I'm Actorbot (with Janelle Monáe & Sarah Edwards)

Summary

The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott: Episode Summary – "I'm Actorbot" (Featuring Janelle Monáe & Sarah Edwards)

Release Date: July 17, 2025

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Introduction

In this engaging episode of The Severance Podcast, hosts Ben Stiller and Adam Scott delve deep into the creative influences behind the acclaimed workplace thriller, Severance. This episode, titled "I'm Actorbot," features a captivating conversation with multi-talented artist Janelle Monáe and an insightful interview with Sarah Edwards, the show's remarkable costume designer.

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Conversation with Janelle Monáe

Timestamp: 06:11 - 07:56

Janelle Monáe joins Ben and Adam to discuss her profound connection with Severance and the broader themes of science fiction that influence her diverse body of work. She shares her journey as a storyteller, emphasizing her desire to build immersive worlds that reflect her vision and experiences.

• World Building and Storytelling:

  Janelle Monáe (07:03): "I wanted to be a world builder. I wanted to build worlds. And I knew that I had so much storytelling and world building I wanted to do."

• Influence of Sci-Fi on Her Work: Janelle highlights how classics like Isaac Asimov, Philip K. Dick, and films like Metropolis have shaped her artistic direction, particularly in portraying marginalized communities thriving in futuristic settings.

• Connection with Severance: She draws parallels between Severance and her work, noting the show's fresh take on memory, self, and freedom. Janelle appreciates the show's unique language and humor, likening it to being a part of a "cult."

  Janelle Monáe (12:02): "What I love most about this show is the freshness and the humor in the language. It's the language all its own."

• Mentorship from Prince: Janelle recounts her influential relationship with Prince, who mentored her early in her career. Their collaboration was pivotal in her development as an artist and reinforced the importance of remaining a student in her creative journey.

  Janelle Monáe (18:42): "When he talks, I need to listen. And so he just sort of talked to me, answered all my questions, and told me, like, all the stuff that he really admired and respected about me and what I was doing."

• Future Aspirations: Janelle expresses her ambition to direct, sharing insights into her current projects and the challenges of structuring her multifaceted creative endeavors.

  Janelle Monáe (43:31): "I'm writing the thing right now. Now, it's a psychological thriller. One of my favorite movies is The Prestige. So it has a twist to it, but I have not cracked the third act."

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Interview with Sarah Edwards: Costume Designer

Timestamp: 51:03 - 77:02

Following a brief interlude, Ben and Adam welcome Sarah Edwards, the visionary costume designer behind Severance. Sarah provides an in-depth look into her creative process, the meticulous research involved, and the collaborative nature of designing costumes that enhance the show's unique aesthetic.

• Approach to Costume Design: Sarah emphasizes the necessity of extensive research for each new project, ensuring that every costume aligns with the show's tonal palette and world-building elements.

  Sarah Edwards (53:48): "I'm researching something completely different most of the time. So I'm never bored. It's the greatest thing."

• Collaborative Process: She discusses her dynamic collaboration with Ben and Adam, highlighting how their feedback and mutual inspirations shape the final designs.

  Sarah Edwards (69:12): "I love the collaboration with the actor because I always say nobody thinks about their character as much as they do. And if you listen and you collaborate, the result is always better."

• Creating Specific Costumes: Sarah delves into the creation of iconic outfits from the show, such as the marching band uniforms and the distinctive coats worn by characters like Mrs. Roper. She shares anecdotes about sourcing unique pieces and the creative decisions behind them.

  Sarah Edwards (62:34): "I found this Swedish explorer picture and I remember bringing it to you and saying, how about something like this?"

• Maintaining Consistency: The importance of adhering to the show's costume guidelines to maintain the oppressive yet functional atmosphere of Lumen Industries is a recurring theme.

  Sarah Edwards (56:49): "We went with a very tonal palette in Severance, as opposed to a contrasting. Where you would have a green wall with a red dress. We had a green wall with, like, something more tonal."

• Challenges and Creativity: Sarah shares the challenges of designing costumes during the COVID-19 pandemic and how her team adeptly created on-set attire to meet production needs.

  Sarah Edwards (57:30): "We would make clothes because we couldn't find any of these clothes to buy in stores because it was right during COVID when we first started building this world."

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Hotline Questions

Timestamp: 70:15 - 72:49

Ben and Adam address listener questions related to Severance, focusing on the characters’ perspectives on their prescribed dress codes. Sarah provides thoughtful insights into how costume design reflects the show's themes of control and conformity.

• Listener Question on Innie's Opinions:

  Listener Paige (70:37): "Do the Innies have an opinion on how their Audis dress them every day?"

  Sarah Edwards (70:44): "If the shoes were uncomfortable, I feel like the Audi would not wear them."

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Conclusion

This episode of The Severance Podcast offers a profound exploration of the creative minds behind Severance. Through Janelle Monáe’s inspiring journey and Sarah Edwards’ intricate costume designs, listeners gain a deeper appreciation of the show's rich storytelling and visual storytelling. The conversations underscore the importance of collaboration, mentorship, and meticulous world-building in creating compelling narrative experiences.

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Notable Quotes:

1. Janelle Monáe (07:03):

   "I wanted to be a world builder. I wanted to build worlds."

2. Janelle Monáe (18:42):

   "Prince... just sort of talked to me, answered all my questions, and told me... what I was doing."

3. Sarah Edwards (53:48):

   "I'm researching something completely different most of the time. So I'm never bored."

4. Sarah Edwards (69:12):

   "Nobody thinks about their character as much as they do. And if you listen and you collaborate, the result is always better."

5. Sarah Edwards (56:49):

   "We went with a very tonal palette in Severance, as opposed to a contrasting."

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For Fans and New Listeners:

Whether you're a die-hard Severance fan or new to the world of Innies and Outies, this episode provides valuable insights into the show's creation and the artistic minds that bring it to life. Tune in to hear more behind-the-scenes stories, creator interviews, and in-depth analyses in future episodes.

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Disclaimer: All quotes are accurately attributed and timestamped based on the provided transcript.

Transcript

[Adam Scott]

The Severance podcast with Ben Stiller and Adam Scott is presented by the Farmer's Dog Try Fresh healthy [e-mail] severance. Can you hear me?

[Ben Stiller]

No. Okay, now we can sort of hear you.

[Adam Scott]

Is that still.

[Ben Stiller]

Count to 10. Count to 10.

[Adam Scott]

I don't know how. Okay. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11. Is that bad or good?

[Ben Stiller]

Hey, I'm Ben Stiller. I'm Adam Scott and this is the Severance podcast with Ben and Adam where we're talking everything, severance in terms of influences, things that relate to severance and people that have inspired severance and people who connect with severance and just everything that you know, is connected to severance really just something for us to do in between seasons. Right, Adam?

[Adam Scott]

That's right. Also people who hate the show, we, we're going to talk to some of them.

[Ben Stiller]

Oh yeah, we should have more people who hate the show on the show.

[Adam Scott]

It's so weird that we didn't start.

[Ben Stiller]

With let's do it.

[Adam Scott]

Okay.

[Ben Stiller]

You don't seem that into that idea though.

[Adam Scott]

Listen, it was my idea. I love that idea. But then as I started thinking about someone coming on and just tearing the show apart, it started hurting my feelings. So I think as we talked about it, I liked it less and less. This week though, we're joined by someone who feels the opposite way about our show. Ten time Grammy nominated musician, SAG award winning actor, and Severin super fan, Janelle Monae. Very exciting.

[Ben Stiller]

Yes. We're going to be talking with them about what they love about severance and how sci fi influences their work as a musician, writer, actor. You know when you say multi hyphenate. Yeah, like she's a serious multi hyphenate.

[Adam Scott]

She is an impressive artist.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah.

[Adam Scott]

My goodness.

[Ben Stiller]

So we're going to talk to her about being a multi talented person and doing a lot of different things really well and the connections she has with the show and just sort of the nature of duality in a lot of her work, which I think is really interesting too.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah. And then after that we're going to bring on our amazing costume designer, Sarah Edwards. Yes, we'll talk to her about her work on Severance. Also she's going to answer some hotline questions with us.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, she's the best.

[Adam Scott]

Totally the best. So we have this musician actor on today. Do you know how to play? I don't even know if. Do you know how to play guitar or piano or anything?

[Ben Stiller]

I play a few chords on the piano, a few chords on the guitar. E, A, C, G. Some minor chords I can do on the piano too. And minor chords on the guitar. I know chords.

[Adam Scott]

Okay.

[Ben Stiller]

Basically.

[Adam Scott]

So that's a yes.

[Ben Stiller]

No, it's not. It's basically I can play some chords. I do play the drums kind of decently. And so that's really.

[Adam Scott]

You're a good drummer.

[Sarah Edwards]

I'm.

[Ben Stiller]

Okay, forget it.

[Adam Scott]

Okay, forget it. You're a good. No, you're a really good drummer.

[Ben Stiller]

But why are you asking? Are you. What's your musical aptitude for things?

[Adam Scott]

Nothing. I can't do anything and it bums me. Like, I really wish I could sing. I wish I could play guitar. I wish I could play drums, to be honest with you.

[Ben Stiller]

I can teach you. I could teach you like a little 4, 4 beat.

[Adam Scott]

That would be great.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, that would be great.

[Adam Scott]

I feel like the bass drum, the bass drum is where it gets really confusing.

[Ben Stiller]

Bass drum on one and three. Snare drum on two and four. For your like basic four, four thing or like in a wall to be like 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3. The bass drum would be on the one, right? Yeah. And you could do paradiddles and double paradiddles and five stroke rolls and all sorts of fun rudiments.

[Adam Scott]

I'm feeling like I don't even need a lesson now. I feel like I'm already there.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah. I am really not a musician. I am a person who loves music, loves to listen to music. And I grew up trying to play the violin for a while and then piano lessons and then drum lessons, which were really, like, probably the ones I did the most. And. And I still have, you know, I. I still do play every once in a while, which is really fun. I have a high school band. We still play together once in a while too.

[Adam Scott]

A punk band, right?

[Ben Stiller]

Well, sort of, yeah. Like, kind of like a post punk kind of, you know, Brian Eno inspired, you know, mid-80s, something.

[Adam Scott]

That's awesome.

[Ben Stiller]

Thank you. And how. How are you doing? How was your weekend?

[Adam Scott]

It was good. You know what? I got a power washer over the weekend and hooked it up, kicked it into gear, and spent three full days power washing concrete pathways in front of my house. Have you ever done this?

[Ben Stiller]

I was going to say, what is a power washer?

[Adam Scott]

Okay.

[Ben Stiller]

And then I realized midway through, it's like. Oh, no, that's like the thing that you use to wash concrete in your driveway.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah. Well, you hook a hose up to it, then you plug it in and it just shoots water out at such a tremendous speed that it Digs dirt and grime out of any surface.

[Ben Stiller]

Right.

[Adam Scott]

And it's so satisfying. I stood out in the sun for like, eight hours a day, for three days, just power washing.

[Ben Stiller]

Were there drugs involved? What do you want?

[Adam Scott]

I. It sound. You know what? It sounds like I discovered power washing and crystal meth at the same time. That's what it sounds like. It's like I washed it is all. Everything is clean.

[Ben Stiller]

No, that does sound really satisfying and really fun. Yeah. You know, there's an interesting parallel there, though, of Mrs. Selvig de Icing her steps with a blow dryer.

[Adam Scott]

That's right.

[Ben Stiller]

In. What is it? Episode two, Season one.

[Adam Scott]

Season one, Yeah.

[Ben Stiller]

I think. Right. And she's like, kind of like checking you out while she's de icing her stoop. And I feel like. I don't know. And you're power washing your stoop. I don't know. Just trying to find ways to tie the banter into severance.

[Adam Scott]

And I was definitely keeping an eye on my neighbors while I was doing it.

[Ben Stiller]

And I'm sure they were keeping an eye on you too.

[Adam Scott]

They certainly were.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah. They're like, that's the guy from severance. Power washing his.

[Adam Scott]

What is he doing? And why is it taking so long?

[Ben Stiller]

This is in the celebrities, they're just like us section. That's right.

[Adam Scott]

That's right. Okay, so should we see if Janelle's in here? Maybe she'll want to hear about some of this.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hello.

[Adam Scott]

Hey, Janelle.

[Janelle Monae]

Hi, guys.

[Adam Scott]

How you doing?

[Janelle Monae]

I. I'm fantastically well.

[Ben Stiller]

Thank you for joining us and being so connected to the show. Cause I felt that for a while hearing how you were appreciating it, and you're so talented and do so many different things. There's so many things that we're excited to talk to you about, But I would say one thing. Like, we were just talking about instruments and playing stuff. And I am an amateur musician. Adam doesn't play anything. And I see you have your set up there. I see a guitar. Piano, right?

[Janelle Monae]

Yes. You are in my studio. This is Wonderland. Wow. Let me see if I can show you guys. Just. That's my piano. I'm more of a guitar girl than I am a pianist. And then this is the.

[Ben Stiller]

Wow.

[Janelle Monae]

Whoa.

[Adam Scott]

All those guitars.

[Janelle Monae]

Guitars. And then there's some percussion stuff on this side. Oh, that's so kind of see.

[Adam Scott]

And do you actually record in there?

[Janelle Monae]

I do. Probably. My last two albums, I recorded here. Like, there's a couch back here. So, like, I'll cut vocals laying down on the couch.

[Adam Scott]

Oh, that's so.

[Janelle Monae]

I like it to feel super. Just easy and not like, okay, yeah, everything. Get everything together and go into this booth. And some things I'll cut in a booth, like, if I'm doing orchestra stuff. And I just want to have, you know, the. The experience of that. But for the most part, like, all my rough vocals and anything that we're. We have, it's fully full of musicians. Everybody's packed in here is sweaty. It's like. I feel like that's where the magic happens with the sweat.

[Adam Scott]

How fun. Yeah, that's amazing.

[Ben Stiller]

You know, it's so funny. I was just watching some clip I saw yesterday of Billy preston from the 70s doing nothing from Nothing, that song. And it's like. And I think it was a live recording, and they were all, like, in this super small studio just jamming together. And it was like that feeling of just like. And the music is so good. And you're. I mean, first of all, what you have created in your career is very unique because you kind of do a lot of different things, but it's always had a theme to it. You've really kind of created from the beginning characters and a Persona for who you are as an actor, as a musician, as a storyteller. That, to me, is fascinating that you had that vision so early on. I'm sort of curious about just how that started for you and how you were able to do that at a young age.

[Janelle Monae]

Yeah, I mean, I used to say I'm a storyteller, but I think I'm more confident because I've done multiple albums, I've been in films. I've been very fortunate to do all of this. And I've been doing it since shoot, since middle school. You know, I was writing short stories in Kansas City at the Coterie Theater's Young Playwrights Roundtable, where they took, like, four inner city kids, and we would just write short stories, and if they were great enough, the local actors would perform them. So I loved storytelling. You know, I did something about photosynthesis, plants talking to aliens and coming to get me and my cousins from my grandmother's house. Like, these were just things that were in my mind growing up. And I knew that I wanted to be a world builder. I wanted to build worlds. And I knew that I had so much storytelling and world building I wanted to do. And Ziggy Stardust changed it all for me when I found out that you can create the album, create whatever this character that lives in you is. And you can take that character on the road and you can do that on tour, and you can become that. And once I knew that I could do it that way, I got into science fiction so heavy. I started reading Isaac Asimov, I started getting into Philip K. Dick, and I saw Metropolis. And that story spoke to me. The haves and the have nots and androids and, you know, futurism, Octavia, but butler, Afrofuturism. Seeing marginalized folks, black and brown people, thriving in the future. And I got an opportunity to explore that through my eyes and my experiences of growing up to working class parents. And so I think I just. I don't know. I've always been an imagineer, you know, just trying to engineer my imagination to move in the way that feels good to me, in the worlds that I want to see and talking about the world that I don't want to see and how that intersection can really be between having something to say and representing a group of people and representing your imagination, how you can change hearts and transform people's minds through storytelling and world building. So I think I just, like, stuck with it, you know, because I wanted. I wanted to see it.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah. Is that what appeals to you about science fiction, is that you can talk about things in your life in a way that, like your. Your character, Cindy Mayweather, that you play through your first three albums, is that science fiction is a way to tell a story in sort of an indirect way?

[Janelle Monae]

Yeah, you said it. You know, it's kind of like people will say the pill and the applesauce, you know, when we. When we sort of recontextualize it and we, you know, make sort of the parallels between marginalized folks today and now they're cyborgs or they're androids. Like, people are like, oh, now I get it. We shouldn't repeat the past. We should protect the future. Because, yeah, that's just like, you know, these people who are living right now that we're. These bullies are trampling on, like, how do we fight the bully? It's that same story. And I think science fiction has given me an opportunity to open people's minds up to what kind of future we can build and how we can use maybe the heaviness of today. We can filter that through something that feels like more solution oriented and more like we're gathering around a movie or an idea or some music and let's get in the room and let's really talk through how we can shape the kind of future that we want.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah.

[Ben Stiller]

Wow. That's. I never, ever thought like that. That's really smart. I know.

[Janelle Monae]

Please.

[Adam Scott]

I mean, so much cooler than how we think about the show.

[Janelle Monae]

I just want to say one thing. Like, I am beyond, like, you guys. You two together and individually, I've been watching, and you are world builders, too, so. Ben, I just. You are a goat, period. You are. You are one of. And it's just amazing. When I saw that you were attached to Severance, I was like, of course. Like, he builds worlds and characters and, you know, collaborating with someone like you, Adam, who I've told in person, I've gotten an opportunity to see you and tell you how much I love your work and how the specificity of just what you do. You're such an outlier. Both of you guys are outliers. And this world that you built, honestly, I think when I saw one of the producers, I was like, I should be on the show. I know this world. Have you. Have you listened to my album? In my concept, I did a movie called Dirty Computer.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah, Dirty Computer.

[Janelle Monae]

Yeah. It was all over my memory.

[Adam Scott]

It has so much crossover with Severance. You're hitting all these themes like memory and self and freedom and suppression and conformity. Is that what brought you to Severance is the sci fi angle?

[Janelle Monae]

I mean, I check out anything y' all do. So whenever it's like, okay, Ben, Adam, okay, this new show. And then once I knew the plot, I was like, oh, my God, this is it. And I think with Dirty Computer, which. That came to me in a dream and like, wow, it's so good. 2015, you know, that I. I had gotten abducted by these officers in this totalitarian society. I just wanted to go see a movie. And the ushers were like, you need to leave. They're taking people. And I was like, shut up. Give me my Twizzlers. Give me my popcorn. I want to sit down and watch this movie. And soon as I tried to sit down, I was taken, and all of my memories were taken. And I found myself in this facility where they were draining our memories, and they were reprogramming us to be and do and feel and look like the world that they wanted. And it's a little different than Severance because you guys kind of signed that dotted line of sort of be in the program, but we didn't. We were taken against our will. And, yeah, so when I heard about the concept and everything, I was just on pins and needles because I'm a writer, too. So I'm looking at how you guys are, how Are they going to wrap this up or. Okay, what is season two really going to focus on? And the duality was just so fresh. You know, we've seen memory movies, like, we've seen Memento, and we've seen sort of the Bourne trilogy. And I also did Homecoming 2, which was dealing with these berries that these folks would take and they would use for PTSD and helping people not remember sort of the pain that was inflicted on them. And then they started to abuse the berries and getting rid of people's memories. What I love most about this show is the freshness and the, I don't know, the humor in the language. It's the language all its own. You know, it recalls different things that I love about sci fi, just, like, reimagined in such a fresh way that all of us are just fans of. You know, I'm in the severance cult.

[Adam Scott]

Well, when you came up to us at the Critics Choice Awards and sat down at our table, it was a big group of us actors. It was such a huge moment for us. It was so kind of you, because we were a brand new show and didn't know if anyone had seen it. And the fact that you were a fan just meant the world. So thank you for saying all that. It's really nice.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, I meant that I am interested in that you said duality, because I do think that's a big part of the severance idea, too. And just the questions of our nature and sort of different sides of ourselves for a long time. Just even stylistically, when you were performing, when you were starting out, like, your look, can you talk about a little bit? Because that feels like that was connected to that too, this idea of different Personas or duality.

[Janelle Monae]

Yeah. I have a lyric in a song that says, I'm looking at a thousand versions of myself, and we're all fine as fuck. And so I think as somebody who, you know, it's like people ask me all the time, like, how do you develop or come up with these Personas? And it's like they haunt me, they haunt us. Like, they're just. When it keeps coming back and back and forth in, like, the corners of my mind that this. This is a world that needs to happen, and this is the protagonist. This is the main character energy that needs to be unlocked. Like, we need to see this. And it's when I just have to surrender to it. And I think early on in my career, I knew. I really did know that, like, I didn't want to just be an actor. I didn't just want to be a musician. Like I mentioned before, I wanted to build worlds. You know, when you think of George Lucas, when you think of Ste. Even Spielberg, when you think of Octavia Butler and all these folks, you're like, that is what I crave in my down moments and my alone moments. That's what I want. And I think that I wanted people to get that early on. I wanted them to say, hey, she has more ideas, you know, she has more thoughts about what an artist can look like and feel like and be. And I'm also non binary. And so for me, I'm like that throughout my work and my music. And it showed up there first. It was like. Like genre. What are we talking about? Genre? Is the shit good or is it bad? Like, what. What are we talking about? You know? So I started off early. I was just like, I have to train people to. Even if they don't like it, which is totally fine, or it's not on their frequency, I need to have the space to grow. I need to have the space to be looked at as the actor who's going to do the movie soundtrack as well, who's going to star in it, who's going to help write it, and who's going to produce it. I need you guys to know that I. I want to contribute to art and I want to contribute to humanity in this way.

[Ben Stiller]

Wow.

[Adam Scott]

So cool.

[Ben Stiller]

I mean, to have that vision at a young age. Were there people that you were influenced by or you saw doing? I mean, Bowie, I definitely saw that, like, looking at Dirty Computer, creating a character, Ziggy Stardust, and doing a concept album, which really doesn't seem to happen that much these days. So as a kid, is that who you were watching and listening to or that made you think, oh, I can do this or I want to be that?

[Janelle Monae]

Yeah, you know, in addition to that, Prince was a really big inspiration, and I had the opportunity and the honor of being very close to him for many years. He was one of the first artists to reach out to me before my first album came out. In fact, I don't tell a lot of people this, but I. This is when I was selling CDs out of my trunk. And so my first album came out on CD. We don't really do CDs like that anymore, but I ripped a CD and I put, like on a piece of paper all the track listing and I signed it. And he was one of the first people to get the Ark Android, my first album. I gave it to him first.

[Adam Scott]

Wow.

[Janelle Monae]

Because prior to that, he affirmed a lot of things for me. You know, when you get into the industry, and I'm sure you guys know a lot about trying to figure out which way to go when you. When you have been very fortunate to, you know, be able to. To go different ways if you wanted to, right? And I think I was just trying to figure out because it was a lot of pressure. Folks were like, oh, you should do this, or you should dress like this, and you can do that. And I knew in my heart, like, what I wanted to be known for and what I wanted to do. And Prince was the right artist at the right time to talk to me and talk to our arts collective, Wonderland, that we started. And we admired so much of what he did with Paisley Park. And, I mean, he had the movie, he had Purple Rain, right, with the music and the character and the Persona he presented in Graffiti Bridge and Under the Cherry Moon. Like, he had done so much world building himself. I was like, when he talks, I need to listen. And so he just sort of talked to me, answered all my questions, and told me, like, all the stuff that he really admired and respected about me and what I was doing. And I just felt like, man, okay, I'm on the right track if Fritz is looking, which I'm like, how do you even know about me? You're supposed to be on some other planet somewhere, you know, doing your thing. But having him push away his mystery and give me his mentorship was a really key ingredient for me to press on.

[Adam Scott]

So you got to. Did you guys collaborate in the studio together?

[Janelle Monae]

We did. So if you listen to my second album, Electric lady, we have a song called Giving Them what they Love.

[Adam Scott]

And so what was that like watching him work in the studio?

[Janelle Monae]

Man, he was such a night owl. Like, he didn't sleep much the first time we hung out. I remember. I remember me coming over. Like, me, my band, everybody, we came over at 11pm we didn't leave till, like, 7am and he stayed there and jammed. And in terms of the studio, people don't believe me when I say this, but he literally looked to me for what I wanted him to do on the project. He was like, what do you. What do you want me to do? Like, and it was tough because I'm like, how do I tell Prince what I want him to do? But he was like, hey, what do you want? Like, send me the song. And he laid some guitar parts down. Some of it he was by himself doing. And then we got together and closed it out. But for the most part, he was looking to me, and I think he was trying to teach me how to not be afraid.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah.

[Janelle Monae]

To talk to a legend. I guess that's what I'm thinking because it was intimidating. But then when I was like, oh, okay, he's a student, he's a student. I have to always remain a student. He still wanted to learn how I saw him and how I saw, like, how I filtered back what he represented to me. So he was just easy. He didn't even charge me to be on the album.

[Adam Scott]

Oh, my God. Amazing.

[Ben Stiller]

I could just imagine when someone like that who is a genius and obviously is reaching out to you, saying, like, hey, I think you're worth connecting with and you have this talent. I can only imagine the. That, you know, how that affects you. I know we've all had people like that. I haven't had anybody like Prince ever, but other people who I really admired who said, yeah, I think that's good, you should, you know, like, and opened up and sort of like you said, made you a part of the process. And a lot of people don't get to see that side of what the actual creative process is with somebody like that. And I can only imagine that must have been really affecting for you.

[Janelle Monae]

Yeah, it was very affecting. And it just let me know that no matter how big you become and, you know, just remain a student. Remain coachable, you know, Remain. Yeah. Remain a student.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah. Okay, let's take a quick break and Adam and I will be back with more from Janelle Monae right after this.

[Adam Scott]

This episode is brought to you by the Farmer's Dog. So employees on the separate floor of Lumen Industry know their work is mysterious and important. The farmer's dog, on the other hand, isn't mysterious at all, which is good because what you feed your dog shouldn't be a mystery. The Farmer's dog makes 100% mysterious free fresh food for dogs and they always use real meat and real vegetables which are gently cooked to retain vital nutrients and avoid the risks that come from ultra process. Process it. Their recipes are developed by their team of board certified vet nutritionists so they can ensure that your dog's food is always complete and balanced. The farmer's dog food is made to human grade safety standards, which are the same safety standards as the food that you and I eat. Because as far as I know, if you're listening and understanding this podcast, chances are you're a human being. The farmer's dog also portions the food to your dog's unique needs, making it easy to keep them at a healthy weight. So go try the farmer's dog today and get 50% off your first box of fresh, healthy food at the farmersdog.com severance. Plus you get free shipping right to your door. Remember, you can't get it at stores. You can't get it at Lumen. You can only get it@the farmersdog.com severance. This offer offer is for new customers only. Hey, what's up flies? This is David Spade. Dana Carvey. Look at I know we never actually left, but I'll just say it. We are back with another season of Fly on the Wall. Every episode, including ones with guests, will now be on video. Every Thursday you'll hear us and see us chatting with big name celebrities. And every Monday, you're stuck with just me and Dana. We to react react to news. What's trending viral clips follow and listen to Fly on the Wall everywhere you get your podcasts.

[Ben Stiller]

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[Janelle Monae]

I mean, for you guys. I mean, shoot, you've been doing this for however long, but does it always feel like you're coming back, back to the whiteboard? Everything that you knew that you try and do and what is sort of your process? Like when you have an idea and you're like, okay, I read this book or I've heard this short story? How do. How are you really? Who are you calling in your, like, committee of like, okay, is this good? Am I tripping? Is this a great story? Is this a hit? How does that process go?

[Ben Stiller]

That's A good question.

[Adam Scott]

I will say that getting to work with someone and really see how they work and see, like you were saying, working with Prince and seeing the sort of mystery of it sort of unveiled and seeing a real person there working, and the kind of generosity of that person sort of inviting you in and showing you the ropes a bit, that really, truly has been part of the process of severance with Ben, too, as being a part of this big thing. And we worked together on WALTER Mitty, like, 13 years ago, and. And I remember then watching Ben direct and star in this movie, and I'd never actually seen someone do that. And the amount of work and focus it takes to do something like that, especially something on that scale, and learned so much then. But then this process has been that sort of multiplied because we've been working so closely together. So I know exactly what you mean by just sort of being let in on something really special. What I'm saying is Ben is my prince.

[Ben Stiller]

I'm sorry for you, Adam.

[Sarah Edwards]

Yeah, I'm so sorry for you.

[Janelle Monae]

I mean, I can believe you. I believe.

[Adam Scott]

But, yeah, I mean, as far as, like, trying to, like, find stories and stuff, my wife and I work together, and so she's a great barometer for. If I read an article or if she reads an article, we're great for each other to kind of. Of bounce something off. Like you were saying, like, is this actually good? Is this worth our time? Or is this. Is this just me thinking it's cool? Or is this something that. That could actually have some. Some roots and some lasting power to it?

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah.

[Adam Scott]

How about you, Ben?

[Ben Stiller]

I don't know. I mean, I still feel like I'm constantly trying to figure it out. You know, it's just funny. You get to a certain age and you go, wait a minute, I'm this age. But I'm still feeling like I am, like, starting out because.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah.

[Ben Stiller]

The idea that you are a creator and you're also an. And you do different things, I know, can be also challenging sometimes for the outside world to figure out how to process that. Right. Because they want to see you in a certain way.

[Janelle Monae]

Absolutely.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah. And that's, like, a whole other thing to talk about, which I'm curious, because I feel like by you having such a clear idea of your Persona at a young age and having that. That understanding, like, I want to be known as this and have all these possibilities open to me, that's amazing foresight to have as a young person. But, you know, really the creative process, for me, being also someone who I sometimes will get a project as script that's sent to me or as an actor, or have an idea that I'm trying to figure out on my own or with a friend to write. And, you know, that process is. I think I've heard you talk about in interviews, like, when you take a role that you have to really feel it. Like, you have to really feel it deep down. I think ultimately it's connecting with that feeling inside of you. You're saying, like, you know, the feeling of goosebumps when you think about something or something gets you excited, like, physically excited in some way. Like, oh, yeah. Like, that to me, is such an important feeling to be in touch with. It took me a while to, I think, really figure out that, like, the stuff that I really, really want to make is stuff that I really want to see, that I want to experience. And I think it took me a while to get to that and to go, oh, no, I should just do this. Only if it's something that I, like, really want to have exist. And that really has to be the impetus, I think. Something you desire.

[Janelle Monae]

Yeah. Passion.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah. And because you know how hard it is to get these things. I mean, I can only imagine, like, making Dirty Computer. Like, that's so much going on in that. I mean, how. You know, and it's a vision that's in your. That you're trying to. You have to communicate to, you know, hundreds of people, everybody.

[Janelle Monae]

Yeah. I mean, I think this is so. This is so great because it brings me into another question I want to ask you guys, because I'm dealing with this now. You know, these. We have these ideas, and we're like, oh, my gosh, this is a movie. You know, this is. I see it. I see it in my head, and it's like, I wish that I had a pipe or a tube to just insert into my brain and just, like, pour out everything into a cup, and people can just drink that and then. Oh, we understand what you're saying. Okay. This is how we can make this happen. But it doesn't happen that way.

[Ben Stiller]

It's like, that's Severance Season three.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah.

[Janelle Monae]

Come on now. Like, I'm. I'm craving that so hard because it's like the inception of an idea and getting it out, but in that between time, between the inception of it and getting it to folks, it's like, I can't write fast enough. You know, it's like, oh, my God, we need to do this now. Everything is like a really big creative impulse, but realizing it in terms of structures and teams, if you were to tell yourself, because you guys are multi hyphenated as well, like you're producing, you're acting, you're starring in, you're doing so many of the things that I, I love. I'm so like, man, you're, you're doing it and I want to be doing that. But structurally I'm like, do we have the bandwidth or what do I need to. I'm like, I need to put a system in place to get these things out so that I'm not just the singer over here, I'm not just acting over here, I'm not just producing back here. But like, how do we make everything work as one galaxy?

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah. And very few people do that, are able to do that. And it's a very unique thing. I mean, how does your creative process change when you're acting in something like, say you're working on Homecoming or something? How do you take all the stuff that's going on in terms of your other ideas and how do you approach that when you're just working as an actor?

[Janelle Monae]

Yeah, you have to leave some things to the side, you know, like for instance, when I did Homecoming, but really when I did Glass Onion, I had to lock in because I was also playing two folks. I was playing twins and they had to have one, had to have a different accent. And then I had to play not only like each of those two characters, but I had to play a character that was pretending to be the other character, which is the third character. And then it was the character, you know, after they had sort of come into to being who they were gonna be like, they came from the country girl to like this hero. And so, you know, Ryan Johnson and I talk all the time about like, I really did have to be four different versions. And it was good that he wrote it and was the director because he was able to help me stay on pace and just to stay in the pocket with who was talking at whatever time. But I have to. Some things I have to let go. I have to say, okay, okay, Glass Onion, all star cast, let's lock in. You know, and when I. I need to fully surrender to this and for these three months and I'll pick back up on the album then. And sometimes it hurts. It's like, man. But I have to think big picture and if I know that I want to star in things and work on the music and, you know, I want to, I want to do those things. I need to, I need to do the work and People have to see me doing the work, and sometimes the work pans out. You know, you have a good edit. You're like, yay, Ryan made me look great here. But it takes a lot of work and precision.

[Ben Stiller]

Are you able to let go of the control aspect? I mean, Ryan, great director. So of course you're gonna work with somebody who's great, but. Yeah. Are you able to just let go of it?

[Janelle Monae]

I am. I learn, actually, by looking at the screen, though. I don't know. Do y'.

[Ben Stiller]

All.

[Janelle Monae]

Do y' all learn like that?

[Adam Scott]

Watching yourself, you mean?

[Janelle Monae]

Yeah, I can watch myself back, and I have no ego there. I'm like, ah. Because I can see. Like, oh, I just need to be more still here. Like, I'm. I'm moving a little bit too much. But if I just quietly say this, it actually is more powerful. So if I see that. And I think it's because of me having choreography and videos and doing things. If I see that I'm moving around too much and I'm being. It's not locked in and it's not settled. I can just look at my body language and I can just be like, okay, that's what I need to do. How about you guys? Can you let go?

[Adam Scott]

Well, I'm just. I'm curious, kind of like what Ben was asking, if you're able to let go, is it kind of nice sometimes to let go and not have to worry about the music and the big concept and everything? And just because you're such a great actor, you're also in Hidden Figures and Moonlight, and you're so good.

[Sarah Edwards]

Good.

[Adam Scott]

So is it nice to be able to just focus on one thing sometimes when I'm there?

[Janelle Monae]

Yeah, of course. Like, it's great in it, but it's great when you trust the team, when you trust the director. Right. You know, when you. When you're like, okay, we have a similar taste. He's not gonna let me fail. Like, I. I know he knows, like, when I'm locked in and when I'm not or she knows or they know. So that's when I can really relax. I think my moments of not relaxing is really not truly trusting. And I've had experiences, you know, in different. Different ways where I. I don't trust that you're going to take care of me right now. Like, I really need to. I need to see what's going on. But like you said, a lot of acting is about trusting, and it's just always great to have somebody that you really can, like, mean it. When you say I trust, you really mean it.

[Adam Scott]

I think that's the whole thing I've learned more and more, is trusting the director and having that. You need to trust each other, too. They need to be able to trust you as well.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, I can't. I don't like to watch myself. But I appreciate what you're saying, because you're right. That is how you learn. But I'm always. It's always, like, very tough for me to. And especially, you know, when I was directing and acting a lot, and then I was kind of forced to. And it was very frustrating to me because I get so sort of like. Like, I wish, you know, I was better. I wish this actor was better that I'm at editing. I'm, like, stuck editing myself, which is why now I get to edit Adam, and it's much more enjoyable.

[Adam Scott]

Were you. Were you doing that on midi? Were you, like, watching playback of yourself? Or did you have to watch playback?

[Ben Stiller]

You have to watch for different techn and things like that. And then I had my producing partner, Stuart Kornfeld, who I trusted a lot, who we. He would watch takes and kind of, like, go, like, what'd you think? And, you know, but it's really hard, and I think to have that ability in a kind way to yourself. The way you were saying, Janelle, where you could, like, look and go, hey, I should just do this, or if I just laid back here more, that's. That's the best, most healthy way, you know, which I. No, no. And I. And I think it's also, like, it's important to be able to do that. But it's just interesting to me, though. Just. It seems to me like, in the nature, even in Glass Onion, this, like, duality thing. Right. That of. Comes through a lot in your work and the idea that, like, you're interested in doing Homecoming, which I thought was a great show both seasons that Sam's and Sam Esmail created and, you know, and deals with a lot of similar issues. And stylistically, Sam just as a filmmaker, you know, had this, like, great sort of, like, interesting, paranoid, you know, 70s thriller vibe to it also. Yeah. I think, like, if you're taking work as an actor, that you're not creating the part or writing it, but you're responding to something. Something that, you know, inside of you that, you know, resonates. Sometimes you don't even. For me, sometimes I don't even know what it is. I just know that something I'm. I like this. I'm interested in this, but I do think that it seems like you're thematically, like, you're going to be attracted to certain things, you know, or certain questions of the nature of, you know, being a person, maybe.

[Janelle Monae]

Yeah, I just like interesting things. Like, I loved Mr. Robot, when Sam put that out, and I just loved his work. And when I read the script, I was like, oh, this is cool. The concept was of playing these. This person whose memory was lost and, like, trying to uncover my footsteps in this kind of psychological thriller. And also had. I love Hitchcock. So it had this Hitchcocky. And I knew they were going to film it in that way, too. And the slow zoom ins. And I was like, oh, okay. This is cool. The music. Have you guys listened to the music for that?

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, it's really wild.

[Janelle Monae]

Yeah, it's so good. The soundtrack by Emil Mosso Story, it's really, really wonderful. Like, I think that it did not get the love that it needed.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, but.

[Janelle Monae]

Yeah, you just kind of. When I'm looking to grow, I'm like, okay, this is gonna grow me. You know, Like, I need to. I know that I'm gonna. It's not something I could just do in my sleep sometimes. We know, like, okay, I can play that. I can. I can do that. Like, I can just learn the lines and. But there are some roles where it's like, oh, I. I'm gonna. I'm gonna have to really shed and be naked again, you know, in front of folks. And I love that. Let me ask you this. When did you know sex was. What did you read? And then what made you say, like, okay, this show is gonna be. We're gonna do sci fi, but we're gonna do this differently. Like, what. What. What conversations happen to shape it in the way that it is now, or did it just come like that?

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, no, I mean, when I. It was a script that literally was handed to me, so I. Dan Erickson comes out of his genius mind, and he. Yeah, and he was at the time, a writer produced before. And, you know, he was. I think he was working for Doordash at the time that I met him.

[Janelle Monae]

Yeah, I was Office Depot. That's where I used to work.

[Adam Scott]

Oh, fun.

[Ben Stiller]

Fun.

[Janelle Monae]

Yeah. Great. I got fired. I was. I was on the. Using the display computers to send back emails to some of my fans who saw me performing on the library steps in Atlanta, Georgia.

[Adam Scott]

And they fired you for that?

[Janelle Monae]

They saw it on the camera there, like, Janelle to the back, and I was like, oh, my God. They knew what I wanted to do, though, so.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah.

[Janelle Monae]

You know, yeah, go ahead and do that.

[Ben Stiller]

Go do it.

[Janelle Monae]

That's what you want to do, right? Yeah.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah. So, like, basically, it was something for me when I read it, I wasn't, like, particularly dying to do sci fi, and I appreciate sci fi. I love Star Trek. That show for me was, like, a big one. And I, you know, like Star wars and. And I read. I did read, like, some Isaac Asimov when I was a kid and, like, Kurt Vonnegut and stuff like that. But. But I wasn't, like, thinking, okay, I got to Sci Fi Project. It was really the nature of the tone of the show and the idea that it actually had these sort of, like, very familiar elements of the workplace comedy. And then it had this weird sort of almost like Twilight Zone kind of vibe of, like, what's going on? And, you know, shows over the last few years. Obviously, Black Mirror is an amazing show that really, I think, kind of like, got everybody excited about that kind of tone again. And I was a fan of that show, too, too. And reading the script, I was like, oh, this feels just. Something in it is fresh, and I identify with it, and I want to see what it is, and I want to. And the world building a possibility was exciting to me and also a little bit daunting, honestly. You know, the idea of really having to think out, like, okay, what are the rules of this whole world? And how far do we go with that? And the process, it sort of evolved over the course of a couple of years of developing it, but from the beginning, it was just that first feeling of, like, yes, I think this is really cool. I want to want to see this. And that.

[Adam Scott]

That's what I. Yeah, that was really it for me, too. Exactly what we were talking about earlier, which was this is 100% exactly the show I would want to watch and exactly the thing I've always wanted to do since I was a kid watching Twilight Zone. I know you're a Twilight Zone fan, too, Janelle.

[Janelle Monae]

I am, yes. I used to watch it with my grandmother all the time.

[Adam Scott]

It's just the best.

[Janelle Monae]

Adam, how did you prepare? Look at me. I'm interviewing you guys.

[Ben Stiller]

I like that. That's what we like.

[Janelle Monae]

How did you get the nuances between your any and your Howdy?

[Ben Stiller]

Are you ever going to reveal that, Adam? Some of the little secrets. I know one secret, but maybe. Maybe you don't want to talk about it. I don't know.

[Adam Scott]

No, go ahead.

[Ben Stiller]

The back. The back support thing.

[Adam Scott]

Oh, yeah, I have. We never talk.

[Ben Stiller]

I don't think so.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah, sure.

[Janelle Monae]

Posture.

[Adam Scott]

I got a I. Early in season one, I decided that any was going to be anything that I like about myself, and the Audi was going to be everything I hate about myself. Myself. And one thing I hate about myself is my bad posture. And so for the innie, I got this back brace on Amazon that you can just put under your clothes and it makes you stand up straight. And so I would wear that around. And I think you're the only one that noticed it.

[Ben Stiller]

Then I bought one after I saw you wearing it.

[Adam Scott]

Did you really?

[Ben Stiller]

And it lasted about two minutes with it. And so painful because my posture is so. My posture is so bad that I was like, even that thing can't fix it. So. But you were wearing that. I remember. And you know, look, you don't have to talk about all this stuff because as an actor, we all do things we don't. You know, it's your secret, right. You don't have to talk about it. But, Adam, I feel like you put so much specific thought that we never discussed personally when we were starting out into the creation of both sides of Mark.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah. I think that as you're doing it thing with the TV show is if you just kind of remain open, open to like day one of shooting, you don't have to close the book on figuring everything out. You're also, you know, get your work done. But also what I like to do and what I found I like to do and learned way late in my career is just staying as open as possible to learning and evolving the character as you go, too, and learning kind of on the job. And then when you're with the other actors, that's when you learn a bunch, too. And be a. Be a student, which is exactly, exactly what you said earlier.

[Ben Stiller]

I have a question, Janelle, are with all the things that you're interested in and your projects, I'm curious, like, you know, kind of what you're working on now in terms of that next thing. And is directing something? I mean, it sounds like a natural thing for you to do. Are you going to do that?

[Janelle Monae]

Yes. Yeah, it is. And I'm going to come and find you and I'm going to shadow you.

[Ben Stiller]

You're learning. You're living my dream to learn what not to do. Watching a director on a set. Right. I'm sure, you know, like watching a director, it's just like. Just watch the stress, watch the tension.

[Janelle Monae]

Right? Yeah. And, you know, everybody has their own swag. You know how they do it. Like, Ryan is super calm. I was like, you have a cast of, like, eight people. Everybody's, you know, big. I'm one of the newest, you know, folks, but you have all these personalities, and, like, you were so chill right now. But, you know, he got what he wanted from us, and it was like a quiet power, you know? And I've been on set where other folks are a little bit more, like, high strung, but everybody has a style, and I'm just. I'm going to pull together all the things that I like about everybody and just, like, try to use that. But you're. You are right to ask that. Then I. I really do want to direct. And I know, though, that that is going to take. Again, lock in focus. And I need to find the thing. I'm writing the thing right now. Now, it's a psychological thriller. One of my favorite movies is the Prestige. So it has a twist to it, but I have not cracked the third act. Like, I know how I want it to end, but it's like that little meet in between. Like, I know how I want it to start and end, but I'm like, how do we get to the end? So I'm trying my best to finish that. And it has some bit of box body horror. Body gore. Oh, cool in it. Because I don't know if you've seen my Halloween looks, but I have a lot of them. I was looking up when we leave, but.

[Ben Stiller]

All right.

[Janelle Monae]

I want to be able to transform.

[Ben Stiller]

I mean, your. Your looks are incredible. What you do visually just with yourself is incredible. I mean, the layers of things you're doing are just so impressive.

[Janelle Monae]

Honestly, are crazy.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, crazy. And it's all coming from you. So that's why, to me, honestly, directing a movie is not, like, any higher level of difficulty than anything you've done before. You know what I mean? Because it's all about the same thing. It's all about vision and an idea and seeing something that you want to make happen.

[Janelle Monae]

Yeah.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah.

[Janelle Monae]

I appreciate that. I'll come and find you guys.

[Adam Scott]

You're amazing.

[Ben Stiller]

Yes. It's really great to talk to you. I feel like we could talk a lot more because I'm so. I mean, I'm just even, you know, I'm curious about just your progression from coming from where you grew up to doing this. Like, just to have that vision. Right.

[Janelle Monae]

Yeah.

[Ben Stiller]

Is amazing.

[Janelle Monae]

Yeah. Thank you. I was just telling one of your producers, I was telling them, I went to my family reunion. I'm from Kansas City and I went to my family reunion. I have 49 first cousins.

[Adam Scott]

Wow.

[Ben Stiller]

49 first cousins.

[Janelle Monae]

Yeah. And so this year was our year to plan the family reunion. So I was like, all went well. My two uncles did not get into a fight.

[Adam Scott]

Oh, good.

[Janelle Monae]

Nobody got drunk. Trump, you know, like, you know, wait.

[Ben Stiller]

There'S two uncles, but 49 first cousins.

[Janelle Monae]

Well, there's two uncles. My grandmother had 12 kids.

[Ben Stiller]

Okay. Okay.

[Janelle Monae]

And so I have two uncles and I have 10 aunts. Some of them have passed on. Right. But I have one aunt who had 13 children, she and her husband together. And then I have another. See, they didn't. They don't do them like, they don't do it like that anymore. I'm like, I have. I go back with no kids. I'm shaming the the family. And then I have an uncle who has like 14 some. We just discovered. They just came like, hey, I'm your cousin. I'm like, yep, you have the nose, you have the forehead.

[Adam Scott]

You're like, come to the party.

[Janelle Monae]

Yeah, yeah. But listen, I. I think growing up in a family like that, with so many personalities, you just get a lot of different material that you just save until you can use it.

[Ben Stiller]

So.

[Adam Scott]

Wow.

[Ben Stiller]

Amazing. Well, thanks so much for joining us.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah. Thank you.

[Janelle Monae]

Oh, man. Thank you, guys. It's such an honor. And I cannot wait for season three.

[Ben Stiller]

All right. I like that. Thanks.

[Janelle Monae]

Cheers, my friend.

[Adam Scott]

Thank you, Janelle. Okay, we're going to take a break, and when we come back, we'll be joined by Severance's amazing costume designer, Sarah Edwards. If you're planning your next trip abroad, you can stay connected the smart way with Olafly. They are the global leader in ESIMs for travelers, and they have coverage in over 200 destinations. And they got a 4.5 out of 5 Trustpilot rating from over 8 million users. So it's no surprise that Olafly is the go to for international trust travel. You can forget fumbling with physical SIM cards or searching for airport kiosks, because Olafly's EIM activates instantly with a QR code. It's so easy. And you'll be online in minutes with unlimited data and no surprise roaming charges. So whether you're hopping countries or you're just staying in one place, Olafly has a plan for you. You can try the Olafly Travel EIM for, like, short trips, or you can go with Olafly plans for monthly unlimited data across 170 plus countries. Plus, the thing is, installation takes just two minutes, and with 24.7 multilingual support in over 18 languages, Olafly gives you true peace of mind wherever you are, save up to 85% on roaming fees and explore the world without limits. You can get started [e-mail] Join the fun on DraftKings Casino ranked the number one online casino experience. They've got everything you've been searching for. Thousands of exciting games, huge jackpots, exclusive offers and more. New players get a 10 day welcome offer 500 spins on Huff and more puff when you play just 5 bucks to start down. Download the DraftKings Casino app, sign up with code severance and spin your favorite slots. The crown is yours. Gambling problem call 1-800-GAMBLER in Connecticut. Help is available for problem gambling. Call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org Please play responsibly. 21/physically present in Connecticut, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia only. Void in Ontario eligibility restrictions apply. New customers only. Non withdrawable casino spins issued as 50 spins per day for 10 days. Valid for feature game only and expire each day after 24 hours. See [e-mail] promos ends 8 hours, 24 minutes and 25 at 11:59pm ET. Number one beginning based on Ehler's Incresic 2H24 product analysis are you planning your next trip? Pack the Ultimate Traveling Companion A travel Insurance plan from TravelGuard from lost luggage to unexpected detours, TravelGuard has your back 24. 7 support means you're not on your own. For those unexpected travel disruptions. Head over to travelguard.com, customize your plan and hit hit the road with more confidence. Travel Safe travel Smart Travel Guard this.

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[Sarah Edwards]

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[Adam Scott]

Hey Sarah.

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Hi Adam.

[Adam Scott]

So good to see you, Sarah.

[Sarah Edwards]

So good to see you too. Both of you.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, this is exciting. We're joined by one of the original creators of the show, Severance. I I think right. We have a creative team that I feel like everybody contributed so much in formulating what the show was in terms of the sets and costumes and look and all of it. And Sarah Edwards is our costume designer and really, I think very responsible for the look of the show in a lot of ways.

[Sarah Edwards]

Thank you Ben. I'm so happy to be here and talk to you guys about the show.

[Ben Stiller]

This is your first podcast.

[Sarah Edwards]

It's my first podcast in interview.

[Ben Stiller]

All right. Well, I wish I could give you some advice.

[Adam Scott]

I don't know, we tend to, I don't know, really put our guests through the ringer, particularly first Time interview.

[Ben Stiller]

If you say anything controversial, it will be probably what we clip out and, you know, put on the Internet to get people to, you know, so we can get. What do they call it? Clickbait.

[Adam Scott]

Clickbait, yeah, we're all about clickbait.

[Sarah Edwards]

This is making me feel great.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah. So we want to know, like, how difficult are you? The actors and their fittings.

[Adam Scott]

Okay.

[Ben Stiller]

That's right. Come on.

[Adam Scott]

How much of an angel am I?

[Ben Stiller]

Who's the most costumes?

[Sarah Edwards]

There's so much to talk about. But if I told you, I'd have to kill you.

[Ben Stiller]

Yes, that's right. First of all, Sarah and I have known each other for many years. Do you remember when we first met? Was it.

[Sarah Edwards]

I do. It was Tower Heist.

[Ben Stiller]

Yes. We did a film called Tower Heist. And this was back in like 2010, probably something like that. 2010, yeah.

[Adam Scott]

And then Sarah, you did Walter soon after that.

[Sarah Edwards]

Yes, I did. And that's where I met you, Adam.

[Ben Stiller]

Yep, that's where I met with the.

[Adam Scott]

Ralph Lauren three piece suit.

[Sarah Edwards]

Yes. But do you remember our. When I first met you at our first fitting on that?

[Adam Scott]

I don't know.

[Sarah Edwards]

We were trying to get these fantasy sequences and this is something that Ben, I think was cut out of the movie. The Jester.

[Ben Stiller]

Yes. Oh, right. That was one of Walter Midi fantasy where he's always imagining stuff in the movie. And we had these like flashes to these. Yeah.

[Sarah Edwards]

And I think Adam came in and I was like, here's a Jester costume.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah, that's right.

[Sarah Edwards]

Like, who are you and what is this costume?

[Ben Stiller]

That's right. But did we film that though?

[Adam Scott]

We did.

[Ben Stiller]

I don't think we filmed it.

[Sarah Edwards]

I don't know. I think we filmed it, but it was.

[Ben Stiller]

We did.

[Adam Scott]

That's right, we did.

[Ben Stiller]

Because there was also another one that we did in the office with like an 8th 19th century, sort of like I was a butler kind of thing. Right. It was that. Yeah, with. With Kristen.

[Sarah Edwards]

With Kristen. It was 18th century.

[Ben Stiller]

Yes. Yeah, 18th century. Excuse me. Well, see, this is it. You're so specific being a costume designer. Tell me, like, what is it that you have to know going into a project? Because you have to do a lot of research and. And we'll get to severance and how you created this look. But on other projects over the years, how do you do it? How do you approach the work?

[Sarah Edwards]

Well, all of that is true. It's all, you know, every single project is new research. For every project, I'm researching something completely different most of the time. So I'm never bored. It's the greatest thing. And I have a huge library and a lot of books every period of costumes. Also photography books and catalogs. Catalogs, yes. You remember that, Adam, from bringing in. And also, like with Ben, you would often recommend films to me for the tone of the projects we were working on, and we would sometimes watch them together. Do you remember that?

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah. Did we watch Playtime together?

[Sarah Edwards]

We did, yeah.

[Ben Stiller]

I mean, I think any filmmaker who goes out to make a movie probably watches Playtime by Jacques Tati because it's such a brilliant movie. And visually, stylistically, it's just so unique. And it did happen to relate to Walter Mitty when we were working on Walter Mitti.

[Sarah Edwards]

It did, But I felt like it also related to severance.

[Ben Stiller]

Definitely. Well, I think there were a lot of. I think there were a lot of Walter Mitty influences in Severance too. And probably just the fact that you were doing it too. And the sort of idea of this sort of workplace and this kind of a timeless workplace, or the ideas of, like, what we think of in the workplace outfit, you know, the uniform, you know, it kind of relates to the work shirt with the tie. What's the Japanese term? Salaryman. Do you know that term?

[Janelle Monae]

Yes.

[Sarah Edwards]

And it's interesting. Speaking of reason, I looked at a lot of photographs from sort of the 80s and 90s of Japanese office workers, which were really interesting. Also trying to kind of get to this no time, no place, which is something we talked about a lot. You know, you and I talked about it not looking like a period movie.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah. But like, you have these sets and this look, and then it's like, okay, well, the costumes are really going to put it into a very specific place if you commit to something that isn't actual period.

[Janelle Monae]

That's right.

[Ben Stiller]

So you kind of had a more challenging job, I think, was then to figure out how to make it fit with the production design, but then also have it be its own thing.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah. You probably wanted to really avoid any sort of lean in the Mad Men direction.

[Sarah Edwards]

Yes, exactly. You know, it was like, we don't want it to be Mad Men, but it can't really be modern and have this minimal, extreme, minimal, clean, mid century feeling and tie in with everything that was going on. So sort of I looked at vintage clothes from those periods and tried a few on some of the, you know, with Brit, we did a lot of that. And then I took those shapes, the silhouettes, and remade them all in the colors that we were working with for the palette, which was another big Thing that was dictating the costumes. You know, we went with a very tonal palette in severance, as opposed to a contrasting. Where you would have a green wall with a red dress. We had a green wall with, like, something more tonal, like a different green or a blue or something neutral. The palette was extremely tight on the cool side of the color wheel.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah. And it's also, even as you say that, it's sort of like, when you think about, like, if you do, like, green on green, if it's too green on green, then it becomes too distracting and too uniform or Right. Or monochromatic or whatever. But then sometimes that's right for what the scene is.

[Sarah Edwards]

Yeah. I mean, somehow it did work.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah. But it's interesting because I feel like that that's always just been sort of like, you know, what is the. There's no, like, science to it. Right. You're. When you're doing it, it's just sort of like what feels right, what looks right. And I think a lot of our process is you showing me pictures of actors in costumes.

[Adam Scott]

Yes.

[Ben Stiller]

And saying, what do you think of this? What do you think of this? I like this. And it's really just like. Oh, almost like an eye thing. Right?

[Sarah Edwards]

Yeah. And do you remember we used to do show and tells?

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah.

[Sarah Edwards]

We would make clothes because we couldn't find any of these clothes to buy in stores because it was right during COVID when we first started building this world, and there were no ties. Nobody was going to the office. The stores were not offering. There were, like, a table with 14 ties at, like, Saks Fifth Avenue. It's like, where are the ties? So we ended up just making so much more than I ever dreamed when I first came on the show.

[Ben Stiller]

Literally making the clothes.

[Sarah Edwards]

Yes. We made suits, we made ties, we made shirts.

[Ben Stiller]

And you made the. Just to jump to, like, episode 210. I remember there was a discussion we had about the marching band. The CNM marching band uniforms, and we.

[Janelle Monae]

Made all of them.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah. I remember you came to me and said, there's this version where we rent the marching band uniforms, and then there's the version that. That we should be doing where I make them.

[Adam Scott]

How long did it take to make all those uniforms, Sarah?

[Sarah Edwards]

The marching band uniforms? I mean, we rushed them a lot. I would say it was, like five weeks.

[Ben Stiller]

Was that one of the hardest things you ever had to do is make marching band uniforms? Because there was a lot going on, and you didn't have. Did you have people to try them? You had to make them and then fit them on.

[Sarah Edwards]

We made them, and then we were waiting for them to cast the marching band. So we were just standing by waiting for the trombone player.

[Adam Scott]

Another reason that you had to make a lot of the clothes is because of the color palette. Am I right about that? Like, it was a. It was a narrow palette. So all of Helly's clothes you made. I know my suits and Zach and John's suits, I believe, were all made specifically for the world.

[Sarah Edwards]

They were. I was really wanting to stay away from anything too contemporary or true. I wanted it to just be very much like figures you might see in a diorama or dollhouse, you know, just like uber minimal.

[Ben Stiller]

But you came up with a suitcut for Adam, right?

[Sarah Edwards]

I did.

[Ben Stiller]

That was based on.

[Sarah Edwards]

Well, it was based on sort of an amalgamation of different periods. I mean, you know, I sort of looked at some 90s suits, and they tend to have a single vent and two button, but they have pleated pants. And it seemed too much. You know, it was sort of like we played with different shapes. And we found this one suit that was kind of left in the department store forever. It was like in the back of the storage closet when I was going to. We work with, like, studio services at all these stores. So I went into the back and I found this sort of dusty old suit. But it seemed perfect. It had just such a simple shape, and it was single vented and flat front pants. But it wasn't skinny. It was kind of maybe, I don't know, 10 years old or something. And we put it on Adam, and it was like, okay, well, this is close. So let's see if we can get these made for Adam and just push them in the direction we want to go.

[Ben Stiller]

And was that sort of a key for you when you found that one? It's like, okay, now that opened up the rest.

[Sarah Edwards]

It did. Because I thought it was good to have rules. You know, in the research, as we were talking about, one of the things I was for looking, looking at is corporate handbooks from the 60s. IBM had one, and it was the dress code for what you were allowed to wear. So I made it up for myself. You know, I made the handbook for.

[Ben Stiller]

Severance, which is incredibly severance Y because we have the Lumen handbook. We all. And we have those. And we actually made those handbooks up too. Cat Miller made them.

[Sarah Edwards]

And I know I should have given her my, because she's so incredible, but she would have made a beautiful dress code handbook. But I have it.

[Ben Stiller]

We printed it out oh, so you have your own.

[Sarah Edwards]

I have. We printed it out.

[Ben Stiller]

I never saw that.

[Sarah Edwards]

I think.

[Ben Stiller]

Did you show it to me?

[Sarah Edwards]

I better send it to you. But it just basically was like what was allowed down there. And I felt like if we had those rules that then it would just maintain the order in the clothes on that set, by the way.

[Ben Stiller]

I think that's so important. You know, talking about the rules of the world. Right. And talking about world. We were just talking about world building with Janelle and that you just have to make these decisions and stick by them. It's even what Mike Schur was talking about the other day about how Greg Daniels came up with his rules for how they'd make the Office. I remember when we were first talking about the different characters and Dylan and Irving and their different looks that I even said to you. Do you remember? I said, I feel like Dylan is kind of like the Dwight.

[Sarah Edwards]

Yes. We talked about the Office a lot and I looked the at.

[Ben Stiller]

At the Office too, and we gave him the sort of the Dwight, like yellow mustardy.

[Sarah Edwards]

We did the shirt when we made those shirts because try to buy a yellow mustard.

[Adam Scott]

That's so funny that that came from Dwight. I had no idea.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, well, yeah, we looked at, you know, in my, like the early days of the show, I always was like looking at like, oh, there are parallels here that I, you know, that I kind of love.

[Sarah Edwards]

There were.

[Janelle Monae]

And I.

[Sarah Edwards]

We definitely. I went back and looked at all the of.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah. I'm curious for episode 204, Woes Hollow, the coats and the hats, which I really feel are such an important part of that episode, what your first inspiration was. Do you remember how they were described in the script and then where you went with that?

[Sarah Edwards]

Yeah. It's interesting in the first version of the script I had, they weren't described at all. They were just. There was no description. So I was like, okay. And I was like, okay. I guess they're in like north face parkas or something. I had this whole idea that it was going to be parkas. And I remember we had a meeting, you and I, and Ben was like, no, no, no. I think it's something historical.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah, not north faced.

[Sarah Edwards]

Not north faced. It's something. It's a fantasy. It's this whole world that Mr. Milchuk is making for the Ort bow. And I went back and I was like, oh, my God. Gosh, that's totally different than what I was thinking. But let me get on this. And I found this Swedish explorer picture and I remember bringing it to you and saying, how about something like this?

[Ben Stiller]

Right? I remember seeing. Do you remember that? Do you remember who the explorer was?

[Sarah Edwards]

His name's like Olaf Norgelberg.

[Ben Stiller]

Olaf Norgelberg.

[Adam Scott]

He's one of my favorite recording artists.

[Ben Stiller]

Jewish, Swedish explorer. Very few of those.

[Adam Scott]

You're right. Outdoor explorers.

[Sarah Edwards]

What I do remember also is that we made these prototypes for you. And you said, we're gonna look at them when we wrap. And we were shooting at Bell Labs.

[Ben Stiller]

That's the Lumen location of the building. Yeah.

[Sarah Edwards]

And we went down to the basement and there was this glass sort of office box in the basement down there. Do you remember? And I brought them down.

[Ben Stiller]

It's all coming back to me now.

[Sarah Edwards]

They were the prototypes with the hats.

[Ben Stiller]

But the hats. The hats. So Olaf was wearing. In his picture, he was wearing a hat?

[Sarah Edwards]

Yes.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah. And that hat, those hats immediately took me back to first of all, like 19th century. Right. And it felt Russian or something, or like.

[Sarah Edwards]

Yeah, sorta.

[Ben Stiller]

It felt a little bit. Right. But then it also took me to like 19.

[Sarah Edwards]

Nordic.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah. It also took me to the 70s. Was that the guy? Oh, wait a minute. Barry, our producer, is the picture on the Internet of this guy, the real guy, Otto Nordenskold?

[Sarah Edwards]

Is this how we pronounce this?

[Ben Stiller]

Otto? You're asking me?

[Sarah Edwards]

I'm asking you.

[Ben Stiller]

I mean, I feel like Adam would know more than I would.

[Adam Scott]

It's Nordenskull. It was also very Zhivago.

[Ben Stiller]

Yes, that's right. That's what I was looking for, Dr. Zhivago.

[Sarah Edwards]

But the 70s kind of comes in.

[Ben Stiller]

But the 70s. But it's also the hat. And see, seeing Turturro with that hat on, with the mustache sent me Back to like 1974.

[Adam Scott]

Yes.

[Ben Stiller]

And like my dad had a hat like that.

[Sarah Edwards]

Oh, wow.

[Janelle Monae]

Yeah.

[Ben Stiller]

Like, that was a popular hat for like middle aged guys in the seventies, was that hat.

[Sarah Edwards]

And we made all those hats. I mean, we made all the hats and each actor, I remember fitting the hats. Like everybody had a certain kind of thing they wanted their hat to fit.

[Ben Stiller]

He had a little askew. Right. It was very cool. It was very specific.

[Adam Scott]

But under those coats we had. I mean, putting that wardrobe on every morning was. I mean, there were, there were.

[Ben Stiller]

Because you had under. You had like the old school, like underall.

[Sarah Edwards]

You had a long, long under woolen, long top.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, that was like a. Like a West, like from a Western. Like a prospector. An old prospector.

[Adam Scott]

That's right.

[Ben Stiller]

Johns. Right.

[Adam Scott]

But then Sarah being a thoughtful, kind person, person also Made sure we each had an electric vest on underneath everything because it was going to be so cold out there.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, that was a whole thing. The electric warmer vest was the thing that everybody was told to get before we started shooting that episode. And I tried it once, and I just. Because you have to have, like, a battery pack. And it felt very, like, just. It didn't. I didn't feel that much warmer and also didn't seem cool to wear an electric vest.

[Adam Scott]

But also, once we. We were out there walking around, after, like, two minutes, we're all sweating. Like, it just got so hot under all of those layers that we all took our electric vests.

[Ben Stiller]

I kind of.

[Sarah Edwards]

Yeah, yeah.

[Ben Stiller]

I kind of, like, remember, like, rapping at the end of the day and you, like, in your coat and hat and like, being like. Yeah, yeah. Like, I kind of just, like, the look in your eye was sort of like, yeah, great, Great. I got to get out of this.

[Adam Scott]

I got to get out of this. It was time to get out of the.

[Sarah Edwards]

They were completely fur lined. I mean, we were afraid everyone was gonna be freezing. I know. I'm sorry.

[Adam Scott]

No, I mean, it looks so cool. And it really has caught on. Like, fans of the show love these outfits and those jackets and hats.

[Sarah Edwards]

Well, I loved the idea of them retracing Kir and Dieter's steps in kind of similar attire, you know, for the allegorical tale of the two brothers. And they were dressed in very similarly. And for me, that kind of all tied in with something that maybe Mr. Milchick.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, it was part of the experience that he was creating. And Milchick's outfit.

[Adam Scott]

Oh, it's incredible.

[Sarah Edwards]

Well, that was you, Ben.

[Ben Stiller]

No, it wasn't me.

[Sarah Edwards]

I think it was.

[Ben Stiller]

No, you had. I remember you had, like, an option that was something different. What was the evolution of that?

[Sarah Edwards]

Well, we were like, they were gonna be in the same. In the same costumes. And you and I had a conversation, and you said, I feel like they should. Should somehow. The Lumen employees should somehow be different from the unsevered. Should be different from.

[Ben Stiller]

But I didn't have the idea for it to be white. Incredible suede. I feel like you were very.

[Sarah Edwards]

But you had something. But you did inspire me. I mean, you said, I feel like it should be a different color so they stand out.

[Ben Stiller]

Right. But then you came up with this amazing idea, and wasn't there another color? Wasn't there one other version of it?

[Sarah Edwards]

We had another version of it, but it was kind of of a. I don't know. It wasn't as successful. I mean, again, we used to do the prototypes on the mannequins. It was kind of like a wax museum in the costume department all the time. Yeah.

[Ben Stiller]

It's amazing because it would be like a workshop where Sarah's team was always coming up with new. And, like, when we were for 210, coming up with Lauren's outfit, which. And the development for 203, too.

[Sarah Edwards]

And mammalians too.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, yeah.

[Adam Scott]

Oh, yeah. All the mammalians. Wardrobe is so amazing. Something that's so fun to see and is such a tribute to Sarah and her brilliance is I see it happen again and again, where Ben sort of nods in a direction or says something out loud, like a direction to go in. And then Sarah kind of takes that information and really, like, weaves it into something incredible and creates a whole world. And there isn't anything about any of the wardrobe that Sarah puts together without reason behind it. Everything has function, and depending on what it is, there's a real flourish to it as well. And so character specific.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah.

[Sarah Edwards]

Thank you, Adam. I so appreciate that. And I. You know, I love the collaboration with the actor because I always say nobody thinks about their character as much as they do. And if you listen and you collaborate, the result is always better. And especially with you. I mean, you're such an intelligent actor, and, you know, the way we collaborated on getting the details of your character.

[Adam Scott]

I feel like it was always so fun.

[Sarah Edwards]

It was always fun.

[Adam Scott]

It was great.

[Sarah Edwards]

You have such great style and such great taste. Really, Adam, you do.

[Ben Stiller]

You do. I was gonna make another acting robot comment. Cause every time I say it sounds bad, though. Cause, I mean, it's a compliment. I love it. No, it's not.

[Adam Scott]

I do.

[Ben Stiller]

I was gonna say, there's that new Apple show, Murderbot, and, like, now you should do a spin off. Acting bot.

[Adam Scott]

Actor bot. Yeah, yeah.

[Ben Stiller]

Actorbot. Yeah.

[Adam Scott]

Tell me where to stand. I will deliver the lines like that.

[Ben Stiller]

Exactly. Well, Sarah, we have some hotline questions from people who call in.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah.

[Ben Stiller]

Okay, so let's go to one of these hotline questions and see what we got. Hi, there. My name is Paige, and I'm just wonder, wondering, do the Innis have an opinion on how their Audis dress them every day? Like, do they think these shoes are uncomfortable or. I hate this dress. Okay, thanks, guys. Bye.

[Adam Scott]

It's a good question.

[Sarah Edwards]

It's an interesting question because, like, if the shoes were uncomfortable, I feel like the Audi would not wear them.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah. And the dress code is in season one, when Nikki, James, and I are walking down the street. Street in kind of the downtown area. You see in the background, one of the clothing stores, they have the Lumen dress code ready suits and dresses in the display window there. So it's something that they dictate that you need to get and then you independently, I guess, need to go out and purchase your own.

[Janelle Monae]

Yeah.

[Sarah Edwards]

Remember the little sign in the window? We cater to severed.

[Adam Scott]

Oh, that's right.

[Sarah Edwards]

It was something like.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Sarah Edwards]

In the little corner there was a.

[Ben Stiller]

Little sign that was one of our first little world building things we did. I remember being very nervous about it too because, like, this is like, oh, this is a commitment, but yet also think, oh, this is cool. Like if this exists in this world and it's just like, it's just an everyday part of this world. But you know, the reality is that there's always a tension, I think, with the innies and their outies in the show. And I remember Britt like talking as she was so upset with her outtie in the first season, even looking at her clothes and dealing with the frustration of being stuck in these clothes that she didn't choose. And then she talks about it in season two also. But that resentment and that sort of underlying thing of like, yeah, they're just sort of like. Or they just have to accept it is just an interesting aspect of the show.

[Janelle Monae]

It's true. Yeah, it is.

[Sarah Edwards]

And there's no one for them to write, really complain to.

[Ben Stiller]

Right. But the dress code also is like, just practical because it's like, oh, you can't have any, you know, logos of anything because you wouldn't be allowed to see anything on the outside world and things like that. I was going to say it's form follows function.

[Sarah Edwards]

Yeah, yeah.

[Ben Stiller]

I knew that I'd be able to use that term once in my life.

[Adam Scott]

So cool.

[Janelle Monae]

Hello, my name is Margaret Kubeck from Chile, Wisconsin.

[Ben Stiller]

And you talk a lot about production.

[Janelle Monae]

Design and the setting. I'm really curious about the costume design, particularly for the women, for Hally R.

[Ben Stiller]

For Ms. Casey, Mrs. Stalvig, Ms. Covell. I'd like to hear about those choices.

[Adam Scott]

And how they were made. Thank you so much.

[Ben Stiller]

Bye.

[Sarah Edwards]

Okay, well, they go back to some of the stuff that we've already talked about. You know, we really did try to start with some vintage silk and from there we made them our own. So for pretty much, you know, with Britt, like her skirt, for example, we had a skirt from like 1972 that had that shape and we put it on her in a fitting and it was Pretty close, but it just felt a little clunky. And I thought, let's pretend that we're doing a fashion line and I'm just gonna modern this vintage silhouette. So we made a skirt in our tailor shop with my tailor, Alice, and we fit it on her. And then we had some sweaters that were simple to go with it. One was vintage, one was modern. I remember putting her in the whole thing. And we did a camera test with the items we. The skirt we made and the sweater. And Ben liked it. A. I think. I don't wanna speak for you, but I think that was the winner. That was the one that we liked.

[Ben Stiller]

Sort of like the pencil skirt.

[Sarah Edwards]

It was the. A line skirt. Like, we made the skirt. And I think it was like, the winner. You were like, this is it. She looked great in that.

[Ben Stiller]

She has a very specific style in the show. Like, there's no pants, right?

[Sarah Edwards]

Yes. Part of the dress code. Women can only wear skirts or dresses and they have to wear pantyhose.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah. Which is an interesting thing to break down in the limit.

[Sarah Edwards]

There's a conservative kind of oppressiveness about the work.

[Ben Stiller]

Right. And with Cobell, with Patricia's character, I mean, you came up with these really great suits and dresses. Or like, suit skirt suits type things.

[Sarah Edwards]

Both. Yeah. She had, like, a dress with a jacket over it.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah.

[Sarah Edwards]

Kind of gave her the clout also, that she needed to play that role. She needed a little power in that role, in the shoulders, all of that, so.

[Ben Stiller]

But then there's the flip side. Mrs. Selvig on the outside. And you had so much, much fun with that. And the costume piece that stands out most to me is her coat. Her crazy yellow quilted. Quilted paisley. What is that? What?

[Sarah Edwards]

Quilted.

[Ben Stiller]

Did you make this?

[Sarah Edwards]

I didn't make it. I actually was lucky enough to find that coat. But it came out of a conversation I had with Ben. Do you remember? Oh. Who we talked about as, like, a reference for that character next door?

[Ben Stiller]

I think we talked about. About Valerie Harper on Rhoda. Is that what you're talking about?

[Sarah Edwards]

That's one person.

[Ben Stiller]

That was one.

[Sarah Edwards]

That was one person.

[Ben Stiller]

The TV show rhoda in the 70s, which was a spin off of the TV show, the Mary Tyler Moore Show. And Rhoda was her neighbor who was this, like, really cool. Valerie Harper played her. And she was like this cool, 70s independent woman. And she wore a lot of bandanas across her head, right?

[Sarah Edwards]

Yes, that was it. So that's where we got the head scarves from. You know, we Went with the Rhoda look. But we also talked about one other show which was.

[Ben Stiller]

Well, hang on a second. Let me think for Ms. Selvig a little bit. Mrs. Roper.

[Sarah Edwards]

Yes.

[Adam Scott]

That's crazy. That makes so much sense for her.

[Ben Stiller]

For most of the audience, Mrs. Roper was from the show Three's Company, which is a sitcom in the 70s, and she was the neighbors who lived upstairs from Jack Tripper and his two roommates. Exactly.

[Adam Scott]

They even got a spin off the Ropers.

[Ben Stiller]

That's right, the Ropers.

[Sarah Edwards]

This is sort of like the winter version of Mrs. Ropers Caftan.

[Adam Scott]

That must be so fun working with Patricia.

[Sarah Edwards]

So fun. Oh, my God, she is so amazing. I just admire her so much as an actress, too.

[Ben Stiller]

She'll just take any chance, right?

[Adam Scott]

She'll just.

[Ben Stiller]

She'll try it on and say, let's go for it. Let's see. Right.

[Sarah Edwards]

Always. A famous costume designer once said to an actress, who are we costuming today? You or your character? And with Patricia, it's always her character.

[Adam Scott]

Yep.

[Ben Stiller]

That's a good one. That's a good one. I feel like it's always me, which is why I'm a director now.

[Adam Scott]

For me, it's always the character because I'm actor bot.

[Ben Stiller]

Right?

[Adam Scott]

You are.

[Ben Stiller]

You should be proud of it. Thank you, Sarah. It's so great to talk to you.

[Sarah Edwards]

Thank you both so much.

[Adam Scott]

Thanks, Sarah. And that's it for the episode. The Severance Podcast with Ben and Adam will be back again next week, and.

[Ben Stiller]

You can stream every episode of Severance on Apple tv.

[Adam Scott]

The Severance podcast with Ben Stiller and Adam Scott is a presentation of Odyssey Red Hour Productions and Great Scott.

[Ben Stiller]

If you like the show, be sure to rate and review this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your other podcast platform of choice. It really makes a difference.

[Adam Scott]

If you've got a question about severance, call our hotline, 212-830-3816. We just might play your voicemail and answer your question on the podcast.

[Ben Stiller]

Our executive producers are Bari Finkel, Gabrielle Lewis, Naomi Scott and Leah Rhys Dennis. This show is produced by Ben Goldberg. It's mixed and mastered by Chris Basil. We have additional engineering from Javi Cruces.

[Adam Scott]

Show clips are courtesy of fifth season music by Theodore Shapiro. Special thanks to the team at Odyssey, Maura Curran, Eric Donnelly, Michael Lavey, Melissa Wester, Kate Rose, Kurt Courtney and Hilary Schuff.

[Ben Stiller]

And the team at Red, John Lesher, Carolina Pesikov, Gian Pablo Antonetti, Martin Balderuten, Ashwin Ramesh, Maria Noto, John Baker and Sam Lyon.

[Adam Scott]

And at Great Scott, Kevin Cotter, Josh Martin, and Christy Smith.

[Ben Stiller]

At Rise Management, I'm Ben Stiller.

[Adam Scott]

And I'm Adam Scott.

[Ben Stiller]

Thank you for listening.