The Apple TV+ series Severance, which premiered on February 18, tackles a whole new kind of work-life balance. The show created by Dan Erickson and directed by Ben Stiller and Aoife Mcardle follows the character of Mark, played by Adam Scott, who recently underwent the controversial procedure known as "severance" in order to take a job at the mysterious Lumon Industries. Clocking in for the day effectively activates the implant in his brain that flips the switch to his work memories, meaning he forgets everything that happens to him outside the walls of the company (which is referred to as his "outie" side). When he's not working and living his life, he doesn't remember anything about Lumon either — or any of his quirky coworkers, like the goals-driven Dylan (Zach Cherry) or the by-the-company-handbook Irving (John Turturro). The arrival of a disruptive new employee in Helly (Britt Lower), however, could do more than just threaten the status quo; it could upend the authority inside Lumon as it exists, led by company devotee Ms. Cobel (Patricia Arquette) and her loyal right hand Milchick (Tramell Tillman).
Ahead of the series premiere, Collider had the opportunity to speak with Severance stars Arquette and Tillman about joining the Apple TV+ series. Over the course of the brief interview, which you can watch above and read below, the co-stars discussed how many answers they were given in terms of the many mysteries surrounding Lumon and the series as a whole, as well as how they found the complex dynamic between their characters.
There's a lot about Lumon and what's going on that we don't know about, but the two of you play characters who are working at a much higher level within the company. How much were you clued in on in advance? And did you have the chance to ask questions and kind of get some insider information from Dan [Erickson] about any secrets?
TRAMELL TILLMAN: Oh, absolutely. I knew very little, very little walking into this, and Dan and Ben [Stiller] were very instrumental in the collaborative process and talking through it. But there were a lot of secrets, just like Lumon has secrets, so it took a lot of faith when it comes to those questions that they could not answer. This was definitely an exercise where the character knew more than the actor, so I just had to go with it and just take the leap.
PATRICIA ARQUETTE: For me there was... I had so many questions and some of them had got answered and a lot of them didn't, and then some that got answered led to a thousand more questions, but basically I think we in upper management in this corporation, it's taken a long time and many, many years of asking less and less questions, and understanding what our boundaries are, and leading first with what the corporate rules are and what the structure is. So by the time that we've already arrived here, there's already a lot of ignoring your own inner questions, not listening to them, not leading with them, not... We've already been trained like Pavlov dogs at this point to already just be moving forward. Even if it doesn't make sense, doesn't matter if it makes sense or not. If this is what we're supposed to be doing, this is what we're doing.
But then there is this part of my character that is a little outside the lines and for her own placement in this company to earn something, also to give back to this corporation, which is not just a corporation to her. It's almost like a religion, and a family, and everything all rolled into one, it's her whole childhood on up. This entity is so much a part of her life, the shadow of it looms so large. So I don't know if that makes sense. It's so layered.
The two of you play such a complex relationship on the show. Were there any surprises that happened during filming that maybe added more intricacy to the relationship that wasn't necessarily on the page?
ARQUETTE: There's stuff that I think are surprises that are on the page that were very surprising to me and interesting. But a lot of it was actually editing. I think for all of us, we would have ideas or natural instincts that would happen, and part of it was like, no, you can't do that. So you get kept getting put into this confined space. So I actually saw a lot of different colors and choices Trammell had, or even from myself that got confined out. That was interesting to work in confinement. Trammell, what did you think?
TILLMAN: Yeah, I like that. It's that, but I would add that one of the biggest, I won't say surprises. The biggest blessing was that Patricia and I got along so well, that we could vibe with each other and laugh even in the midst of film in this tenuous situation with COVID going on, which did not foster these really bright relationships that we would often have when we're on set, but Patricia is so giving, and so friendly, and very open, and so it was great to be able to have that camaraderie together, so much closer than I believe that Milchick and Cobel would have. As you know, Milchick looks up to Cobel, and that's his mentor. So it was a great bonus to have that camaraderie.