Rhea Seehorn Wins Emmy for ‘Pluribus’ After ‘Better Call Saul’s’ Legendary Shutout

Hi Carol. We Are So Happy To See You Win an Emmy. We Just Want You To Be Happy. The “Pluribus” hivemind is collectively cheering the news: Rhea Seehorn has won the outstanding drama Emmy for playing novelist Carol Sturka — one of the last independent-thinking humans on Earth — on the Apple TV series. “Sorry, this is me on a beta blocker. It’s pretty bad,” Seehorn, visibly emotional, said as she took the stage for her acceptance speech. Thank you to the Television Academy so much and all the members that voted. And I also just want to say congratulations and thank you for the performances to my fellow nominees in my category. All brilliant, brilliant performances, Keri Russell among them, who sent us a lovely gift and a card, quoting — sadly, we didn’t know we would lose her so soon — but quoting Gloria Steinem, saying, ‘We are linked, not ranked.’ And I feel that way about all you women.” She went on to shout out creator Vince Gilligan and the entire “Pluribus” team. Popular on Variety “Thank you, Vince Gilligan, for giving me not only the role of a lifetime but for creating sets where we all get to collaborate, and we are actually made to feel safe to take risks so that we get better as artists,” she added. “Thank you to my whole crew, my producers, my writers, the incredible background artists that work on the show, casting, my dear, beloved cast, Miriam [Shor] and Jeff [Hiller] and Samba [Schutte] and Carlos-Manuel Vesga. And my pirate lady, Karolina Wydra.” Seehorn beat out fellow nominees Carrie Coon (HBO Max’s “The Gilded Age”), Chase Infiniti (Hulu’s “The Testaments”), Keri Russell (Netflix’s “The Diplomat”) and Zendaya (HBO Max’s “Euphoria”). This reps Seehorn’s first Primetime Emmy win. She was previously nominated in 2023 and 2022 for outstanding supporting actress in a drama series for “Better Call Saul,” as Kim Wexler. Also in 2022, she was nominated in the outstanding actress in a short-form comedy or drama series category for playing Kris Latimer on AMC’s “Cooper’s Bar.” “Pluribus” has already outpaced “Better Call Saul” at the Emmys: Going into Monday’s telecast, “Pluribus” had already won four awards — including outstanding sound mixing for a comedy or drama series (one hour), original main title theme music, picture editing for a drama series and production design for a narrative contemporary program (one hour). The show has 18 nominations overall. On the flip side, despite its wide acclaim (including for Seehorn), “Saul” never won a single Emmy during its time on the air — despite earning 53 nominations. It’s widely considered one of the most puzzling Emmy snubs of all time, given how critically acclaimed the show was over its multiple seasons. (And “Saul” holds the unfortunate record of most Emmy nominations for a series without a win.) As for Seehorn, “Pluribus” — which reunited her with “Saul” co-creator Gilligan, who created the new series — has already generated best drama actress wins at the Golden Globes and Critics’ Choice Awards, as well as individual achievement in drama at the TCA Awards. She was also nominated at this year’s SAG-AFTRA Actor Awards in the female actor in a drama category. The 78th Emmys are taking place at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live in downtown Los Angeles, airing on NBC and Peacock. “Law & Order SVU” star Mariska Hargitay is host, while Jesse Collins Entertainment is producing the ceremony. This year’s Emmy nominations were led by HBO Max’s “The Pitt,” with 25, followed by “Hacks” with 24 (the most ever for a comedy). After the first two Emmy ceremonies (now known as “Night 1″ and “Night 2,” Apple TV’s “Widow’s Bay” was in the lead with the most wins so far this year with eight, while Apple TV headed into the final Emmy ceremony with 19 wins, the most of any outlet so far.