SPOILER ALERT: This article contains spoilers for Season 2 of “Severance,” now available on Apple TV+. Lately, Ben Stiller has been very active on social media. For the “Severance” director and executive producer, interacting with fans is one of the good parts of being a public figure.
I find it, actually, really inspiring to be interacting with the audience because we never had that, my generation growing up. When somebody doesn’t like something, I’ll [still] go back and forth with them sometimes and I find that fun, too, because usually once you start talking to somebody or interacting, something positive can come out of it. It’s also kind of fun. And at the end of the day, I don’t really take it that seriously.
Stiller told Variety at the “Severance” Season 2 FYC event on Saturday in Los Angeles.
Stiller’s activity on social media has coincided with “Severance” becoming a major topic of conversation, especially with fan theories. This season, fans focused on things like the mysterious Cold Harbor file and the idea that outies were secretly taking over their innies’ bodies at work.
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Tramell Tillman, who became a breakout star for his role as Mr. Milchick, said the work retreat episode — where Helly (Britt Lower) is revealed as Helena by Irving (John Turturro) — was the hardest one to keep secret.
I could not wait for people to experience that because when I was at home and I read the script for the first time, I nearly tossed my laptop down. I felt betrayed. I felt lied to! I said, ‘The whole time?’ So it was really rewarding when that episode aired and I got to see the reactions of the viewers and how they responded to that reveal.
Tillman said
After the season finale, many fans wondered if the version of Helly who runs away with Mark (Adam Scott) in the hallway, leaving Gemma (Dichen Lachman) behind, is actually Helena.
Although Lower had already debunked that theory, show creator Dan Erickson views these interpretations as a sign of how deeply people are invested.
I think that people really do love Gemma and they love Mark and Gemma, and the idea of Mark and Helly sort of making this choice that is so heartbreaking, I think some people have trouble with that. And I understand it — they should. I don’t see it as a moment of somebody stealing somebody else’s lover. I see it as a moment of somebody claiming their own autonomy and the importance of their own existence.
Erickson said
Even when fans figured out twists, like the major reveal with Helena in Episode 4, Scott believes that people looking deeper into the story is ultimately a good thing.
It didn’t matter whether people thought that was true, didn’t think it was true, was completely convinced of it or was maybe on the fence. It’s actually fun to kind of have that idea rummaging through your head and not exactly knowing one way or the other. It was something we were worried about, like, ‘Are people going to be able to guess?’ But then once some people did, it actually enhanced the experience of the show.
Scott said
Source: Variety