INTERVIEW: ‘Severance’ Stars Dichen Lachman & Zach Cherry Unpack Season 2

*The following article contains spoilers for Severance Season 2*

You might have thought it would be impossible to top the cliffhanger at the end of the first season of Severance, but the team behind the Ben Stiller-led project have managed to do it.

The recently wrapped second season of Severance not only took the global phenomenon to new, mind-boggling heights, but also produced incredible television that had fans pulling apart every second in the week between each episode dropping on Apple TV+.

A major turning point this season came with episode seven, Chikhai Bardo, in which fans were finally given an answer to a question the show raised years ago: what happened to Gemma.

Chikhai Bardo also saw Australian actress Dichen Lachman get significant screentime as fans learnt more about her relationship with Mark (Adam Scott), which resulted in some of the best storytelling and acting we’ve seen in Severance to date – no easy feat, given the show’s track record.

Fan favourite Zach Cherry also got to explore more sides of his character, Dylan, most importantly, his outie.

To celebrate the season two finale – and help unpack and try make sense of its episodes – Supanova caught up with Lachman and Cherry to discuss key moments.

DICHEN LACHMAN

It was so great seeing more of you this season. How was it diving headfirst into this role when the show’s already so established?

I was really nervous and I felt like the pressure was on. I didn’t want anyone to be disappointed. I didn’t want to let anyone down, so it was really nerve-wracking. I had a long time to get used to it though because I heard about the episode and then there was long pause because there was a strike, so nothing was changing about it. I had a lot of time to sit with it and just meditate about Gemma. And then just kind of took everyone else’s lead and got down and did the work.

How was it working more closely with people like Adam Scott in episode seven?

It was amazing. Adam is such an incredible human being and actor. He’s so kind and generous, but, in life, just like on the show, I haven’t spent a lot of time with people like him and Ben [Stiller] and everyone else who I still kind of fan out over because my exposure to them has been so limited.

So, part of it was also getting over the, “Oh my gosh, that’s Adam.” And then going into, “But we’ve known each other forever and we’re married and we love each other.” You have to just shift into like, “Okay, now I have to do the work.” And then when you’re out of it, you’re like, “Oh my God, I’m on set with all these incredible people. Don’t mess it up.” 

That’s almost kind of like Gemma and Ms. Casey. There’s this version of your character that knows everybody quite well and then a version that probably feels a bit displaced in some ways in a similar capacity.

Absolutely. And one of the saddest moments for me in episode seven was when Ms. Casey walks out of the elevator and there’s this sort of excitement for her; she’s not 100% certain about what’s happening, but that she might see her friends again. And then when Milchick sends her away, it’s so sad because that little innie is so precious and innocent and just longing for connection. For me, even though there’s lots of heartbreak to be had in the episode, that was one of the ones I found particularly sad. 

Another key moment in that episode that stands out is when Gemma’s told by Dr. Mauer that Mark’s remarried and has a daughter. What do you think about Gemma’s reaction in that moment?

That was interesting because it could have been done so many different ways. There’s a version of that where she says, “I don’t believe you,” and there’s a version of that where she on some level believes it, right? And I think that we experimented with that on the day, and Robby Benson’s just such a remarkable actor.

I absolutely loved working with him. He was so there for me on that day, and well, every day. And I think ultimately there is an ambiguity there. You could choose to believe the ambiguity. You’re not 100% sure whether she believes him or not, but she’s not going to give up because obviously her connection to Mark and her desire to get out of there is great.

When Mark and Gemma are reunited in the finale, that scene could have played out a number of different ways as well. What was the process of figuring out that scene?

One of the extraordinary things about this show and why it’s so good is because we take so much time to really find it. You don’t always get that opportunity, and it’s such a collaboration. I’ve never felt more… it’s hard to describe. It’s not that I’ve felt like I’m on my own on other things that I’ve done, but on this, there seems to be so many things that contribute to the performance and so many people, and they give you the space to try different things.

It’s not like, “Okay, we got that moving on.” Everyone’s so thoughtful about every little detail that you see and what each character is going through. So ultimately, I couldn’t have been in better hands. With someone like Adam and the creative team around the show, you just feel very safe to explore and really go for it. 

The attention to detail that you’re describing, it really lends itself to the one-episode-per-week format, which is kind of like a lost art form these days. 

You’re so right. I 100% agree with you. I think that this culture of just blasting through a show in a day, it really takes away the enjoyment from the community that it builds in those days between when you have to wait a little bit. Our culture is sort of like, “Oh, we want everything now.” And part of the enjoyment, I think, is the anticipation. Part of the enjoyment is letting your imagination run wild with your friends or just on your own as you’re thinking about the different concepts or the characters or the relationships and letting that permeate before you get to see the next thing.

The once-a-week thing is really lost, and the fact that they’re bringing it back to some degree, not just on Apple TV+, but on other platforms, is such a great thing. Because eventually some people will just sit down and watch the whole thing and they won’t experience the communal journey with everybody else. What’s extraordinary for me has been seeing the fans making posters and art of the show, editing their own little clips together, and just seeing that is inspiring.

Having a week to sit with each episode, there’s certain things that linger in the back of your mind. Is there anything specific that’s stuck with you?

What lingers with me the most is that idea that human beings are always trying to just bypass unpleasant feelings and that we have a habit of not wanting to experience anything unpleasant. And so, when you have contrast in your life and you’re grieving or you’re doing something you don’t want to do, there’s this sort of desire to numb ourselves or medicate ourselves, or just by the simple fact of not dealing with it because we don’t want to go into those emotional places. That really resonates with me.

Obviously, I am guilty as charged of doing that in my own life, and I see that as a flaw in myself, not wanting to deal with things sometimes because they’re unpleasant. But part of what makes us human and how we grow as a person is to push through those difficulties, and I’m working on it.

ZACH CHERRY

Dylan is at the center of key moments in Season 1 and Season 2, both involving Mr. Milchick, where he’s putting everything on the line for his team. Where do you think Dylan fits now in the group, versus the very start of the show?

Yeah, it is interesting. At the very start of the show, he’s not really well integrated into the group. He’s selfish, focuses on his own stuff and is a little abrasive. And over the course of the season, he gets much closer to them. But then this season, he’s isolated from them, again. Because he has this situation where he’s getting the chance to meet his wife, but he’s not allowed to tell anyone about it. So that was tough and a bummer.

We didn’t get to have that same level of all four of us together camaraderie as much this season because of the way they’re being divided by Lumon, and these different techniques they’re using to keep them apart. But then as you mentioned towards the end of the season, he finds his… courage isn’t the right word, but he comes back to his connection to the other MDR workers, and once again is willing to sacrifice to do the right thing for them.

How important do you think the letter Dylan’s outie wrote his innie was in regard to all that?

I think it was pretty important. I think innie Dylan this season, he has his first experience with heartbreak, and he’s ready to hang it up. He’s like, “I’m done with this.” He’s ready to quit. He tries to quit. And then he gets this letter from his outie where it seems like they start to see the valuable parts of each other, a little bit. And also, they have this somewhat shared mission of providing for and taking care of their family. That has a big impact on his decision to stick it out and not give up at Lumon.

We see a lot more of Dylan’s outie this season. How was it for you playing both those parts?

It was a fun challenge and fun thing to figure out, because there were a few different ways I thought about it. But I primarily conceived of the innie as a version of the outie without any baggage. He doesn’t have these kinds of failures, he doesn’t have these responsibilities, he doesn’t have these experiences of heartbreak that might be weighing him down.

And then over the course of the season, he does start to have some of those experiences. So, I think that innie and outie Dylan over the course of the season, they move a little bit closer together in terms of their similarities.

In Episode 9, Dylan’s wife says, “I told you about us.” How do you get your head around the science of this show?

Yeah, it is tricky, and it’s not something I’ve been asked to think about before. You show up and you’re like, “Okay, so I’m in this kind of love triangle, but there’s only two people in it, really. And one of them is an innie and an outie.” Working with Merritt [Wever] on all these scenes, she’s such an incredible scene partner. That was so much of it for me was just showing up and connecting with Merritt and figuring it out as we did it.

Is there a certain aspect of the show that’s stuck with you?

The main thing that really has resonated with me and that I do think about is the questions about work life and home life and how much do you owe your work? And how much time and how much of my identity do I want to put into my work? And it has definitely made me think about my work in a different way. And specifically, be a lot more thoughtful about how I want to spend my work time.

That must be hard, though, because you’re quite close with the cast. How have your friendships developed over the last two seasons?

Sure. And also, I will clarify, what I truly meant, because I love everyone on this show and I love this show, what I more meant was other projects; thinking about what I want to do and what I don’t want to do.

But you are right, that we do have a really great bond on the show, and I think some of that is just luck. You just get put in a room with people. And probably some of that is also the casting. They chose us for those purposes. Some of that is the circumstances in which we made the first season were really strange. It was 2020, it was the height of the COVID precautions. And so, we were the only people we saw for almost a whole year outside of who we lived with. So that is a unique experience that brings you close together.

And then Britt [Lower] and I both have an improv comedy background, and we now perform together, when we can, in New York. And Adam and I, we have very similar tastes in film and television, and love talking about Survivor.

John [Turturro] and I also have really connected in a really cool way that I don’t know that I was expecting. Because I’ve been watching him forever and been like, “Whoa, this is John Turturro, here.” But it was really fun to get to know him and chat about basketball. And I’m a huge fan of the show Monk, which he appears on, and I bother him about that constantly.

So yeah, it really has been a special show to work on, especially since most of my scenes have been with the four of them.

Severance is now streaming on Apple TV+

These interviews have been edited and condensed for clarity