SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
I am currently in an NPR studio doing my job, but in the world of the TV show “Severance,” once I left this building, even this floor, I would not remember any of it. The show’s premise is that there’s a procedure – a very uncomfortable-looking one – that splits people’s consciousness.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, “SEVERANCE”)
BRITT LOWER: (As Helly Riggs) They say it doesn’t hurt.
(SOUNDBITE OF BEEPING)
TRAMELL TILLMAN: (As Seth Milchick) Just relax. We’re very excited to meet you.
DETROW: If you undergo it, you have no clue what happens to you inside the office, and your work self, or innie, knows nothing about your outie’s life away from work. “Severance” is now back for its highly anticipated second season on Apple TV+. It goes deeper into the shadowy corporation of Lumon, the life and death mysteries and the romances driving the plot. If you do not want the first season spoiled or to hear even mild hints about the second season, consider this your warning because I talked about it with two of the show’s breakout stars, Tramell Tillman and Britt Lower.
When I’ve had conversations about “Severance,” I’m describing it to people, or I’ll mention that maybe Ben Stiller is an executive producer. They hear the premise of the show, they hear that, and they go, oh, is this funny? Is it a comedy? Is it a drama? Like, how do you answer that question? – because there’s incredibly funny moments in “Severance,” and there’s incredibly dark, serious moments in “Severance.” Like, how do you think about that?
LOWER: I mean, I think it’s, like, a workplace drama with a sense of humor, maybe a dark sense of humor, and there is a thrilling aspect to it. But there are so many ways in to this show. There’s the puzzle box aspect. There are some sci-fi elements. And then, at the end of the day, it’s really about these very human and relatable journeys that these characters are on, asking these deep questions of, who am I, and who am I in relationship to my work specifically? And then in Season 2, it’s really a – becomes a question of, like, who am I in relationship to these people who I care about so much?
DETROW: Tramell, you play the company man, Seth Milchick, who’s Helly’s supervisor. There is a point where Milchick, as a Black man in leadership in a company that has literally deified its white founders, is made aware that he’s a Black man in a predominantly white company. And I’m wondering how you thought about this plot arc, how you approached these scenes and these moments for this character.
TILLMAN: Well, in order to answer that question, I have to speak to where we started in Season 1. I remember having conversations to talk about the racial makeup of the town of Kier, which I started to see was very diverse, and also to speak about the racial dynamic of Lumon. And so my question to the creatives was, does this man know that he’s Black, and what does that mean as he steps through a culture that looks very different from him? And are we going to address that? So the charge was then how do we tell this story without losing focus on the journey of the innies but still pay homage and respect to the fact that this man is a Black man who knows that he is Black in a world that he stands out?
DETROW: Britt, do you and the other actors – do you creep in the subreddit channel, or do you engage in the fan theories as they come out episode by episode?
LOWER: You know, I don’t, but as we’ve been doing press, a lot of the journalists have been reading the theories back to us, and I think it’s really amazing to hear how much this has lit up everyone’s imagination…
DETROW: Yeah.
LOWER: …With ideas.
DETROW: Do either of you see the upside of a “Severance” procedure, like, when it’s spelled out? Is there any part of you that thinks, like, I could see some of the appeal to that?
TILLMAN: I get it. I understand, you know. And especially in the world that we are in, we all need a reprieve.
LOWER: That’s a very Milchick thing to say, Tramell.
TILLMAN: Oh, well, I mean, you know, it’s very – you know, I appreciate that. Thank you.
(LAUGHTER)
LOWER: All of a sudden, you’re selling “Severance” to me.
DETROW: That’s Tramell Tillman and Britt Lower, stars of “Severance” on Apple TV+. You can hear more of my conversation with them, including insights on their characters in Season 2, on ALL THINGS CONSIDERED this weekend.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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