Rhea Seehorn saves the world and Chris Perfetti liberates the classroom

It's awards season in the world of entertainment and the Critics Choice Awards turns 31 in 2026. The latest ceremony takes place in Santa Monica at the Barker Hangar on January 4. The television nominees include Netflix's Adolescence for Best Limited Series and another Netflix project, Nobody Wants This, with five nominations.

Apple TV show Pluribus is nominated for Best Drama Series at the CCA and lead star Rhea Seehorn is nominated for Best Actress in a Drama Series.

Pluribus is one of the best television series to debut in 2025 and deserves all of the accolades it has quickly acquired. Vince Gilligan brings in Breaking Bad fans as viewers and Seehorn continues her collaboration with him from Better Call Saul.

The science fiction show, named after the Latin word meaning “many,” explores the idea of Earth being taken over by a hive mind conglomerate. Seehorn plays queer author Carol Sturka, who is mysteriously not dominated by the takeover.

Rhea spoke on playing a member of the LGBTQ+ community during a recent interview and said, “It was important to me as well as Karolina Wydra, Miriam Shor, who played Helen, my wife, and the writers, to be respectful while celebrating the story is not about that and these are two people who are in love at the beginning of the show. I come from the Washington DC theater community with a big LGBTQIA community and I like to walk in those shoes when possible. Many of my friends and family are part of the community and I wanted to be respectful with my representation. I was thrilled to be a woman of a certain age who is a lesbian be a lead in the show. We touch on those aspects of her sexual preference, but it is a much bigger story about love and companionship than making her an other.”

She also mentioned the guest appearance by out actor Jeff Hiller on one episode, “Jeff is great and I am such a huge fan of Somebody Somewhere. We worked on the scene together; it was basically a one-act play in a day with many iterations of it. He was fun to play with and both of our theater nerd sides came out really quickly.”

Rhea continued, “He's not the only queer person on and off camera connected to Plurius. We are in the arts and we are representing everyone in a way that I love.”

When asked about the Golden Girls series being displayed on Carol's TV, she said, “I'm a massive Bea Arthur fan and it's one of the best comedies ever, but I didn't pick that or know it was coming.”

The talented actress hopes to see more of the same storytelling that she experienced in the second season as it develops. She confessed, “I never know where the story will go, but Vince always peels more layers like an onion, but it never seems like a trick and is instead a human journey where the audience can grow with us.”

The Critics Choice Association is honoring ABC's Abbott Elementary with a Best Comedy Series and Chris Perfetti from the cast is nominated for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. He had taken home a trophy at the Critics Choice LGBTQ+ inaugural celebration for Breakthrough Performance Award in 2024.

Abbott Elementary has been head of the class since its debut in 2021 and has been met with critical acclaim. Creator and star Quinta Brunson assembled a hilarious cast to convey the challenges of day-to-day life in a Philadelphia public school through mockumentary-style storytelling.

Out and proud actor Chris Perfetti portrays sixth-grade history teacher Jacob Hill. During a recent interview, he complimented his castmates by saying, “They feel like my family now and I love going to work with them every day. It started with Quinta and the moment we began the show, she created an ethos where we show up for each other. We know how to support each other and it is a dream collaboration.”

When asked about hearing from the LGBTQ+ fanbase, he said, “It is bittersweet, but they will tell me they wish they had a teacher like Jacob when they were in school. For all of his flaws, Jacob knows who he is and he's trying to move through the world authentically. Queer teachers have reached out to me about the importance of the representation on TV and that's humbling as well.”

Perfetti reminisced about performing onstage at the Steppenwolf Theatre in the past and said, “It was my lifelong dream and it was one of the greatest theaters we have. I cut my teeth doing theater in New York and Off-Broadway. Steppenwolf is the top and I was so happy work with Rajiv Joseph's play there. I still miss Chicago.”

Stay tuned to see how this dynamic duo does by watching the 31st Critics Choice Awards on E! or USA, January 4 at 6 p.m. Central time.