'Pluribus' Cast Was Almost Naked, Vince Gilligan Reveals

Mar 14, 2026 11:45am PT Vince Gilligan Considered Making ‘Pluribus’ Cast Naked, but ‘We’re Not Working for HBO’ and ‘We Can’t Do That to All These Extras’ By Ethan Shanfeld Plus Icon Ethan Shanfeld @ethanshanfeld Latest ‘Buffy’ Reboot Dead at Hulu, Sarah Michelle Gellar Says: ‘If the Apocalypse Actually Comes, You Can Still Beep Me’ 58 minutes ago ‘Ready or Not 2’ Brings Blood, Devil Worship and Exploding Bodies to Rowdy SXSW Premiere 17 hours ago Larry David’s New HBO Series Sets Title, Release Date and Cast: Bill Hader, Barack Obama, Kathryn Hahn and More to Appear 21 hours ago See All Getty Images The “Pluribus” costume designer almost had a very easy job. On a panel at SXSW, while discussing his Apple TV sci-fi hit, Vince Gilligan said he considered that the hundreds of characters that make up the hive mind should be naked. “We talked about [how] they didn’t need to wear clothes at all, but we’re not working for HBO,” Gilligan said, drawing laughs from the audience. “But then we thought, we can’t do that to all these extras. We can’t all be naked.” Related Stories Busy Philipps Joins CBS Legal Drama 'Cupertino' 'Yellowstone' Spinoff 'Marshals' Premieres With 9.5 Million Viewers on CBS Sitting next to him was lead actor Rhea Seehorn, who said, breaking out into laughter, “Oh my God, thank you … Can you imagine … if I had to try to act with 300 naked people?” Popular on Variety “Pluribus” takes place in a post-apocalyptic world in which all but 13 people on Earth are taken over by an alien virus that merges everyone’s consciousness into one hive mind. Seehorn’s character Carol is surrounded by creepily friendly yes-people who always speak in the royal we. Theoretically, they wouldn’t be embarrassed to be nude, but Gilligan realized there was also a practical component to their clothing. “We figured, they strictly wear clothes for protection against the sun and against cold or whatnot,” he said. “But we talked hours and hours and hours about all that kind of stuff.” Speaking about the costumes of “Pluribus,” Seehorn pointed out that at the beginning of the series, when “The Joining” infects mankind, people are dressed in the outfits they had on at the time, which included work uniforms for characters that happened to be on the clock. (Remember the DHL guy who tells Carol she could probably have an atom bomb, if she wanted one?) Costume designer Jennifer Bryan, who was also on the panel, explained how over time, the characters’ clothing became more minimal and functional — in other words, less individualistic. “Eventually days pass, and obviously people have to change clothes. And then all of those mores for clothing disappear. There’s no reason for them to impress you with their clothes.” Gilligan, Seehorn and Bryan were joined on the panel by “Pluribus” composer Dave Porter and executive producer Trina Siopy. Katherine Pope, the president of Sony Pictures Television, moderated the conversation. Jump to Comments Finneas O’Connell to Score ‘Beef’ Season 2 Netflix Says Paramount Has Paid $2.8 Billion Breakup Fee for Warner Bros. Discovery Deal ‘Bridgerton’ Season 4 Hits 28 Million Views After Part 2 Drops Netflix Out as Investor in Meghan Markle Brand As Ever Timothée Chalamet Says Netflix Wants the ‘Biggest Action Set Pieces Up Front’ as Matthew McConaughey Mourns the Loss of Act One in Movies: ‘The First Thing That Gets Cut’ Paramount Skydance Vows to ‘Engage Constructively’ With Warner Bros. Discovery Board After Making $31 a Share Bid JavaScript is required to load the comments. Loading comments...