For Karolina Wydra, getting a call to audition for a secretive new project from Vince Gilligan, the creator of Breaking Bad, felt like a dream she had long given up on. Her journey to becoming Zosia, the serene and mysterious guide in Apple TV’s sci-fi drama Pluribus, is a story of patience, persistence, and a life-changing conversation with a legendary actor.
The series, which premiered its first season in November 2025, stars Rhea Seehorn as Carol Sturka, a misanthropic author who becomes one of only thirteen people immune to a global event called “the Joining.” This event transforms the rest of humanity into a peaceful, blissful hive mind known as “the Others”. Wydra’s Zosia is the primary liaison between Carol and this new collective world, a role that required the actor to play a character embodying billions of people while remaining unfailingly calm.
After taking a five-year break from acting to focus on motherhood, Karolina Wydra was not actively looking for work and did not have an agent when the opportunity for Pluribus found her. The show’s casting directors, who have worked with Gilligan for years, searched extensively before remembering Wydra from a past project. They tracked her down through an old contact.
Wydra has been a dedicated fan of Gilligan’s work since Breaking Bad. She had even asked her previous team to get her an audition for anything he was doing, no matter how small the role. When the audition sides for a mysterious character finally arrived, she faced an unexpected hurdle: her own nerves.
“When I finally had that moment I’d dreamt of, my first reaction was, ‘Don’t do it. It’s never going to happen.’ … You think you’re going to react a certain way to something you’ve always wanted, but then you have another reaction,” Wydra shared.
She decided to try anyway. The process involved a chemistry read with Rhea Seehorn and a pivotal Zoom conversation with Gilligan himself. It was during this call that Gilligan mentioned he had just spoken to Bryan Cranston about her. Wydra had previously worked with Cranston on the series Sneaky Pete. This endorsement from one of television’s most respected actors was a surreal moment that signaled how serious her candidacy was.
A week later, she got the call that she had booked the series regular role, a moment she describes as emotional and beyond her wildest dreams.
In Pluribus, Zosia is not a villain, but she is not entirely human either. She is a physical manifestation of the Joined hive mind, assigned to care for Carol. Her primary traits are unwavering kindness, serenity, and a deep desire for Carol to experience the bliss of the Joining. This presented Wydra with a unique acting challenge.
Normally, actors build scenes together by reacting to each other’s emotions. However, Zosia cannot mirror Carol’s rage, fear, or grief. She must remain a placid, loving presence no matter what Carol throws at her.
“It was really challenging at times to watch somebody have their emotional journey and not be able to go on it,” Wydra admitted. “I just had to trust that what I’m doing is not too robotic and find that sweet spot that ‘the Others’ live in”.
To find Zosia’s physicality and inner peace, Wydra relied on meditation and bodywork to relax her muscles and stay present. She also worked with a movement coordinator to choreograph the disturbing convulsions Zosia experiences when Carol’s strong negative emotions overwhelm the hive mind.
Despite the character’s calm exterior, Wydra and the writers infused Zosia with deep complexity. The relationship between Zosia and Carol evolves throughout the season, touching on themes of loneliness, consent, and what it means to love someone. Wydra approached Zosia’s willingness to fulfill any request, including romantic ones, not as emptiness, but as an expression of the Joined’s unified, non-judgmental love.
The first season of Pluribus builds to a major cliffhanger in the finale, “La Chica o El Mundo.” Carol, after a period of relative peace, learns that the Joined have discovered a loophole to assimilate her using her own frozen eggs from a fertility clinic. Feeling profoundly betrayed, especially by Zosia, Carol’s mission reignites with a new edge.
In the final moments, Zosia delivers a devastating tool to Carol’s driveway: a live atomic bomb, a callback to a question Carol posed sarcastically earlier in the season. The season ends with Carol and fellow immune survivor Manousos (Carlos-Manuel Vesga) staring at the weapon, leaving their plan—and the fate of the world—unclear.
Unlike famous unresolved plot points in Breaking Bad, the Pluribus writing team says they have a plan for the bomb. Senior writer and executive producer Gordon Smith stated, “We’ve got a pretty good idea where we’re going with it”. The finale reshapes Carol’s motivation, pushing her to a more desperate place after her trust is broken.
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As for what comes next, even the stars are in the dark. Karolina Wydra confirmed that the actors have not been told anything about the storyline for Season 2, which is currently being written.
“I think that’s Vince. I love that about Vince because he keeps everything to himself and then it gets revealed little bit by little bit,” Wydra said. She sees this secrecy as a benefit, allowing her to play each moment truthfully without foreshadowing future twists.
Vince Gilligan has indicated that fans will need to be patient for the show’s return, noting the team works at its own meticulous pace. Pluribus has already been renewed for a second season.
The complete first season of Pluribus, consisting of nine episodes, is available to stream on Apple TV+.
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