Rhea Seehorn: ‘I love the idea that a woman’s anger can be dangerous’

Rhea Seehorn, 53, is an Emmy-nominated actor and director best known for playing lawyer Kim Wexler in Better Call Saul. Born in Virginia, and living around the world as a child (her parents worked in the navy), she did theatre around odd jobs before breaking into TV sitcoms. She plays grouchy fantasy-romance novelist Carol Sturka in Pluribus, a new sci-fi series on AppleTV from Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan about a world overcome by artificial happiness. Seehorn lives in Los Angeles with husband Graham Larson, with whom she has two stepsons.

Pluribus is one of the most anticipated TV series of the autumn. When did you know that Vince Gilligan had you in mind for the lead?

Not for ages. When we were wrapping Better Call Saul, I was desperate for all of the writers, episode directors and producers to know that I would want to work with them again, so I started calling them one by one, but people were a little cagey, in a way that made me think I overstepped. I was all, “Oh my God, they didn’t like me as much as I thought they did!” What I didn’t know is that Vince had already told all of them, “Hands off, guys!”, and that he’d written something for me. He [later] told me so in post-production, very sweetly. I was in utter shock. But I was like, “Whatever it is, Vince, it doesn’t matter. I’ll do whatever for you.”

Why is he unbeatable to work for?

Because whatever he’s exploring, he’s going to be the best explorer, and he stands by a no assholes rule in his productions. Everybody’s supporting you to take risks, and everybody’s rooting for you.

It’s rare to have a female lead, and Pluribus is such a female-heavy show. Do you find that as refreshing as I do?

I do, but I also love that Vince didn’t come to Pluribus thinking, “Oh, the box I need to check is to write a strong, complex female lead.” He just told me he’d been grappling with questions for a show idea that wasn’t quite gelling, then, while watching me during Better Call Saul, stuff just started clicking. I do love the idea of my character’s anger being problematic for people, though. I feel like I have mostly been taught to tamp it down. I love the idea that a woman’s anger can be dangerous.

What’s your relationship with sci-fi?

I love it. I grew up watching repeats of The Twilight Zone, and I had a blast doing a recent episode of Jordan Peele’s revamp of it. Brave New World is one of my favourite books; I love things that hold a mirror up to the world you actually live in. I also loved going to Comic Con with Better Call Saul, and found that comic and sci-fi fans are a really smart, lovely, fun group of people. I must have spoken to about 1,500 to 2,000 of them, one at a time, and they’re so excited about complex stories and complex characters and world-building, as am I.

One of the subjects Pluribus explores is what happiness means today. How did that strike you?

I can’t say much, but with this new world we’re talking about [in Pluribus], certain parts of our self drive get taken away, because there’s no point in trying to be better than someone else. And I was thinking, wow, I derive a lot of happiness from driving myself to be better and better in the limited amount of time I have on this planet. Yes, I need the love of my friends and family, but part of that happiness and love is because I’ve been through hard things with them, and we’ve walked each other through the uncomfortable feelings.

You’ve been on podcasts talking about being part of a happy, blended family. What’s the best thing you’ve taught your stepchildren?

I’ve made sure that they knew from a young age that I loved the homework part of my job, so they’ll take that into whatever they want to do in their lives. I say this to young actors that I’ve coached, too. You’ve got to love breaking down a script, and analysing why you love other people’s performances, just as much as acting itself.

You were filming the last season of Better Call Saul when lead actor Bob Odenkirk had a heart attack on set, and had to be revived with CPR. How has that experience affected you?

Almost losing Bob – actually, medically – was traumatic, and it was, as Bob has said publicly, in a scene with me, Tony Dalton [playing antagonist Lalo Salamanca], and Patrick Fabian [playing lawyer Howard Hamlin]. It’s certainly not something that any of us are ever going to forget, but all you can do is be thankful. It could have happened in his sleep. It’s only because we locked eyes on him that we knew something was happening.

Are you in touch with Bob now?

Bob and I have been close friends in real life for years – we have the same sense of humour – so one of the only ways I was able to not pass out from the tragedy of [Better Call Saul] ending was that I knew that mine and Bob’s relationship was real. He could not be happier for me getting to do this show, and I was jumping up and down when he was nominated for a Tony for Glengarry Glen Ross.

What do you do to relax?

In school I studied fine arts and painting, and I still do a lot of art. I also like doing repetitive, tedious things such as embroidery and jigsaw puzzles. I say my lines out loud while I’m doing them so they’re in my bones and I can play with them more when I’m on set.

Not many women break through as actors in their forties in today’s industry. What gave you the courage to persevere?

I’m incredibly fortunate now to act for a living, but the truth is, if I didn’t, I’d have a day job to pay my bills and then do community theatre. There was no way I wasn’t going to do this.

Pluribus is available now on AppleTV