part of the collective. Her warmth and kindness are both uncomfortably off-putting and desperately welcome. Recently we spoke about her fascination with the character and the work that went into such an unusual role.
Karolina Wydra is Emmy-eligible in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for Pluribus.
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