Playing hide and seek
Memory is the diary that we all carry about with us,’’ says poet and playwright Oscar Wilde. But what if you have the option to remember things selectively? That is what the 2022 Emmy-winning television series Severance got praised for when it first released three years ago. Set in a corporation, the employees have the option to separate their consciousness. While at work they have no memory of their life outside, and when at home they have no recollection of their life in the office. Written by Dan Erickson and directed by Ben Stiller, the show has returned with its much anticipated Season 2.
Ben Stiller
‘It is About Someone Dealing with Grief’
'Severance' was initially meant to be an office comedy, but turned out to be a dark dystopian thriller with a strong human connection. What do you think worked for the show?
For me what has been intriguing about the show is how it crosses genres. It can kind of go to different places. The weirdness of the show is that it is also based on a grounded human emotion and a story about someone who is dealing with grief, and trying to move forward in life. There are so many different areas one can proceed towards in this show, and that’s the part I enjoyed the most. I feel like we have been able to create a tone that people seem to have accepted. We are always trying to experiment and sometimes you don’t know, how it’s going to be received by the audience. You don’t get feedback in real-time from people, it is fun to test the barriers of that in a way that’s organic to the show.
Never has a show generated such excitement and discussion as 'Severance'. Have you been through the fan theories and the online chatter on 'Severance 2'?
It has been a long time and you never want it to be that long but it feels nice it stayed alive for the viewers. As we have been approaching the new season, we can feel the palpable excitement that people have for it.

The last few years have been a trying time for the industry as well as for the artist community. How did that impact the writing ?
What we’re dealing with in the world affects everything. We had to deal with a strike during our production period, and people changed over time. I feel like you can’t have that be a part of the process. But, on the other hand, I think when you finally come out of something like that, for us, especially in terms of making this season and getting it hopefully, to be as close to what we wanted to be as possible, you feel one has had an experience which has impacted and influenced everyone. It is nice to be at this place where the audience can just sort of enjoy the show.
Adam Scott and you worked together in 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty' in 2013. He is known for his knack for comedy. What is the creative synergy between the two of you like?
When I started reading the script, he immediately popped into my head. I have worked with him before and have been a fan of his work. He brings a kind of persona to the show, and like any actor I knew he had so much more to offer. Adam goes deep into the stuff, and beyond what people know of him, I thought the show would allow him to do other stuff. When he read the script, he had the same thought as me, it worked for us.
‘I Love Playing Crazy Characters’
Patricia Arquette
In 'Severance' you play the mysterious and complex Harmony Cobel. What helped you bring the kind of freshness in portraying this unhinged, unapologetic woman?
It was fun. I love playing crazy and wild characters onscreen who don’t conform in a way. But, she works in this institution where she has to conform all the time. There’s a little wild thing in her that always wants to break away from everything, question and do something better her way. I think people don’t respond well to control. We are ironically living in times where each one of us is controlled in some way or the other.
'Severance' makes a strong statement against the hustle culture, and seeing the narrative unfold on screen, it’s scary to think reel may become real.
I feel like, in a lot of ways, we are severed already. People are having one relationship with one person online, and they have a family back home. People are very disconnected. They have one outward personality, and then they have a whole different personality online. So, I think it’s a very strange but the whole point of Severance is to question what you are afraid of.
What was it like collaborating with Ben Stiller again, since the two of you have done several projects like 'Flirting with Disaster', and 'Escape at Dannemora'?
I love working with Ben. It’s a blast. I feel like we’re this group and he is our leader. Ben is a very collaborative teammate. I am always blown away by Ben and his talent, the way he sets up shots, the way he composes things, and the tone, which we never could understand as actors.