Rhea Seehorn
Episode of Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard · November 9, 2026 · 2 h
Dax Shepard and Monica Padman talk with actor Rhea Seehorn about her spy-catcher father, anxiety and OCD, her long theater career, Better Call Saul, Pluribus and Stick.
Summary
Actor Rhea Seehorn joined Dax Shepard and Monica Padman to trace her life from a childhood in Norfolk, Japan, Yuma and Virginia Beach as the daughter of a naval counterintelligence agent who worked the Walker spy family case. She described being bullied in school, finding refuge in visual art, choosing George Mason University out of fear of debt, and discovering acting through a required elective. She spent about 11 years in Washington, D.C. theater before moving to New York, where she understudied in Neil Simon's 45 Seconds from Broadway, and then to Los Angeles for a sitcom.
Seehorn spoke candidly about her father's death from alcoholism when she was 18, her decision not to drink for over a decade, and years of panic attacks, anxiety and OCD-like behavior, including perfectionistic errand-planning that left her unable to leave the house. She credited a fellow understudy's suggestion of a therapist with changing her life, and recalled being told she was not attractive enough for leads nor plain enough for character parts.
The conversation turned to Better Call Saul, where she lived with Bob Odenkirk and Patrick Fabian and drilled lines constantly, and to Vince Gilligan's collaborative, exploratory writing. On Pluribus, she said Gilligan wants the show open to all interpretations and described building eight-page wordless scenes. She also discussed season two of Stick with Owen Wilson and golf lessons for the role.
In the fact-check segment the hosts announced a small holiday live event, debated Halloween costumes with a friend by phone, discussed religion and spirituality, and Shepard voiced frustration at media narratives portraying him as controlling. Padman then checked facts on the Walker spy ring, Neil Simon, Euler circuits, brand slogans and school rankings.
Chapters
- 0:00
Intro and awards-table banter
The hosts introduce Rhea Seehorn and chat about Golden Globe seating, her name's pronunciation and her crafting hobbies.
- 9:01
Military childhood and a counterintelligence father
Seehorn recounts moving from Norfolk to Japan, Yuma and Virginia Beach, and her father's work on the Walker spy family case.
- 24:19
Virginia Beach, bullying and art
She describes culture shock over brand names, being teased, and art as a family habit and private refuge.
- 32:42
George Mason and discovering acting
Fear of debt led her to George Mason, where a required acting class showed her acting was a learnable craft, leading to 11 years in D.C. theater.
- 39:23
New York, Broadway and Los Angeles
She moved to New York for wider access, understudied in 45 Seconds from Broadway after 9/11, then came to L.A. for a sitcom and faced years of rejection.
- 47:37
Father's alcoholism, therapy and OCD
Seehorn discusses her father's decline, her own abstinence from drinking, delayed therapy, and compulsive perfectionism around errands and reading.
- 56:28
Better Call Saul and Vince Gilligan
She describes being taken seriously in prestige drama, Gilligan's exploratory writing, and sharing a house with castmates to drill lines.
- 1:04:59
Pluribus
Seehorn explains Gilligan's openness to interpretation and how she builds long wordless scenes and comedy from reality.
- 1:11:53
Stick season two
She praises Owen Wilson and castmates and describes golf lessons for her role.
- 1:18:58
Fact check opener, live event and Halloween
The hosts banter, announce an intimate holiday live taping, and call Amy Hanson to settle a costume debate.
- 1:30:33
Religion and spirituality
Shepard and Padman discuss the appeal of faith, the corruption of institutions, and spirituality without a deity.
- 1:42:25
Media narratives about Shepard
Shepard expresses hurt at stories portraying him as controlling, and Padman blames algorithm-driven silos.
- 1:48:45
Fact checks
Padman covers needlepoint, brand slogans, the Walker spy ring, Neil Simon, school rankings and Euler circuits.
Key points
What was said, by whom, with the exact words. Timestamps jump to the moment.
- Rhea Seehorn
Seehorn said her first acting class, focused on technique, showed her acting was a craft she could improve through hard work.
“this is something you can put your head down and work hard at and get better”
- Rhea Seehorn
Seehorn said New York productions of plays developed in D.C. often refused to consider the original casts in favor of famous or elite-trained actors.
“needed to be a famous person or somebody that has Juilliard in the bio”
- Rhea Seehorn
Seehorn believes her father's drinking masked emotional problems that needed professional help.
“my dad was covering up some emotions and feelings and thoughts that needed professional help”
- Rhea Seehorn
Seehorn said she delayed getting professional help for her anxiety and depression for over a decade and regrets not doing so sooner.
“But I waited another 10 plus years to get professional help. And unfortunately, wish I had done that much sooner”
- Rhea Seehorn
Seehorn described how her need for a perfect errand route became so paralyzing that she often never left the house.
“I needed black and white answers. Nothing could be... gray or nuanced yeah and i would tell myself a smarter person can figure this out”
- Rhea Seehorn
Seehorn said people in the industry tell her the show gives hope that leads no longer need to be 25.
“the storytelling world is opening up a little bit for you to not have to be 25 to be the lead of a show”
- Rhea Seehorn
Seehorn said Pluribus performed well with young men, contrary to assumptions about what that audience watches.
“Pluribus did very well with 18 to 25 year old males, which they keep thinking only want to watch a certain thing”
- Dax Shepard
Shepard argued that a woman past her twenties carrying a show is a new phenomenon and should be encouraging.
“You are a woman not in her 20s that is carrying a show is fucking awesome and should be encouraging to all people doing all things”
- Rhea Seehorn
Seehorn said media and fans treat actors in prestige dramas very differently from sitcom actors, though she considers neither easier.
“the way people, fans and journalists and media treat you if you're doing what is considered prestige drama versus sitcoms”
- Rhea Seehorn
Seehorn said Better Call Saul's dialogue had to be delivered exactly as written, which is why the cast drilled lines at home.
“It was extremely verbal and you did it to the letter. Yeah. You did not change a single word”
- Rhea Seehorn
Seehorn said Vince Gilligan, given unlimited time, would never repeat a camera angle in a scene.
“If you really let him shoot for as long as he wanted to, he wishes you would never cut back to the same angle twice”
- Rhea Seehorn
Seehorn said Gilligan intends Pluribus to accommodate every interpretation, and noted it predates both the AI debate and COVID.
“Vince wants it to be able to receive all of the interpretations. They're all correct”
- Dax Shepard
Shepard said he read Pluribus as a critique of the idea that collectivism produces utopia, which he considers false.
“I do think there's this kind of fantasy collectivism that if we all just behave like, name the group we idolize for being so cooperative”
- Rhea Seehorn
Seehorn said Owen Wilson's seemingly spacey on-screen manner is carefully thought out.
“none of what he's doing is just, it's just my natural way of being on camera. It is all thought out”
- Rhea Seehorn
Seehorn said she treats wordless scenes from Gilligan as demanding as much storytelling as dialogue scenes.
“When I get an eight page scene from him that has no dialogue, I know he wants just as much storytelling as if there was dialogue the whole time”
Linked moment · 1:30:33Skip to 1:30:33 using a listen link in the info box.
Monica PadmanPadman said religion is valuable if it provides humility and a sense of limited control, though she believes that can be found other ways.
“the universe doesn't revolve around you and that you have really very little control and that you, you're small, like in a good way”
- Dax Shepard
Shepard said he struggles to separate religion's appeal from the corruption and abuses of its institutions.
“It's really hard for me to break away the institution of it all”
- Dax Shepard
Shepard rejected media portrayals of him as controlling, saying he has dedicated his life to being unlike the men he grew up around.
“I don't ever yell at my children. I don't swear at them. I don't yell at my wife”
- Monica Padman
Padman argued that algorithms put people in separate information silos, which she called toxic.
“we're all living in such different realities based on these algorithms. And it's like so toxic”
People
In the conversation
- Dax ShepardAmerican actor and host of Armchair Expert; this label carries his show open and his 'robot' voice bit
- Monica PadmanCo-host and fact-checker of Armchair Expert
- Rhea SeehornAmerican actress starring in Pluribus
Discussed
- Vince GilliganCreator and showrunner of Breaking Bad
- Owen WilsonAmerican actor, star of Stick
- Bob OdenkirkAmerican actor who starred in Better Call Saul
- Patrick FabianAmerican actor in Better Call Saul who shared a house with Seehorn
- Michael McKeanActor who played Chuck McGill in Better Call Saul
- Peter GouldCo-creator of Better Call Saul
- Neil SimonAmerican playwright of 45 Seconds from Broadway
- Jerry ZaksBroadway director of 45 Seconds from Broadway
- John Anthony WalkerU.S. Navy officer who led a Soviet espionage ring
- Karolina WydraActor who plays Zosia in Pluribus
- Anna LembkeStanford psychiatrist and author of Dopamine Nation
- Kristen BellActor and Dax Shepard's wife
Topics
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From the publisher
Rhea Seehorn (Stick, Pluribus, Better Call Saul) is an Emmy Award-winning actor. Rhea joins the Armchair Expert to discuss growing up with a counterintelligence agent for a father, getting a crash course in status symbols in Virginia Beach, and discovering acting through a college requirement. Rhea and Dax talk about sharing a house while shooting Better Call Saul, telling eight pages of story without a word of dialogue, and training to look like a golf pro for Stick. Rhea explains how perfectionism can turn errands into paralysis, why needing a day job never meant giving up acting, and what happens when the need to be right leaves no room for uncertainty. Check Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds: https://www.allstate.com/ This holiday season, NOBULL encourages people stay “Stronger Than the Season.” Head to https://www.NOBULLProject.com all holiday season to shop new deals every week and checkout products like the Drive 2, a versatile hybrid training shoe built for mixed workouts, helping listeners move through the season their way. The Quarter Pounder with Cheese Meal now $8 for a limited time. Only at McDonald’s. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
Summary, chapters and key points were generated from the episode transcript on November 10, 2026. Quotes are checked word for word against the transcript.