Alison Stewart: This is All Of It on WNYC. I'm Alison Stewart. It's time for an All Of It watch party. This is when we get together to watch a series and then make time to talk about it. Kind of like the company water cooler, but on the airwaves. Today we are talking about Apple TV's Pluribus with one of its lead actors, Karolina Wydra, who plays the hivemind liaison, Zosia. Here's a scoop. An alien virus has infected the world's populace, creating a giant consciousness that each person shares. They know everything about everyone and how to get everything done. They are polite and friendly and just a little bit creepy.

Suddenly there are no problems, no issues between people, everyone gets along, shares everything, except for 13 people who are not joined into the group. They retain their individuality and all that that entails. One of the old-school type is Carol, a gruff writer of hapless romance books, played by Rhea Seehorn, who won a Golden Globe last night. Carol's wife was killed when the joining happened. In fact, a lot of people were killed, and that has Carol worried, among many other things.

It seemed that the new folks, the others, they are trying to figure out a way to have Carol join them, and they sent Zosia there to help her out. Pluribus is a giant hit. Apple TV announced it's its highest watched show ever. Many of you who are familiar with the show will welcome our guest, Karolina Wydra, who plays Zosia. Welcome, Karolina.

Karolina Wydra: Thank you so much for having me.

Alison Stewart: What was going on in your life when you got the call to audition for Pluribus?

Karolina Wydra: Oh, my goodness. Well, I took a break for quite a while because I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom, and it was very important to me. At that time I didn't have an agent or a manager, so when I was ready to get back into acting, I wasn't sure how it was going to happen. Out of the blue, I got an email from a commercial agent that I wasn't working with that there was a request for an audition from casting directors. I didn't know what it was, what it was about. Then eventually I found out, and I auditioned. When I heard the name Vince Gilligan, it was always a dream of mine to work with him ever since Breaking Bad. I was a huge fan of his.

Basically, that's where I was, without an agent or a manager. This came as a true gift from the universe. I put myself on tape, and the rest is history, which is still, I cannot believe that here I am working with Rhea, working with Vince. The show has been so incredibly well-received and loved, and I'm really grateful for that.

Alison Stewart: How was the character of Zosia described in the script when you read it?

Karolina Wydra: When I auditioned for it, I actually had no idea what the show was about because it was very, very secretive. When I tested for the show, it was the final audition process, where you go in front of the studio and the network and you audition. I got to have the first two scripts. When I read it, I was completely blown away by the idea and what Vince created, the world he created and the character of who Zosia is, where it was never done on television before. To play someone that it's everyone, the whole world, billions of people, one person, was very intimidating and very exciting. I had a ton of questions. It was really exciting.

Alison Stewart: What was your audition process like?

Karolina Wydra: When I got the audition through the commercial agent, I put myself on tape, and then with a friend of mine. Two days later, I got an email back saying that they would love to see more materials of things that I have done, see my reel. Then it was around Christmas time. I decided to take it into my own hands and email the casting, Sharon Bialy and Sherry Thomas and Russell Scott, and talk to them directly. I've auditioned for them before, and I was up for some of their projects before, so they remembered me from years prior. It was around Christmas time, and they said to me that in the new year, I will hear if it goes further or not.

January 3rd, it's so wild when you have these moments in your life that are just so mind-blowing and surreal. You remember all the details, the dates. I remember where I was and the time that it was. I really can put myself back in that moment when I received the call was January 3rd. I was in Mexico, and Russell Scott, he emailed me, and he said he would love to speak to me. I got on the phone with him, and he said, "We would love to test you for the show." I couldn't believe it. Because I didn't have manager and agent, I didn't know how I was going-- The process is you have a test deal, which is you sign a contract for basically seven years. [chuckles]

Alison Stewart: Wow.

Karolina Wydra: It's a very overwhelming and exciting process, and you need to have someone that knows how to make a deal and negotiate on all the things. I happened to be with my best friend, Caitriona Balfe, who's an incredible actress, who's on Outlander. We happened to be together on vacation in Mexico. I turned to her, and I was screaming. I said, "They want to test me for this show, and I don't have representation, and I don't know what to do." She said, "Okay, you got to calm down."

[laughter]

Karolina Wydra: She said, "Let me talk to my manager, Brian." She said, "Let me see if he can help you." I got on the phone with Brian, and Brian said, "I know casting very well, and I know Sherry and Sharon and Russell." He said, "Let me speak to them." Then he said, "You need to get a lawyer." "Can you help me?" "Of course, you need a lawyer." I said, "Yes, yes, of course." He introduced me to David Matlof, who's my lawyer, who's a wonderful man. He made a deal.

He called me, and he said, "Okay, this is the offer. You're number two on the call sheet." I said, "Excuse me, I am a number two on the call sheet?" Because Rhea is number one, I'm number two, and then goes down from there. I just couldn't believe how significant the character would be on the series. I really didn't know anything about it until that moment. Then he said, "Vince would love to talk to you."

Alison Stewart: That's amazing.

Karolina Wydra: [unintelligible 00:07:16] I still can't believe that the whole thing that happened, the fact that he said to me, "Vince Gilligan would love to get on the phone with you and talk to you." You have to understand, Alison, it was a dream of mine. For years I would ask my team, I would say to them, "I will be a chair. I will play a chair. I would do anything to be in the Vince Gilligan universe. Whatever it takes, I want to be there," because I was such a big fan of his work. He's truly a master of his craft. He's an incredible director and writer and storyteller. He's just brilliant. To hear somebody say, "Vince Gilligan would love to talk to you-

Alison Stewart: It's amazing.

Karolina Wydra: -to consider you for his show," was truly mind-blowing. I still pinch myself not believing that this has all happened. After we talked, he took me through the process of what the test day would look like. On the test day, I got to meet Rhea Seehorn, who was truly magnificent. She was such a gift and so generous and so kind and made me feel so safe and so comfortable.

We did the scenes. It's actually the grenade scene. That was the test scene. We did the grenade scene a couple of times. We talked about it, we did it again, and that was it. Actually, when I walked out of that room, I went, "Okay, well, that was fun. Probably I will never see them again. That's it." That was a fun experience. [laughs] I can't believe that.

Alison Stewart: We're talking to Karolina Wydra. She plays Zosia from Pluribus on Apple TV. If you have a question for Karolina, our phone lines are open. 212-433-9692, 212-433-WNYC. You're not just a character in the show, you're every character, every person on the face of the earth in this newly joined hivemind. How do you approach that as an actor? What script analysis do you do to get ready to play Zosia?

Karolina Wydra: I did my regular script analysis, diving deep into that. Then, I love to do a lot of dreamwork. I believe it stems from Carl Jung and tapping into the subconscious of the character. For me, it's a very personal, very beautiful work that you get to really dive deep into that subconscious world of who the character is. I did that. Then I did bodywork, a lot of bodywork that I work with Goli Samii on the dreamwork. She's a coach that I work with for that. Then John Markland, I work with physical stuff and diving deep into the hivemind, and what the hivemind is, and what it means.

The physical part, for me, was these people, to start off, they have the highest intelligence and emotional intelligence of anyone in the world, and everyone has that. How do you move in the world when you have that? How do you view the world from that perspective? They don't feel pain and negative feelings like a normal person would. They have a memory of it. They live in this blissful, happy, joyous, unflappable world today, and so how do you tap into that? The physical part was relaxing my body.

Normally, you would give whatever's happening to you to the character on the day, but Zosia is not nervous. She's not intimidated. She is serene and at peace, so that has to also live in my body. I did a lot of relaxation, a lot of meditation to get into that state of being where you do feel connected to the world and from a very spiritual perspective. That was very fun thing to do. I love meditation as it is, but I had to do more of it. There was just many different things that I had to add, and watched spiritual leaders and did research on what is an emotional intelligence? How does someone approach the world from that point of view?

They're non-judgmental. They're very open. They're great listeners. They hold space for other people. They don't need to talk. They can just be there, very present. Working on all that stuff was very fun, and actually made me a lot more present in my personal life and for my kids, which was very fun. There was a lot of different elements. Then for things like flying the-- actually, I got to truly taxi the C130, which was--

Alison Stewart: I listened to the podcast after the show. We're actually taxing a C130 plane.

Karolina Wydra: Yes.

Alison Stewart: That's amazing.

Karolina Wydra: (laughs) It's incredible. It was truly incredible. I still can't believe I got to do that, because it's such an incredible, stunning piece of machinery. That plane in particular has been around for a very long time. The pilots at first weren't sure if they could let me do it. After a day of rehearsal, they saw how serious I was about my-- oh, what am I trying to-- the word I'm trying to find-- my, not devotion, but how much I cared about the role and what I'm doing.

They saw how well I listened and the direction that I took, that they felt confident the next day for me to taxi the plane, which was pretty incredible. I had to do a lot of rehearsals for things that required me to be an expert at whatever I was doing because they have muscle memory of being the best of the best at whatever task they perform.

Alison Stewart: Got a text that says, "I love the show. Please thank her for her work. Love Zosia."

Karolina Wydra: Thank you.

Alison Stewart: We have a call here. Julie is calling in from New York. Julie, you're on the air.

Julie: Oh my God. Hi, Karolina. I'm such a big fan.

Karolina Wydra: Hi.

Julie: I have a question. Hi. If you were immune, what would be, maybe, the top three things that you would do if you first found out you were one of the unhived people?

Karolina Wydra: Oh, great question. If I was in the hivemind, I would love to be in Vince Gilligan's brain. That would be what I would want from the hivemind.

[laughter]

Karolina Wydra: If I wasn't, I would love a trip to Antarctica, go on an incredible expedition. I would love to have the best sushi meal. I love sushi, so the best of the best sushi meal made by the best sushi chef. The third one. Oh my goodness. If Rothko was alive, I would love to have a lesson from him. I'm a huge Rothko fan, so I would love to sit and watch him paint, or I would love to get a painting lesson from a greatest artist. [laughs]

Alison Stewart: Oh, that was so funny when she took the Georgia O'Keeffe out of the museum and put it in her house.

Karolina Wydra: Oh, yes.

Alison Stewart: He laughed. [laughs]

Karolina Wydra: Georgia O'Keeffe, yes, if she was alive, I would love to sit down with her and have a chat. I was a huge fan. Yes, absolutely. She's incredible.

Alison Stewart: This text says, "For Karolina. Are there special challenges in playing a character who can't lie?"

Karolina Wydra: Yes, absolutely. For me, the challenge-- I'm a very empathetic person. I feel so deeply that when I was watching Rhea Seehorn, who plays Carol Sturka, go and struggle emotionally, not being able to go on that journey with her but watch her have her feelings and hold space for her and not mirror her emotions, that was challenging at times, and pull back and trust that what I was doing was enough, and trust Vince. He would guide me through those moments and remind me that once Carol experiences the goodness of this virus, that she will know that it's worth fighting for. He would remind me of those moments of not go on that emotional journey with her. That was the part that was challenging.

Alison Stewart: It's so interesting because you have to be very calm and have an inner peace in the face of a very angry and a sarcastic Carol. Sometimes it reminds me of an adult with a child who's screaming, watching you.

Karolina Wydra: Yes, yes. I have two little kids, so yes.

[laughter]

Alison Stewart: So you know. How would you describe your chemistry with Rhea Seehorn? Because you have to deal with her anger, her lust, her curiosity, her sexuality about your character?

Karolina Wydra: First of all, Rhea, she is a dream partner to work with. She's truly so giving and so open and so there for you. The challenges came-- We would have a lot of conversations about these moments. There's a moment where she pushes me, and then I short-circuit and start shaking, and she screams in my face in the second episode, that moment we would talk about it. I would actually tell her, "Go for it. Push me. I want to feel the experience." Then the moments that follow after, we have real experiences of it, and took a lot of trust on both parts to hold space for each other to go to these places.

The conversations that we would have of finding that sweet spot of what those moments were, and not being affected by her anger, and just holding that space for her with unconditional love was really fun to do. Also, Vince was very involved in all those conversations, and so having Rhea as a partner was truly a dream.

Alison Stewart: It takes time to make a show like this. It's a high-budget show. What is it like to work on a show that rewards patience?

Karolina Wydra: It was incredible. It was truly incredible. The production value and everything was something that I haven't experienced. It was my first time, and it was really special to be part of this production. Just to add to all that, our crew is magnificent. Everyone that's working on that show is top-notch. Everyone shows up with their A game, and then some day in and day out, no matter what time of day it is. To be part of that is so special. We're all so grateful, genuinely grateful that we have this magnificent crew that shows up on that level.

Alison Stewart: This is a great text that we got. "I love the contrast between Karolina speaking in her natural voice as opposed to the sound of Zosia's voice."

Karolina Wydra: [laughs] Thank you so much. I feel Karolina lives in the deeper register and Zosia lives in the higher register. I think there is something happens to my voice, I've noticed, when I am calm and collected, which I am calm now. There's something happens when I step into Zosia's shoes, where I feel a lot lighter. [chuckles] My voice goes up and softens a lot. [chuckles]

Alison Stewart: I've been speaking to Karolina Wydra. She plays Zosia from Pluribus. It's on Apple TV. If you haven't watched it, go watch it right now. Karolina, thanks for making the time today. We really appreciate it.

Karolina Wydra: Thank you. It's so good to be here. Thank you so much.