Samba Schutte Becomes a Series Regular on Apple TV's Pluribus
Samba Schutte has been promoted to series regular on Apple TV's Pluribus for its second season. A series regular is a main cast member who appears throughout the show, rather than a guest star who appears for a few episodes. Deadline reported the change on 13 November 2026.
Production on Season 2 is already underway. Schutte first appeared in Season 1 as Mr. Diabate, a character who, like Rhea Seehorn's Carol, is immune to the outbreak at the centre of the story. Variety describes Mr. Diabate as someone who lives a hedonistic lifestyle.
Schutte is a Dutch-Mauritanian actor, comedian and writer who was raised in Ethiopia. He has starred in the HBO Max pirate comedy Our Flag Means Death and the NBC sitcom Sunnyside. Earlier, he worked as a writer and correspondent on De Nieuwste Show, the Dutch version of The Daily Show. His Pluribus guest performance earned him a Saturn Award nomination for Best Guest Star in a Television Series.
The show is written, directed and executive produced by Vince Gilligan. It is made for Apple TV by Sony Pictures Television. Karolina Wydra and Carlos-Manuel Vesga are also in the cast, alongside Seehorn and Schutte.
Season 1 debuted on Apple TV in November 2025. At the Emmy Awards, it received 18 nominations and won six. Seehorn took the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, for playing novelist Carol Sturka. Gilligan won the Emmy for outstanding writing for a drama series. The show also took prizes for picture editing in a drama series, sound mixing in a one-hour comedy or drama, original main title theme music, and production design for a one-hour or longer contemporary narrative program.
For viewers, the change means Mr. Diabate is likely to be a fixture of the next season rather than a one-off visitor. For the crew, it means the cast list for a show already in production has been settled. The Season 2 premiere date has not been announced.
