When Jeff Hiller was nominated for his first Emmy in 2025, he was at home in New York City talking to his sister on the phone. He wasn’t watching the announcements live, nor did he answer when his agent first called to share the exciting news. Curious to learn if he’d booked a show he auditioned for, Hiller picked up his agent’s second call and learned that his role as Joel in Somebody Somewhere received recognition from the Television Academy.

A year after winning that coveted gold statue and delivering an emotional acceptance speech, Hiller earned his second Emmy nomination. This time, he learned the news in Los Angeles shortly after announcing fellow nominees alongside The Bear‘s Liza Colon-Zayas.

“It was surreal. We didn’t even announce our names, because we didn’t announce those categories… But afterwards, my manager came up and said, ‘Congratulations, you were nominated!’ I was like, ‘For what?!’ Because in my mind, I was like, ‘But Somebody Somewhere isn’t on this season,’” Hiller told DECIDER over Zoom.

During the Emmys’ June 1, 2025 to May 31, 2026 eligibility period, Hiller lent his talents to several popular network TV shows, starring as a German candy button factory owner in Stumble, a seasoned restaurant server in Ghosts, and a curling-iron murderer in Elsbeth. He also appeared in two of 2026’s most acclaimed streaming series: Apple TV’s Widow’s Bay (19 Emmy nominations) and Pluribus (18 Emmy nominations). While Hiller’s performance in Katie Dippold’s hit horror-comedy was so lovable that it saved his character Dale from a forewarned Season 1 death, his small but significant role as Lawrence J. Kless, aka Larry — an Other/hive mind member on Pluribus — earned him a nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor In A Drama Series.

In the lead-up to the post-apocalyptic drama’s premiere, creator Vince Gilligan went to great lengths to keep the storylines and details that make Pluribus so compelling a secret. That meant Hiller didn’t know the truth about his role until he met with Gilligan and star Rhea Seehorn in Albuquerque, New Mexico, a day before filming. The 50-year-old actor initially believed he’d auditioned to play the father of 54-year-old Seehorn’s character Carol. He thought he’d be telling her that her late mother didn’t like her paintings, when in fact, he was a member of the hive mind who would reluctantly tell Carol her late wife Helen (Miriam Shor) didn’t love her books.

“I did believe I was going to play [Carol’s] father,” Hiller said with a chuckle. “But I didn’t think I was going to get the part, because I didn’t think I looked quite old enough. I didn’t think they were doing the math, but then I thought, maybe it’s a flashback! I didn’t know anything about it.”

With filming set to commence on Monday, Seehorn invited Hiller over to her house on Sunday to rehearse with EP Alison Tatlock, who wrote Episode 4, “Please, Carol,” and director Zetna Fuentes. “Because the show was so complicated, we all came together and rehearsed for several hours. And that’s something that you just never get. That was more helpful than anything that I’ve ever had in acting. It was like rehearsing a play,” Hiller recalled. “It felt like I was back in the theater.”

During roughly eight minutes of screen time, Hiller’s character — wearing a colorful cycling suit — welcomes Carol back home with fellow hive mind members, including one played by Albuquerque’s real-life mayor, Tim Keller. In an effort to learn more about the Others, Carol invites Larry inside, where he — or rather, the world’s collective consciousness — conveys adoration and likens her books to Shakespeare’s work.

“There was a little bit of a challenge to it,” Hiller said of learning his character’s true nature so quickly before filming. “But I think something in my wheelhouse I can play pretty well is warmth and love. So it’s good that I didn’t have to constantly play some emotion that’s more difficult for me to access. But it was complicated.”

Unlike typical shared scenes, Hiller and Seehorn didn’t have the luxury of mirroring or naturally reacting to each other’s performances. As Hiller marvelously maintains Larry’s overly chipper demeanor, positive tone, and palpable desire to please, Carol grows increasingly frustrated and skeptical. The fascinating, revealing, at times comedic ping-pong match of mismatched emotions takes a more serious turn when Larry struggles to share Helen’s honest opinions, because he knows they’ll hurt Carol.

“Even though I was playing a part of the hive mind, there was still this idea that there is still some humanity in them. They know that this will hurt her, and they do not want to hurt her,” Hiller shared. “I found that to be a really good anchor of trying to redirect the conversation and not give you too much. It felt a little politician-y, like we’re not gonna go there, we’re gonna go in this direction…”

When DECIDER spoke with Seehorn ahead of Pluribus‘ premiere, she piled on praise for Hiller and his complex performance, explaining, “I just adore him. I was a huge fan of his show [Somebody Somewhere], and of Bridget Everett and everybody on it. And so thrilled that he won that Emmy. That guy is amazing, and he’s also just such a lovely person.”

“We had so much fun working on what really was a one-act play by the time he comes in and sits down with me at that table — just two nerdy theater people that would have rehearsed five more days if they let us,” Seehorn told DECIDER. “Jeff trying to navigate the kind of human he’s supposed to be playing, and then that strange human navigating Carol, was just inherently comedic. He has such a gift for comic timing, but he also has such a gift for finding the pathos. He’s a generous actor, and he really receives what you’re throwing at him and responds in time.”

When reflecting on his rare Pluribus set experience, Hiller also took a moment to shout out Seehorn, who received a 2026 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series.

“She’s a great leader. If in some weird, bizarre universe, I become the lead of a show, I gotta be like her. She knew everybody’s name, and it wasn’t performatively knowing their name; it was genuine interest,” Hiller said. “Sometimes it’s long days, and there are actors who are like, ‘Let’s get this going, come on, let’s go.’ And she was never like that. She was always super present and there to act. I don’t know that I’ve ever been in a scene with someone so present as her. She was Carol. But she wasn’t method. As soon as we were off set, she’d be back to Rhea. But she could lock in in a really beautiful way.”

Though creator Vince Gilligan stressed that he wrote the show’s concept years before ChatGPT was released and didn’t intend for Pluribus — or this specific scene — to be a commentary on artificial intelligence, some viewers still compared Hiller’s performance to AI. While he can see the parallels, Hiller was adamant that the brilliance of Pluribus could only come from a one-of-one human.

“When you look at this story, it is so complicated that it could only come from a human mind that’s messy, and interesting, and interested. There are times when I watch the show where I’m like, ‘She should just join the hive mind, it’s great, what’s the problem?’ And there are other times when I’m like, ‘Run, Carol! They’re eating bones!’ This is what’s so genius about Vince Gilligan. The fact that he could make my loyalty switch that much shows what an incredible storyteller he is, and the fact that he wrote this from his mind, but with our modern eyes we see all these different things to it, shows how incredibly timeless and interesting this story is.”

Fans will have to wait quite a while for Pluribus Season 2, and though Hiller doesn’t know if his character could ever return, if the opportunity presents itself, he’d be back in a heartbeat. “I would love to be with any of the [characters]. Well, Carlos-Manuel Vesga’s character, I don’t want to [share a scene with] him. He’ll probably kill us,” Hiller laughed. “But Samba Schutte’s character, I think that’d be really fun. He’d be with all those pretty ladies, and Larry’s just there like in a bike uniform being like, ‘How about some grapes?’”

When the Emmy-winning actor looks back on his career, he’d tell his younger self, “Don’t compare yourself to other people. Your journey is singular and your journey matters, too.” The self-aware comedian considers his wise words, then adds, “But I’d be like, ‘Uh-huh, but when will I get my sitcom?’ My younger self would have said that!”

Whether Hiller returns to Pluribus or not, he isn’t taking his time on Carol’s cul-de-sac or his second Emmy nomination for granted. “It’s very exciting. It’s so thrilling,” he said. “Honestly, it’s just nice to keep acting. It always feels like you’re this far away from not ever getting another job. So it feels like maybe this will help me get another job!”

Stay tuned for Part 2 of Decider’s interview with Emmy-winner and 2026 nominee Jeff Hiller, all about his role on Widow’s Bay.

Pluribus Season 1 is now streaming on Apple TV.