‘Pluribus’ Cast Were Nearly Naked, Vince Gilligan Reveals

The costume designer “Pluribus” almost had a very easy task.

During a panel at SXSW, while discussing his sci-fi hit on Apple TV, Vince Gilligan said he believed the hundreds of characters that make up the hive mind should be naked.

“We talked about it [how] they didn’t have to wear any clothes at all, but we don’t work for HBO,” Gilligan said, causing the audience to laugh. “But then we thought, we can’t do that with all these extras. We can’t all be naked.”

Next to him was lead actor Rhea Seehorn, who burst out laughing: “Oh my God, thank you… Can you imagine… if I had to try to perform with 300 naked people?”

“Pluribus” is set in a post-apocalyptic world where all but thirteen 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 eerily friendly yes people who always speak in the royal we. Theoretically, they wouldn’t be ashamed of being naked, but Gilligan realized there was also a practical component to their clothing.

“We thought they were wearing clothes strictly for protection from the sun and from cold or whatever,” he said. “But we talked for hours and hours and hours about all that stuff.”

Speaking about the costumes of ‘Pluribus’, Seehorn pointed out that at the beginning of the series, when ‘The Joining’ infects humanity, people are dressed in the outfits they were wearing at the time, including work uniforms for characters who happened to be on the clock. (Remember the DHL guy who tells Carol that she could probably have a nuclear bomb, if she wanted one?)

Costume designer Jennifer Bryan, who was also on the panel, explained how the characters’ clothing became more minimalist and functional over time – in other words, less individualistic. “Eventually, days go by and people obviously have to change. And then all those clothing mores 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, president of Sony Pictures Television, moderated the conversation.