Vince Gilligan Considered Making ‘Pluribus’ Cast Naked, but ‘We’re Not Working for HBO’ and ‘We Can’t Do That to All These Extras’ https://t.co/DAa8WqVsBt
— Variety (@Variety) March 14, 2026
At today’s Pluribus panel for SXSW, show creator Vince Gilligan mentioned that he considered having the plurbs be naked: “We talked about [how] they didn’t need to wear clothes at all, but we’re not working for HBO. But then we thought, we can’t do that to all these extras. We can’t all be naked.”
Rhea Seehorn’s response: “Oh my god, thank you… can you imagine… if I had to try to act with 300 naked people??”
At another point during the panel, a man (of course) asked a question about “unlikable” characters. Vince and Rhea were not having it:
[she is allowed to be as upset and angry as anybody would be]
YESSSSSS RHEA AND VINCE TELL THEM pic.twitter.com/K71mHBagy2
— nands (@lesbianands) March 14, 2026
Interviewer: “There’s a question from the audience, from Louis, that says, “What’s the secret to having audiences root for an unlikable character?”
Vince: “Oh, man. What’s with the unlikable? That’s the thing I take issue with. I’ve been hearing that a bit… I mean, having Rhea Seehorn or Bryan Cranston as your lead, or Bob Odenkirk, that’s a helluva start. That will get you 99.9% of the way there.”
Rhea’s more in-depth response:
“she’s allowed to be as upset and angry as anybody would be” rhea seehorn on the allegations carol is unlikable!! pic.twitter.com/2kiDVLyzf1
— Cris ✨ (@lionesspike) March 14, 2026
Rhea: “I think, and this is no fault of the question, because I understand the question, and I think I maybe even understand the question behind the question. But the phrase “unlikable” has gotten misused, or overused, about female characters. Because how people have been defining what’s likable in a woman is very, VERY restrictive… However, I will say this. I think it’s more important that a character be accessible in some way, especially if I am the conduit to take the audience by the hand and take them down this rabbit hole. And for me, behaving truthfully and honest in a moment when people might say, ‘Wow, she’s really not polite when [the plurbs] bring her things,’ and I’m like, ‘They killed my wife. My career is gone. I might die alone watching Golden Girls. I’m sorry I wasn’t CHIRPY.’ … Her wife was her entire way of behaving halfway normal in the world. And then she hid at home and was this misanthrope. And she’s allowed to be the full spectrum of human behavior. And now she’s being asked to suppress that … I find her complex and difficult and challenging but I [also] find her honest and truthful and real… she’s allowed to be as upset and angry as anybody would be. And I hope that that makes her accessible and watchable instead of likable.”
BONUS: The panel got Rhea to do the coyote howl!
them making rhea do the coyote howl LMAOOO pic.twitter.com/NDiaSTDguM
— kirsten 🩸 (@neverjanedoe) March 14, 2026
