The Emmy-winning Apple TV+ sci-fi series Severance has returned to the streamer for its second season, but not without hints of on-set discord and drama between cast and crew. Actor Ben Stiller, who also directs the show, opened up about the rumors during an interview with The New York Times podcast “The Interview” on January 11.
Watch now: Severance on Apple TV+
Stiller shot down the idea that friction and tension is necessary to create art. “I never really believed that idea of you have to have friction or something on a set…to keep sort-of tension,” he explained. “I really believe the show comes out of the different creative perspectives of the people who work on it.”
What happened on the set of Severance?
The rumors were sparked by a 2023 article published on Puck News that the show was delayed due to disagreements between the series’ showrunners, Mark Friedman and Dan Erickson. In his
“What I’m Hearing” section, Matt Belloni wrote Severance “has been plagued for months by pricey problems, including scrapped scripts and the dreaded showrunners who don’t speak to each other.”
The discord allegedly impacted scripts for the series but Apple was committed and approached Stiller about a third and fourth season, Belloni continued. Stiller also brought in Beau Willimon, who created House of Cards, to helm the show’s third season.
What is Severance about?
The Tramell Tillman star as their superiors who clearly have something to hide.
They live as “innies,” their work selves who clock into and out of a windowless building and perform menial tasks, and “outies,” their selves who live outside their workplace, Lumon. The innies and outies do not share memories, but the outies live robust lives with family, friends, and loved ones.
On its surface, this could sound like an excellent step toward true work-life balance, but the reality is far more sinister. The crew soon begins to unravel a series of mysteries that involve Arquette and Trammell (but aren’t limited to either).
The series is part of Apple’s original programming. The streaming platform launched in 2019 but has yet to gain the type of mass appeal enjoyed by Netflix and Prime Video — not that it seems to have slowed the production side of things much at all.
Published: Jan 22, 2025 05:53 am