The science fiction show “Pluribus” from “Breaking Bad” creator Vince Gilligan is already the most-watched season in the history of Apple TV.
“Pluribus” envisions a present-day world in which a hive-mind links people’s thoughts and choices in the name of collective good. The world is now peaceful, yes — but there’s no free will or individual difference.
There are as many theories about what “Pluribus” is saying about our society as there are viewers.
Karolina Wydra plays Zosia, main character Carol’s liaison to the larger hive mind. Wydra breaks down her acting process, why she feels “Pluribus” is attracting so many fans and her theories about what the show says about society.
6 questions with Karolina Wydra
Were you a science fiction fan before this show? What drew you to the role?
“Oh, yes. I always love sci-fi. I love, is it a genre, psychological sci-fi? Because I call it psychological scifi, where it questions humans and when they’re put in a certain situation, what it does to them. I was a fan of ‘Twilight Zone.’ And so yes, I do enjoy sci-fi because it brings existential questions and puts them in situations and of who would we be if that happened?
How did you approach playing a character like this who’s part of this collective and has no autonomy, but is happy about it?
“ I love to do dream work for characters. I’m a big dreamer. I’m a huge fan of Carl Jung, and I use dreams to get into the subconscious of the character. And so that was one of the things that I did for this character, and I had to do a lot of physical work as far as relaxation to the body. These people are not robots. They’re human beings that don’t experience anger or they have a memory of anger. They don’t experience suffering. So to create all that, I had to do a lot of meditation.
“We did a lot of rehearsals because these people have muscle memory of everything that they perform. They’re the best at. So the scene where I get on C-130, it needs to be effortless as if she’s done it millions of times before. So we did a lot of rehearsals. I talked to the pilots of that plane for a whole day and I actually got to taxi the C -130, which is completely wild to me at the Albuquerque airport. It’s one of those things where I’ll never get to do again in my life so it was pretty special. And so we did a lot of rehearsals and talking to Vince and finding that sweet spot. They’re happy, but it goes more than just happy. They’re content.”
It’s fascinating to hear you say that because I think that most viewers are put in the position of Carol, where they look at this in horror that there’s no individuality. But your character Zosia says, ‘No, the world is so much better now.’ There’s no war. There’s no suffering. It’s interesting that you, as an actor, are also taking in that positive view that maybe this is a utopia and not a dystopia.
“This is the tricky thing. We’ve had all these conversations on set and bring up all these conversations and it’s not so black and white.
“So yes, part of me would want that work, because I do think it’s utopian. But then losing individuality as far as not being surprised ever again. I love theater, so going to a theater and seeing a play done for the first time, and going on that journey, you’ll never be able to experience that in this world. Or seeing somebody’s art for the first time that’s been created, you’ll never be surprised again. Your jokes will never be the same. You won’t laugh the same way. To give that up would be really, really hard. But then you go at a cost, the opposite of that, look at the world that you would live in. People actually care about a planet. They live by a certain code and they really care about not killing anyone and animals.”
What was it like performing the scene where your character passes out?
“ The sadness that we’re experiencing in that scene is that we feel destroyed inside that we can’t make [Carol] happy. And she would do anything, she would go to any length not to experience this gift that we wanna give her. And that’s what makes this world go into tears. And everyone’s crying. The rest of the world is in tears. And also because she comes very close to finding out the truth.”
What do you think “Pluribus” is trying to warn us about?
“There’s a part of the AI, the conformity of AI, I think, definitely there. There’s an element of that, of just people being worker bees, just one mind, just conformity, just dying off individuality. For me, I would imagine if I were an audience watching that, I think that’s what I would probably take out of that.”
Why do you think it’s resonating so much with audiences?
“By the way, we’re so grateful that people are loving this show so much beause it was such a labor of love. We had so much fun working on this. And to see people really enjoying it is just truly like, we’re so grateful and we’re so in awe. We can’t believe it.
“I think the show resonates with people because I believe that the show makes people lean in and listen. And they cannot numb out. You can’t be scrolling on your phone while you’re watching the show. You have to be present for it. And it starts conversations for people about the theories of what they experience, what it means to them, or whatever’s going on in their life, what it hits in their heart and soul, the show.”
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This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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