This is The Close-Up, where the biggest names in entertainment explain the story behind their latest personal style statement.
The Pluribus role that earned Rhea Seehorn her 2026 Golden Globes Best Actress in a TV Series - Drama win (and a Critics Choice Awards victory the week before) isn't one where she dresses up much. She's playing Carol Sturka, a grouchy romantasy novelist who, through circumstances it would spoil the whole show to reveal here, becomes humanity's last hope against a threat to the entire planet.
The set-up pays homage to Invasion of the Body Snatchers, with mass hive mind possession that only Carol (and a few others) escape. In this world, personal style is hardly a priority. As the star describes it to me in her car en route to the Globes Golden red carpet, her character is "dressed like a slob, but trying to save the world."
The Globes were a welcome chance for Seehorn to spotlight what she most enjoys wearing off set and on the promo circuit: "very, very artistic pieces." She's worked with stylist Jessica Paster to get out of her comfort zone this awards season. The approach leading to her strapless Louis Vuitton gown, gilded in all-over crinkled gold brocade, was a balancing act. "It's getting educated in fashion and taking some risks," she explains, "but also letting someone else get to know you so it's a portrait as well."
Her Midas gold dress makes that give-and-take philosophy tangible. "Tonight I'm wearing this very Old Hollywood style—bodice and small waist—but then it's in a beautiful brocade that's almost like armor," she explains. "It makes you feel like a superhero, but also incredibly feminine, and that just made me happy immediately."
Trying on options with the Louis Vuitton team felt like a win weeks before the ceremony. "I have to say I was so, so overwhelmed and flattered when they offered to dress me and also that Nicolas [Ghesquière], their designer, is actually a fan of the show," Seehorn says. "It wasn't about him having to be convinced—he actually was a fan of mine."
Before the show, Seehorn told me her nomination was "hard to take in." She still hadn't wrapped her head around Pluribus showrunner Vince Gilligan writing the part of Carol just for her—and providing one of the most "rewarding" roles she says she's had.
"It's not only the writing of the part, it's the environment he has created for me to push myself and challenge myself in my performance," she says. "That's how we got here tonight."
Seehorn's eventual win was a result of her stirring performance. (For many stretches of many Pluribus episodes, she's the only actress on-screen.) But she prepared to go onstage with a special addition. "My best good luck charm is my partner Graham Larson, who's sitting here with me," she says. "Louis Vuitton were kind enough to dress him as well, and he looks gorgeous. So when I get nervous, I just look at him."
"I don't like things to be overly serious, it's not who I am," Seehorn says. "I play very serious people, but I'm a dork in real life. So, I want to remember that this is all fun. This is all just being invited to the ball after you worked your butt off."
Of course, this ball turned out differently than others. She went home with a statue to match her Louis Vuitton gown. "I'm still so grateful that I get to do this for a living, and this is the incredible icing on that cake," Seehorn said onstage in her acceptance speech. I don't think even Carol could write an ending like that.
Photographer Saskia Lawaks | Stylist Jessica Paster | Hair Stylist Matthew Collins | Makeup Artist Mai Quynh | Location The Beverly Hills Hotel
