In Pluribus, an alien race assimilates almost the whole of humanity into a single hive mind – save for thirteen people. Among them is Carol Sturka (Rhea Seehorn), who isn’t on board with the pleasant nature of this single shared consciousness and is resolute about finding a way to fight back. She’s assigned a chaperone in the form of Zosia (Karolina Wydra), who speaks to her as an individual voice representing a much larger collective, while others, like Larry (Jeff Hiller), also occasionally visit her.
Awards Buzz spoke with Hiller, who is now a nominee for his guest-starring role on Pluribus after surprising with an Emmy win last year for Somebody Somewhere. He also appears in Widow’s Bay, the breakout hit of the season, which has nineteen Emmy nominations. When asked whether he anticipated making the jump from the still virtually-unknown dramedy to these two shows, he replied:
“I think you think I have more control over my career than I do. It just so happened that the two people that wanted me are big fat hits. I was also on a show that I loved that was a big fat failure even though it was hilarious. So what are you going to do?”
He shared his take on how he might approach this hive mind concept if it were real as it pertains to his faith:
“If you’re just talking faith in the most broad sense, you could really say that this idea that everyone is united together is very spiritual and communal, which can be good. But then when you start getting into the proselytizing of trying to force Carol to be a part of them, it’s maybe less beautiful. I do think that’s why the show is so fascinating because there are times when you’re like, oh I totally want to be a part of the hive mind, and then there are times when you’re like, no, Carol’s right! She’s got to fight for humanity and the difference. It’s not just one way or the other. It’s not just those are the bad guys and Carol’s the good guy. It flops back and forth and there are times with Carol where you’re like, whoa, don’t get an atom bomb! What are you doing? But then Zosia steals her eggs and you’re like, what? This is terrible! So it’s so complicated.”
Watch the video above to hear about his other appearances this season on Elsbeth and Stumble and how he still hopes people continue to discover the warm hug that is Somebody Somewhere.
Season one of Pluribus and Widow’s Bay are streaming on Apple TV.
