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 is 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. I'm very excited to meet you.
DETROW: If you undergo it, you have no clue what happens inside the office, and your work self, or innie, knows nothing about your outie's life away from work.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "SEVERANCE")
LOWER: (As Helly Riggs) So I'll never leave here.
ADAM SCOTT: (As Mark Scout) You'll leave at 5, but it won't feel like it. Not to this version of you, anyway.
LOWER: (As Helly Riggs) Do I have a family?
SCOTT: (As Mark Scout) You'll never know.
DETROW: "Severance" is now back for its highly anticipated second season on Apple TV+. And for people like me who got obsessed with Season 1, the follow-up season has a lot of questions to answer. It goes deeper into the shadowy corporation of Lumon, the life and death mysteries and the romances driving the plot. If you don't want the first season spoiled or to hear even mild hints about the second season, consider this your warning because we're about to get into it with some of the show's breakout stars, Tramell Tillman and Britt Lower. Welcome to you both.
TILLMAN: Thank you for having us.
LOWER: Thank you for having us.
DETROW: 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, whether that's my given family or my chosen work family?
DETROW: Tramell, you play the company man, Seth Milchick, who's Helly's supervisor. I'm curious - I'm obviously not going to ask you what it is, but how up to speed are you, how read-in are you on the broader picture of Milchick as you approach the role each season?
TILLMAN: I find that I'm learning it as I go, you know? What's really lovely is that this process of "Severance" from the very beginning has been incredibly collaborative. And in a very interesting way, it feels so much like Milchick. In Season 1, he has some answers, but he doesn't know all the answers. And as he progresses in Season 2, we see that he's promoted, and he has access to more information. But I think there's so much more that he is unaware of in this world of Lumon.
DETROW: And we're going to come back to some of those moments he finds himself in in Season 2 in a moment. But Britt, I want to ask you a question about your approach to acting this role because you play Helly, you're playing Helena, and as the season goes on, it's clear that both of those roles - one of them in particular - is even more complex than it was before. And I'm wondering how you think - how actively you think about the body language and the posture and just the way that you present these characters who are physically the same person but mentally and spiritually very different people.
LOWER: I kind of started from a place of what they shared, which is they're both trapped. For Helena, on the outside, she's trapped within a company she was born into, and she's often being observed. Anytime you see Helena, there's someone else in the room with her, so that...
DETROW: Yeah.
LOWER: ...You know, affects the way that she behaves. And then for Helly, she's kind of the complete opposite. And she's moving through the world on a really clear mission, a really physical mission, especially in Season 1, to escape at all cost. And much like Tramell was saying, that there's this meta quality of, you know, what bleeds through from the innie to the outie and what bleeds through the information of what Britt the actor knows and what the characters know - there's a shared subconscious. There's a shared body. And so, yeah, there's this kind of cool meta quality of what information is available to both consciousnesses.
DETROW: Tramell, I want to ask you a couple of questions about a really interesting plot point that I'm going to try very hard not to give too many details about. But 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: And I think this particular moment gets to a lot of the interesting stuff at the show because Lumon makes an overture to Milchick that is incredibly garish and shocking. And yet a lot of the stuff in the show is actually, like, pretty close to actual workplace culture, which is horrifying to think about.
TILLMAN: Absolutely, which I think is so alarming because this instance, this circumstance, is very familiar.
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: It's very - you know, I appreciate that. Thank you.
(LAUGHTER)
LOWER: All of a sudden, you're selling "Severance" to me.
(LAUGHTER)
LOWER: I'm like, oh...
TILLMAN: The question is whether or not it's working.
LOWER: ...That voice is so soothing. But Tramell, did you see that long - that very long needle that they put into my brain? Did you see it?
TILLMAN: But you didn't feel a thing.
LOWER: (Laughter).
TILLMAN: You felt nothing. It was a dream. I was - Milchick was there to hold your hand, to support you.
LOWER: I don't know. That drill going into the skull - like, you can't forget that.
DETROW: Nope,
TILLMAN: Can't unsee it.
LOWER: But to Tramell's point, I think, there - yeah, of course, like, that's such a human thing - right? - to be like, oh, man, I wish I could numb myself to this uncomfortable part of life, whether it's a part of your identity or a part of life that's just a bummer or something really dark or grief. And I think the question that the show poses is, you know, is it worth skipping over those parts of life, or is moving through those things part of your identity and what makes you whole?
DETROW: That is Britt Lower along with Tramell Tillman, who both star in Season 2 of "Severance." The first episode is on Apple TV+ now. Thank you so much to both of you.
TILLMAN: Thank you.
LOWER: Thank you for having us.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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