Some actors command attention through long monologues. Carlos Manuel Vesga does it with a glance.
As Manos in “Pluribus,” Vince Gilligan’s ambitious science fiction drama for Apple TV+, Vesga spends much of the first season saying very little at all. Yet despite the scarcity of dialogue, Manos has emerged as one of the show’s most fascinating figures. Audiences have watched him traverse continents, obsessively search for answers hidden within a mysterious radio frequency, and navigate a world transformed by the phenomenon known as the Joining. By the end of the season, he had become one of the characters most central to the show’s mythology and one many viewers expect to play a larger role moving forward.
Created by Vince Gilligan, the Emmy-winning creator of “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul,” “Pluribus” stars Rhea Seehorn as Carol, a woman trying to make sense of a world altered by a mysterious global event. The Apple TV+ series has quickly become one of television’s most intriguing new dramas, generating the kind of discussion and theory crafting that has become increasingly rare in an era of second-screen viewing and endless content options.
As someone whose early appreciation for ambitious television was shaped by shows like “The X-Files,” one of the pleasures of watching “Pluribus” has been seeing a series unafraid to embrace uncertainty. Rather than racing toward answers, Gilligan and his team invite viewers to sit with the mystery. The show trusts its audience. It asks questions. Sometimes it leaves those questions hanging for weeks. The result is a viewing experience that feels increasingly uncommon in modern television.
That approach is something Vesga deeply appreciates. “People need to go back to appreciating process, not immediacy,” he told Awards Focus. “They should go back to enjoying things that aren’t so easy and where the reward doesn’t arrive immediately.”
Few characters embody that philosophy more than Manos. While other actors are given pages of dialogue to explain who they are, Vesga is often tasked with communicating entire emotional journeys through silence and restraint. A slight shift in expression. A lingering look. The way he reacts to a discovery. It is a performance built on patience and precision, one that has quietly become essential to the series.
For Vesga, whose career prior to “Pluribus” was largely based in Colombia, the role represented both an unexpected opportunity and a unique creative challenge. Following an extensive casting search throughout Latin America, he found an immediate connection to the character’s journey. After learning more about Manos during the audition process, Vesga recalls, “I fell in love with Manos right away.”
That connection is evident on screen. Whether he’s crossing Paraguay in search of answers or simply listening to a transmission that may hold the key to understanding the Joining, Vesga creates a compelling presence without relying on traditional dramatic tools. It’s the kind of performance that could easily disappear into the background. Instead, it lingers long after an episode ends.
As viewers continue dissecting clues and debating theories, Vesga remains just as curious as the audience. He still wants answers about the mysterious frequency. He’s eager to learn more about Manos’ fractured relationship with his mother. And like everyone else watching, he’s trying to understand what the Joining ultimately means. If Season 1 established Manos as one of “Pluribus'” most intriguing figures, the road ahead may reveal just how important he truly is.
Awards Focus recently spoke with Vesga about joining Vince Gilligan’s latest series, building a character with minimal dialogue, the challenges of performing through silence, the audience reaction to “Pluribus,” and the many questions he still hopes to answer about Manos in a potential second season.
Awards Focus: Carlos Manuel, it’s great to meet you. Before “Pluribus,” much of your career had been based in Colombia. What was your path to this project, and how did you become part of this Vince Gilligan series?
Carlos Manuel Vesga: Absolutely improbable. I never thought it could happen. I never even dreamed about being part of a U.S.-based show.
One day my manager said, “They want you to do this scene. They want you to do it in English and Spanish and just send it.” I didn’t know anything about the show. I didn’t know if it was a series or a film. I actually think that worked to my advantage because if I had known it was Vince Gilligan’s show, I probably would have been tense and trying too hard. Since I didn’t know, I was just having fun and doing my best.
Later I learned how many people had auditioned for the part, and I had to sit down.
What impressed me most was that they took the time to audition actors throughout Latin America. Normally, it would make sense to cast a Latin American actor already based in the United States. But the fact that they took the time to find someone who was actually based in Latin America, my hat’s off to them. I admire them so much for that.
I sent the tape, then met with the casting directors from Los Angeles via Zoom. They were lovely. Sharon Bialy and Russell Scott were there. After that, I was called to Los Angeles for a final reading. Rhea was there. Vince was there.
It was a lovely day. They were so generous and so invested in me doing well. They were all rooting for me. I remember that between takes, Rhea would turn to me and whisper, “I love what you’re doing. You’re great. This is great.”
That’s the way she is. She’s such a lovely woman. Little by little, I started giving dimensions to what I might be a part of.
AF: At that stage of the process, how much did you know about Manos? Even in the audition scene, there was already something very specific about the character.
Vesga: Definitely not much.
The scene I taped and sent wasn’t actually part of the season. It was written specifically for the audition. I distinctly remember that the only direction I received was that Manos has a poker face. That was it.
“Poker face.”
It doesn’t sound like much, but it’s actually very clear direction for an actor.
I didn’t know anything about the story. I didn’t know what was really going on. When I went to Los Angeles for the reading, that’s when Vince gave me the entire arc for Manos. He told me that he would travel through Central America from South America, making his way through the Darién Gap.
I remember him telling me about how Manos learns English by listening to a tape over and over and repeating the sentences. I immediately thought about my grandfather. He got a scholarship in Colombia to study medicine in Boston. When he arrived, he realized he didn’t understand a word of the English being spoken around him. So he would go to the same movie theater and watch the same film over and over again to learn how people actually spoke.
For me, the connection was immediate. I fell in love with Manos right away.
AF: At what point did you realize that so much of the Season 1 portrayal would involve very little dialogue? Was that something that appealed to you as an actor?
Vesga: I realized it as I started reading the scripts.
Two things happened. First, I started reading and saw that Manos was living in Paraguay. I panicked, to be honest, because the Paraguayan accent is one I don’t really know. It’s completely foreign to me.
I remember calling one of the producers and saying, “Wait, if this guy is Paraguayan, I have a problem.”
She said, “No, no. He’s an immigrant from Colombia who has moved to Paraguay.”
I was relieved.
At the same time, I realized there weren’t many words at all. Most of the first season is silence.
That became a new challenge because in audiovisual storytelling you’re usually filling space and time with dialogue. Here it was solitude, silence, and very small physical actions. It wasn’t about doing something large or expressive. It was tiny facial expressions and small movements with the hands.
It was a beautiful challenge, but it required a huge amount of focus and control.
I always think about when you’re a child playing with friends. Maybe you’re pretending to be astronauts or something. It’s about committing to the game and committing to the rules while remaining playful. As an actor, you can never stop being playful.
At the same time, the rules here were incredibly tight. The facial expressions were so small. It was about finding that balance between enjoying the game and being very aware of every little thing you were doing.
I loved the challenge. I absolutely loved it. And Vince and the team allowed me to play.
AF: Was that ever intimidating? We live in a world where audiences are constantly overstimulated. Your character has long stretches of silence. Were you ever concerned about whether modern audiences would have the patience for a show operating at this pace?
Vesga: I was definitely aware that this show’s pace and its narrative demand attention. This is not the kind of show that you can cook while you watch it. You really have to sit down and pay attention. Of course, I was aware that this is not the trend. That’s not how people function nowadays. So I knew we were challenging the way people consume entertainment today.
But I love that, and I think it’s a way of functioning that should be challenged. People need to go back to appreciating process, not immediacy. They should go back to enjoying things that aren’t so easy and where the reward doesn’t arrive immediately. I think we have to learn again how to deal with frustration and say, “I’m not understanding this quite yet, but I’m going to stay with it because there’s a reward at the end of the process.”
So I knew it was going to be challenging for some audiences. That made the audience reaction even more rewarding once the show premiered and people had access to it. The reactions have been overwhelmingly positive. People are really engaging with the show. They’re not only enjoying it and watching the entire season, but it’s igniting debate, discussion, conversations, and existential questions for people.
I absolutely love that. I was telling Vince a few months ago that being part of “Pluribus” fulfills my role as an artist in society. I think the role of art is to make people think about their own existence, ask crucial questions about their lives, and maybe even make those lives better.
AF: There aren’t many shows on television right now that generate this level of discussion and theorizing. Maybe “Severance” is one of the closest comparisons. Have you come across any fan theories about Manos or the show that you found especially entertaining?
Vesga: Yes, there are a couple. Somebody actually established a parallel between Manos’ journey and the journey of Jesus. You wouldn’t believe the amount of detail they put into it.
They connected everything all the way down to the crucifixion. They pointed out that both characters end up against the trunk of a tree and are ultimately saved from the sky. Then they started connecting all these other moments. The miracle of the bread and wine was represented here. This moment connected to another biblical reference there.
I was reading it and thinking, “Oh my God.” Honestly, I couldn’t tell them they were wrong. It’s not about me. If the story means that to you, then why not?
That was definitely one of the wildest theories.
Another one someone sent me recently involved the idea that Manos had actually been part of the Joining before the events of the series. If you remember, Zosha initially tells Carol about the unaffected humans, and then later says they’ve become aware of another one in Paraguay.
This person theorized that Manos had actually been part of the Joining but somehow managed to break away from it. That’s why he’s searching for the radio frequency. He already knows it’s a way into the Joining because he’s been there before.
I thought that was amazing.
AF: That’s actually a fascinating theory.
Vesga: Right? I thought, “Oh my God, that’s amazing.” The idea that he’s already been there before and somehow escaped from it. I love hearing things like that.
AF: I know you probably can’t say much about what’s ahead, but are there things you’d personally like to learn about Manos in a second season or beyond?
Vesga: Regarding the story itself, I want to know what that radio frequency is about. There is an answer. There is information hidden inside that frequency. There is something about the Joining contained within it.
I’d also like to know more about his relationship with his mother. There’s clearly something happening there. There seems to be a lot of animosity, at least from him toward her, and I’d love to understand where that comes from.
Then there are all the larger mysteries. The frequency. The uranium. Whatever they’re planning to do with that. There are so many questions. But for me, the frequency is definitely the biggest one. What is really happening there? That’s a huge question mark.
AF: You’re being very careful not to spoil anything, so I’ll leave it there. I hope our paths cross again down the road. Thank you for your insights!
Vesga: Thank you so much. This was lovely. Thank you.