{"id":303768,"date":"2025-11-20T19:22:19","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T19:22:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/303768\/"},"modified":"2025-11-20T19:22:19","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T19:22:19","slug":"rhea-seehorn-walks-bob-odenkirk-through-the-apocalypse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/303768\/","title":{"rendered":"Rhea Seehorn Walks Bob Odenkirk Through the Apocalypse"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Rhea<\/p>\n

Rhea Seehorn, photographed by Matt Weinberger.<\/p>\n

Rhea Seehorn<\/a> spent six seasons as Vince Gilligan\u2019s secret weapon on Better Call Saul, disappearing into her character Kim Wexler with such restraint that she became one of TV\u2019s most riveting presences. Now, Gilligan\u2014the man who helped redefine prestige TV with Breaking Bad\u2014has written his latest opus Pluribus specifically for her. In the Apple TV mind-bender, she plays Carol Sturka, a romance novelist who somehow dodges an alien virus that fuses the rest of humanity into a blissed-out hive mind. The series, which has been marketed as being about \u201cthe most miserable person on Earth,\u201d is an end-of-the-world show unlike any other\u2014utopian and dystopian at the same time, with Seehorn\u2019s messy, painfully human performance at the center of it all. When her Better Call Saul co-star and close friend Bob Odenkirk<\/a> called to find out more about the show (he hadn\u2019t seen it yet), they got into everything, from acting in isolation to the emotional cost of throwing yourself into a role.<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

BOB ODENKIRK: Hi, Rhea.<\/p>\n

RHEA SEEHORN: Hey!<\/p>\n

ODENKIRK: This is for Interview magazine. Don\u2019t you love these Interview interviews? Did you read them when you were younger?<\/p>\n

SEEHORN: Totally. I had a subscription.<\/p>\n

ODENKIRK: You did? I never felt I needed to because they were laying around a lot of places in New York.<\/p>\n

SEEHORN: I wasn\u2019t that cool. This was Virginia, but I basically thought I was an insider because I had Premiere and Interview. Both large formats.<\/p>\n

ODENKIRK: Beautiful, big photography. That\u2019s something that\u2019s lost in our modern world. Everything on your screen is the size of your screen, whereas that old magazine was huge.<\/p>\n

SEEHORN: I loved it. Are you at home?\u00a0<\/p>\n

ODENKIRK: I\u2019m at home. Sorry, I\u2019m blowing my nose. It\u2019s cool and gray here. It won\u2019t stay that way, of course. It\u2019s the dead of winter, which means two and a half hours of fog, then swimming and sun. You haven\u2019t spent much time in L.A. in the last year-and-a-half, have you?<\/p>\n

SEEHORN: No, I\u2019ve been in your house in Albuquerque.<\/p>\n

ODENKIRK: Well, they wanted me to watch three episodes, but I couldn\u2019t make it work.<\/p>\n

SEEHORN: You haven\u2019t seen anything?<\/p>\n

ODENKIRK: No.<\/p>\n

SEEHORN: Are you coming to the premiere?<\/p>\n

ODENKIRK: Sure. I can\u2019t fucking wait. I was kind of bummed out by the idea of watching it on my computer. Well, let me start on my questions. So, from what I know of the show, you do a lot alone. True?<\/p>\n

SEEHORN: Yes. The thing that happens\u2014the sci-fi element to the whole world\u2014I\u2019m immune to, and it automatically makes me separate from a lot of people.\u00a0<\/p>\n

ODENKIRK: How do you rehearse a scene that you play alone? Is there anything you had to do or think about, especially with no dialogue?<\/p>\n

SEEHORN: That\u2019s the other thing: I was not only by myself, but I often had no dialogue.\u00a0<\/p>\n

ODENKIRK: What do you do to get some preparation, or did you not feel the need to?<\/p>\n

SEEHORN: I absolutely did. The thoughts that your character is wrestling have to be your scene partner at that moment. Vince does such a great job at not ever making us, the actors, telegraph to the audience what we\u2019re thinking, so I didn\u2019t feel like I had to make sure the audience could follow everything in some kind of simplified way.\u00a0<\/p>\n

ODENKIRK: Do you just sit and contemplate it and write it down? Or do you try to go on set,\u00a0 walk around, and act it out essentially?<\/p>\n

SEEHORN: I write it down, do a lot of thinking about it, and then leave space for things to happen in the moment when you get there. That\u2019s what you and I would do on Saul. You do your homework and then you get there, and get thrilled if somebody throws you a curveball.<\/p>\n

ODENKIRK: What did you learn about your character in the course of the season that you didn\u2019t know, and maybe even Vince didn\u2019t know, in the first three episodes? And by the way, Rhea, I think this runs after those first episodes so don\u2019t worry about spoilers here.\u00a0<\/p>\n

SEEHORN: Similar to Saul, we were doing one script at a time. Because of the strikes, I was able to have three scripts before we started filming, and I got off book on all three. It was a godsend timewise, because the work starts piling up, and you\u2019re getting the next script, and trying to sleep, and trying to prep. But Vince told me from the beginning that, \u201cI\u2019m not sure exactly what the show is.\u201d I knew what he meant was tone. He really wanted to push tone, this idea of how far can you push a comedic moment and have it live in the same show as a dramatic moment in the same scene earlier. He really wanted to play with changing genre in the middle of a scene. There were things I knew we were going to discover together, and we did. And one of the biggest things about my character was her partner dying, and her grief was very important. It\u2019s a present burden through the whole show, constantly hovering. And my character was almost suicidal to a degree that Vince and I realized we had to pull a back a bit, because where do you go from there?\u00a0<\/p>\n

ODENKIRK: Was there ever anything in the later episodes where you went, \u201cOh geez, I did not build this character to be this.\u201d Or did it all just organically build on itself without any hiccups?<\/p>\n

SEEHORN: Something happens that I know I can\u2019t spoil because it\u2019s a much later episode.<\/p>\n

ODENKIRK: The reason I\u2019m interested is because this fascinates me about Vince and his writing\u2014the degree to which he goes, \u201cJesse was supposed to be killed in the first season of Breaking Bad.\u201d<\/p>\n

SEEHORN: My character wasn\u2019t going to be around for Saul.<\/p>\n

ODENKIRK: If I could describe what Vince\u2019s dreams and goals in life are, it\u2019s to get himself in a corner and try to figure out a way out of it.<\/p>\n

SEEHORN: He literally said that on a podcast I was on with him. \u201cI think I must be a sadist because I like painting myself into a corner and then having to figure out how to get out.\u201d [Laughs]<\/p>\n

ODENKIRK: I always balk at the word genius, especially in regards to Vince, because calling him a genius is a way of taking away from how hard he works. It\u2019s a way of saying, \u201cYou just have a gift,\u201d when people don\u2019t realize he sweats every second.<\/p>\n

SEEHORN: And every word.<\/p>\n

ODENKIRK: I write too, and when I\u2019m on my third draft, and I\u2019m like, \u201cThat\u2019s enough of that shit! That thing\u2019s done, gold!\u201d It\u2019s like, \u201cThis is like a rough draft for him.\u201d We have to discuss the writing, because it\u2019s everything.<\/p>\n

SEEHORN: It\u2019s everything. The sets he creates, the people he assembles, and the room he gives you to then challenge yourself is incredible. But the scripts you\u2019re starting with, not enough can be said about that foundation. And as you know, they read like novels. And there\u2019s no typos. And if you do have a question, it\u2019s treated with care and with respect.<\/p>\n

ODENKIRK: It\u2019s such an honor to have your critiques and comments treated with respect after the hard work that they\u2019ve put in, that they don\u2019t just go, \u201cShut the fuck up. We worked so hard on this.\u201d But I want to just point out something that you intimated in your answer a little while ago. This show sounds like it has some comedy in it.<\/p>\n

SEEHORN: It\u2019s hilarious sometimes, Bob.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

ODENKIRK: It looks like a scary dystopia with a lonely person and tension and a fear that will propel our interest and pull us in. But it\u2019s also got humor all through it.<\/p>\n

SEEHORN: Yes. We are absolute idiots when we\u2019re left alone and don\u2019t think anybody\u2019s watching, and Vince really tucked into that. In episode one, he starts the show with a little bit of comedy. I\u2019m doing a book reading and a book signing in a Barnes & Noble, and there\u2019s some funniness there. And then it just goes into this full-out horror movie. It\u2019s\u00a0 all these tropes of things that Vince loves\u2014horror movie tropes, jump scares, zombies, Invasion of the Body Snatchers. But when I was reading it, I was like, \u201cThis seems like it\u2019s funny. Is this funny?\u201d And sure enough, it was.\u00a0<\/p>\n

ODENKIRK: That\u2019s so cool. Vince is never overtly political, but Pluribus seems like it might be more of a commentary on how we try to order ourselves as a society. What do you think? I\u2019m sure Vince would never choose a side.<\/p>\n

SEEHORN: If you talk to him about themes, he glazes over. He\u2019s not writing themes, and he\u2019s definitely not preaching. But I do know that he has feelings and thoughts about the world that we live in now and its divisiveness, whether it\u2019s politics, or religion, or culture. It\u2019s been very interesting talking to the press about the show. We have people asking, \u201cIs this a commentary on AI?\u201d And Vince was like, \u201cNo.\u201d AI existed when Vince first started thinking about the concept about a decade ago but it wasn\u2019t the debate it is now. We were asked, \u201cIs it a commentary on the pandemic? Is it a commentary on religious zealots?\u201d Because there\u2019s a lot of that, too. But like Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, it\u2019s at its core about human nature. Those are the biggest questions he wanted to ask\u2014what makes us human?<\/p>\n

ODENKIRK: Yeah. He\u2019s never going to land on any side. Although I will say, having a lesbian lead character, that\u2019s a big choice for him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

SEEHORN: Even having a female protagonist was a big deal for him. He\u2019s never done that.<\/p>\n

ODENKIRK: And asking us to perceive her relationship as deep and true and to believe in that, that\u2019ll actually come off as political too, sadly<\/p>\n

SEEHORN: [Laughs] To some people.<\/p>\n

ODENKIRK: To half the country. They\u2019ll be like, \u201cWhat? No way! That can\u2019t be true!\u201d But it\u2019s interesting, based on the trailer, which is all I\u2019ve seen, I thought of the pandemic right away. And I\u2019m sure he would never mean for it to be direct, but as you say, maybe it\u2019s about the divisiveness that we\u2019re all stewing in right now.<\/p>\n

SEEHORN: There are big, big questions about isolation and what it means to be alone and this idea of being a misanthrope in the world, which sometimes Vince will say about himself. He really wanted me to psychologically explore the idea of where the breakdown would be if you were absolutely alone, left to your own devices.<\/p>\n

ODENKIRK: Wild. Acting, to me, is most rewarding when it feels like a journey, like you have to sort of come back from it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Rhea<\/a><\/p>\n

SEEHORN: What do you mean?<\/p>\n

ODENKIRK: Well, you have a hard scene where you\u2019re in the desert and you\u2019re walking around with Mike Ehrmantrout and you\u2019re feeling all these pressures, both physical and environmental, and you have to lose yourself in it. Then you have to come home and be you again. And it\u2019s like you went somewhere, and your own desire to be good, puts you in a different place. I\u2019m sure you spent hours lost in this character, and then you have to remember you\u2019re Rhea Seehorn. And to me, that was the coolest thing about acting, the discovery of that level of journeying. It\u2019s the only reason I understand Daniel Day Lewis, the \u201cI\u2019m Abraham Lincoln for the next three months\u201d thing. Because it\u2019s easier to do that than to try to extract yourself from the character every night and then find your way back in. But you can\u2019t do that when you have to spend 11 months shooting a show. You have to talk to your kids. You have to talk to your partner. You have to live in the world again.\u00a0<\/p>\n

SEEHORN: I know what you mean. Even when we were doing night shoots, and I rented your house there, we\u2019d get home, the sun\u2019s coming up, and I can\u2019t go straight to bed because no matter how much you tell yourself, \u201cI\u2019m Rhea and I\u2019m going to make a hot pocket in the microwave,\u201d my body doesn\u2019t know that what we did was make belief. So if you\u2019ve been running all night or trying to revive your wife and crying your eyes out about it, what it does to your body, that\u2019s all still there. And as you know, you\u2019re also thinking about how the scenes went, and what are the scenes tomorrow. I\u2019m not doing therapy. I don\u2019t believe in going out there and thinking about your dead dog to make yourself cry. I do my \u201cas if\u201d work at home, and then I get there, and I\u2019m putting yourself in the circumstances. But you taught me a valuable lesson during Saul when you had the kind of hours that I then had on Pluribus. You said, \u201cCall your partner and your kids at the meal break, even if it\u2019s only one minute during the day. Because waiting till you\u2019re done to talk to them, it\u2019s not good.\u201d So I did that all the time, no matter how tired I was.<\/p>\n

ODENKIRK: How do you depressurize when you\u2019re in Albuquerque? I used to ride my bike for hours. It got easier when we shared a home, because you come home to a social scenario, which was great. And it\u2019s a social scenario that doesn\u2019t mind you obsessing about the show. These are the only people in the world who aren\u2019t like, \u201cWill you shut up about that fucking show?\u201d [Laughs]<\/p>\n

SEEHORN: [Laughs] Exactly. I would walk a lot. I wish I had gotten exercise more. I could barely get the prep done and get enough sleep, and then go back to set. But I did tons of jigsaw puzzles and a lot of arts and crafts, because I can\u2019t really shut my brain off.\u00a0<\/p>\n

ODENKIRK: One of the reasons I got into sketch comedy when I was younger is I like thinking about different things over the course of the day. I don\u2019t like having to think about one thing. So I did resent how much Saul took over my life and my brain. But I\u2019m so happy for you. And are you enjoying all the press, or are you sick of it yet?<\/p>\n

SEEHORN: I\u2019m into it.<\/p>\n

ODENKIRK: Be honest.<\/p>\n

SEEHORN: I do!<\/p>\n

ODENKIRK: Bullshit!<\/p>\n

SEEHORN: I pinch myself. It\u2019s amazing.<\/p>\n

SEEHORN: You and I have said a million times, \u201cSomebody could be doing the best work of their life and nobody\u2019s watching it.\u201d We know the gift we get to not just get to do Vince\u2019s scripts, but the fact that Vince has loyal followers and has built a brand that makes people want to watch it. And Apple, spending all this money and believing in the show, and believing in me, and wanting to market it, and journalists that are not sitting there falling asleep because they have to interview me, but telling me that they love the show, and telling me all these things that it brought up in their own head about their own life, and what it means to be human. I\u2019m just like, \u201cDude, it\u2019s fucking amazing to get to do this for a living.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

ODENKIRK: Right. Well, I think that\u2019s all our time.<\/p>\n

SEEHORN: Yep. I was just moving on. That was a great way to end it.<\/p>\n

ODENKIRK: Yeah, it was. It was a great final answer.<\/p>\n

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