Samba Schutte, Pluribus
Apple TV
[Warning: The following contains spoilers for Episode 6 of Pluribus, “HDP.”]
The end of the world looks different in Vegas. In Friday’s episode of Pluribus, Carol (Rhea Seehorn) heads to Las Vegas to pay a visit to one of her fellow survivors, Mr. Diabaté (Samba Schutte). While Carol has been coping with her isolation in Albuquerque by cracking conspiracy theories, Mr. Diabaté has been living it up in Elvis’ old suite, role-playing as James Bond and partying with celebrity impersonators — or, technically, partying with the Others, who indulge his fantasies.
Carol’s arrival sends the Others packing, leaving Diabaté alone with her, which doesn’t thrill him. She doesn’t even get the satisfaction of telling him her disturbing news: Yes, the Others are eating people. As it turns out, Diabaté already knows. Carol found out the truth by breaking into a refrigerated warehouse and holding a frozen head in her hands. Diabaté found out by talking to John Cena — or, technically, the individual formerly known as John Cena. The Others, in the form of John Cena, even recorded a video for Carol to explain why they’ve resorted to anthropophagy (despite not being “that keen on it”).
“HDP,” written by Vera Blasi and directed by Gandja Monteiro, takes its name from the Others’ polite euphemism for what they’re consuming: human-derived protein, or HDP. But the contents of the Others’ milk cartons aren’t the episode’s only revelation. Diabaté knows something else that Carol doesn’t: The Others just figured out that they’ll need stem cell samples to tailor the virus to each individual survivor, meaning that the survivors can’t be joined with the hive mind without their consent. Carol, who’s spent every day worrying about being turned into one of them, immediately calls the Others to make it clear that she does not consent.
It’s a victory at the end of an otherwise sad trip for Carol, who’s trying to keep a lid on her profound loneliness. She’s hurt when Diabaté tells her that the rest of the survivors (other than Carlos-Manuel Vesga‘s reclusive Manousos, who begins his own journey toward Carol this week) have been meeting up without her to try to solve the Others’ food supply crisis. As for Mr. Diabaté, he worries about her isolation but is eager to get back to his high-rolling lifestyle. Sensing that she’s not wanted, Carol retreats, leaving Mr. Diabaté, and Vegas, behind.
Ahead of the episode’s premiere, Samba Schutte spoke to TV Guide about his character’s friction with and sympathy for Carol. He also revealed who he and Seehorn were really reacting to when Mr. Diabaté showed Carol that video from John Cena.
Samba Schutte and Rhea Seehorn, Pluribus
Apple TV
There’s a little moment in this episode that I love. It’s when Carol puts all her breakfast food on her toast, and then Mr. Diabaté copies her. What did that look like in the script?
Samba Schutte: I remember that scene very distinctly because I did not want to eat avocado, eggs, and bacon for another three months after that, because I think we did 17 takes of that. … But in the script, it was just so fun to read that Mr. Diabaté wants to experience new things in life. He’s probably never put them all together on a sandwich, so when he sees Carol make her avo sandwich, and it looks so scrumptious, he’s like, “What is this thing?” It just shows that he’s really observant and wants to experience even the smallest, finest minute details in life. And then his reaction is like, “Oh, this is actually impressive. Thank you for this new experience.”
How does he feel about Carol at this point in this story?
Schutte: Now remember, the last encounter they had, she called him a sex abuser, which he did not like, because he was very shocked by that accusation and even called Zosia to check, like, “Am I doing something inappropriate?” And she was like, “No, actually, we are all about love. We want to give love, so don’t worry.” Which I think was a huge point of relief for him, because he does not want to come across as someone who’s done something against someone’s consent. At the end of the day, he is a nerd who’s living out his biggest fantasies and wants to make sure he’s not a creep. He’s not happy that he has to give up his hot tub full of beautiful women because Carol’s coming to town, and Vegas is empty because she’s there. But he is a caring man. I think there’s a part of him that really does care about Carol, that sees how lonely she is and that she’s desperate for answers, so he makes time to welcome her and talk to her and give her the information, because he’s actually done his own research, and he’s learned a few things that she has struggled to learn. He knows about HDP. He knows that they can’t turn them. He’s like, “OK, I owe it to Carol to have a conversation.” I love that there’s a side of him who actually does not want her to be alone.
You can tell he feels bad for her, but not in a way that makes him want to be alone with her.
Schutte: He wants to be an ally but not sacrifice the good life he has.
As you said, we find out in this episode that they can’t be joined with the others without their consent. Mr. Diabaté doesn’t give his consent. We know that he’s enjoying his new life, but that made me think that there might be a little bit more nuance in his opinions than he’s let on. What can you say about how he really feels about what’s happened in the world?
Schutte: When we were talking about the character with [series creator] Vince [Gilligan], we understood that he did not come from a good life. He did not come from opulence. He was never successful with women. He probably suffered from discrimination or racism wherever he was from. To have the world suddenly be so different, of course he’s going to embrace it full on. He’s a kid in a candy store, and he just wants this new world to be his. So there’s a side of him that really values his individuality, I think, because he’s had to fight for it his whole life, and to now be in a position of power and adulation where people are actually giving him love and giving him everything he wants — who would want to give that up? As much as the world is good, and I can get Ferraris from Monday to Sunday, I will value my individuality above all else.
I read what you wrote about his first name, Koumba, coming from his mother, which means that she passed during childbirth. How much do you know about his backstory, and how collaborative was the process of figuring that out?
Schutte: I love that Vince is always keeping us in the dark and surprising us with the scripts a couple of weeks before they come out. But at least we established a few things — like I said, that he did not come from a good life, did not have opulence. And I love that Koumba became such a beautiful detail, because that was actually his name in the dummy sides in the audition. It was Mr. Koumba. And I laughed at it. I was like, “Mr. Koumba. That’s a woman’s name.” But I love that detail, because I remembered that in my culture, the only way a person gets the woman’s name is if their mother’s passed away during childbirth. So that informed me so much about who this guy is, that he doesn’t have parents he’s close to, he doesn’t have family he’s close to. As you’ll notice, the other original humans, they’re all with their family members, except him and Carol. This guy does not have someone back home that he would want to hang out with or be with. That’s as much backstory as I needed. He’s probably as alone as Carol is, or feels as lonely as Carol is, but chooses to deal with this by surrounding himself with hundreds of people that will help him live out his fantasies. So that’s as much as I needed to know — and that he would wear Super Bowl rings if he needed to.
I didn’t realize they were Super Bowl rings. His costuming is so fun.
Schutte: Jennifer Bryan, our costumer, we had so much fun. The first time I met her was when I did a photo shoot in Albuquerque with all these amazing outfits, because they needed them to make photos of [Mr. Diabaté] in the Vegas suite, all those blown-up photos. That really informed me that this guy is living his best life.
Had the John Cena video been shot before you filmed that scene? Did you have the footage?
Schutte: Not at all. When we were filming that scene, it was Vince who was actually doing the whole monologue with a cup of milk and everything. So for me and Rhea, it was just hilarious to hear Vince go [impersonates Vince Gilligan], “We don’t like eating humans, but we have to!” But we knew it was going to be John Cena eventually. And of course Mr. Diabaté has been hanging out with John Cena and getting to learn his wrestling moves. Of course. He sees him as John Cena, and Carol’s like, “It’s not John Cena.” He’s like, “I get to hang out with all these celebrities.” And she’s like, “What’s wrong with you?”
Tell me about filming the poker scene.
Schutte: We had, what, 200 extras? They were all dressed beautifully, and some of them like actual celebrities. There was an Elvis impersonator, an Audrey Hepburn impersonator. To film the whole scene like Casino Royale was so much fun. I had to watch Casino Royale again before filming that, because I wanted to live out my James Bond fantasy. And Diabaté is in this scene with the others. We’re all acting, right? We’re all acting his fantasy out. It’s fun to find those levels of, “When does he give direction?” Like, “You, stop being so sweet. You’re the evil guy.” “Let me flirt with this woman here.” “Let me do this and give this look.” It was, I think, two, three night shoots in this amazing Vegas suite, which was the original bedroom of Elvis Presley when he was a resident at what was then called the International Hotel. … That episode was the first thing I filmed, coming from getting the job. So it really helped me understand who this guy is.
And you actually filmed in that Vegas suite.
Schutte: We were in that suite. Basically, where the villain is is where the headboard was of Elvis Presley’s bed. It was so fun to just be in that room and be like, “This is the place. This is haunted by Elvis’ ghost, hopefully.”
New episodes of Pluribus stream Fridays on Apple TV.