Note: This story contains spoilers from “Pluribus.”
It’s ironic that Karolina Wydra stars on a show that explores the unexpected joys and pains of humanity. That’s because the actor’s journey to “Pluribus” mirrors all of the highs and lows Zosia, her hive mind-controlled character, is incapable of experiencing.
“The whole time, you have to understand, I was literally pinching myself and waiting for somebody to jump out with cameras going, ‘Honey, you’ve been Punk’d. This is not real,’ ” Wydra told TheWrap about the casting process.
After giving birth to her two sons, Wydra decided to pause her acting career and become a stay-at-home mother, a decision that prompted her manager and agent to drop her. Years later, when a commercial agent reached out to Wydra with her dream project — a starring role in a Vince Gilligan project for Apple — the actress was ready to re-enter the work force. The problem was she didn’t have representation.
“I decided to just give it a try because I didn’t even think it was a possibility. It felt like a faraway dream,” she recalled.
Wydra sent her tape hoping for the best but not expecting much of a response. When the team behind what would become “Pluribus” asked for a test screening, Wydra had to borrow an agent who represented one of her best friends. That agent set her up with a lawyer and helped facilitate her throughout the casting process. Even after talking to Gilligan about the show, an experience she described as “surreal,” and working with Rhea Seehorn — a person Wydra says is “unreal in every aspect, as a woman, as a friend, as an actor” — she wasn’t sure she’d get the part.
“It’s a moment where you go, ‘I’m about to work with someone that I admire so much and have dreamed about for so long.’ Your life is about to change or be the same, which is not bad. But it’s this moment where you’re right there, and you could go this way or that way,” Wydra said.
She was told to pop a bottle of champagne. She was Zosia.
“I screamed, I cried, I was beside myself,” Wydra said. “It was a dream come true.”
Extreme moments like the ones Wydra experienced throughout her casting process lay at the center of “Pluribus.” After most of the world has been taken over by a hive mind species focused on creating a perfect utopia, Carol (Seehorn) is among a handful of people immune to its control. While Carol argues with the Others about the value of free will and humanity’s imperfections, the Others oppose her with their very existence by creating a world devoid of hate, war, racism, world hunger and the rest of our flaws. As the series progresses, Carol develops a friendship of sorts with Zosia as the two unravel the show’s central debates.
“I was very protective of Zosia because to play her I had to go in that state of mind and believe in my cause, believe in what I’m experiencing,” Wydra said. That meant having numerous conversations with Gilligan and the rest of the cast and crew about the positives of conformity, namely creating a world with no suffering, no pressure and “pure goodness.”
“What I love about this show is that it starts so many conversations about humanity,” Wydra said. “You do lose this individuality and the loneliness that Carol experiences. Also, we talked about not being surprised, and how magical it is when, in this world, people don’t get to be surprised.”
“Pluribus” releases new episodes Fridays on Apple TV.
