S1E3: In Perpetuity (with Britt Lower)

Summary

The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
Episode Summary: S1E3 - "In Perpetuity" (with Britt Lower)
Release Date: January 8, 2025

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Introduction

In the third episode of The Severance Podcast, hosts Ben Stiller and Adam Scott welcome guest Britt Lower, who portrays Helly R on the Emmy- and Peabody Award-winning TV show Severance. This episode delves deep into the intricacies of Season 1, Episode 3 titled "In Perpetuity," offering listeners an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the creative process, character development, and production challenges.

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Recap of "In Perpetuity"

Timestamp [19:18] Ben Stiller:
Ben begins by discussing Reintegration Sickness, a condition experienced by characters undergoing the severance procedure. He explains that Petey suffers from hallucinations and physical symptoms like nosebleeds and coughing, creating a disorienting experience as he oscillates between his Innie (work persona) and Audi (personal persona).

Timestamp [22:30] Britt Lower:
Britt elaborates on the shared subconscious between Innies and Audis, highlighting how trauma and grief bleed through both personas. She emphasizes her character Helly's role as a catalyst for change, constantly questioning the status quo and pushing others to do the same.

Timestamp [26:54] Ben Stiller:
The trio discusses Helly's various escape attempts from Lumen Industries, including her undelivered resignation and creative methods to evade detection, such as writing messages on her arms or ingesting pen caps containing notes.

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Character Dynamics and Development

Helly and Mark's Relationship

Timestamp [12:01] Ben Stiller:
Ben highlights the dynamic between Mark and Helly, portraying them as dual protagonists. Helly's defiance contrasts with Mark's desire to maintain order, creating a compelling tension that drives the narrative forward.

Timestamp [25:04] Ben Stiller:
They explore the character of Milchick, portrayed by John Turturro, noting his calm demeanor and unpredictable actions, adding layers to the show's suspense.

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Production Insights

Set Design and Filming Challenges

Timestamp [02:33] Adam Scott:
Adam and Ben discuss the challenges of filming Severance in the New York area, particularly the race against time to complete winter shots before the leaves begin to bud, necessitating creative solutions like using plastic sheets to simulate snow.

Timestamp [34:22] Ben Stiller:
Ben delves into the design of the MDR cubicle, emphasizing its bespoke nature and the flexibility of its dividers to accommodate various scenes. He praises John Turturro's performance, especially his comedic timing with the set's features.

Timestamp [43:30] Adam Scott:
The hosts describe the creation of the Keir Egan House, inspired by the Temple of Dendur, highlighting the meticulous attention to detail in set replication and the integration of authentic architectural elements.

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Behind-the-Scenes Anecdotes

Britt Lower's Audition Experience

Timestamp [08:07] Britt Lower:
Britt shares her journey to landing the role of Helly, describing the initial hesitance due to the competitive audition process and the creative freedom she exercised in her self-tape from her bathroom, which Ben praises for its cinematic quality.

Timestamp [46:46] Britt Lower:
Britt recounts the unique challenges of acting while wearing Libra head camera equipment, likening the camera operators to basketball teammates due to their coordinated movements during hallway scenes.

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Notable Scenes Discussed

Helly's Escape Attempts

Timestamp [26:54] Britt Lower:
Britt discusses Helly's multiple failed attempts to escape Lumen, including riding on her arms and ingesting pen caps, emphasizing the character's relentless pursuit of freedom despite mounting obstacles.

Timestamp [40:02] Britt Lower:
The emotional weight of Helly being forced to read the Compunction Statement is analyzed, showcasing a pivotal moment where Helly confronts the loss of her autonomy.

Timestamp [54:05] Ben Stiller:
Ben touches on the climactic scene where Petey collapses at a convenience store, heightening the episode's suspense and leaving the audience in cliffhanger anticipation of his fate.

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Creative Choices and Inspirations

Visual Storytelling Techniques

Timestamp [15:56] Ben Stiller:
Ben credits filmmakers like Michel Gondry and Christopher Nolan for inspiring the show’s grounded visual effects. He explains the decision to use minimal visual effects, relying instead on practical solutions to depict the overlapping realities of the Severed characters.

Timestamp [33:24] Britt Lower:
Britt draws parallels between the episode's visual narrative and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, pointing out the dissolution of memories and the blending of realities within the show's framework.

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Wardrobe and Character Identity

Helly's Iconic Look

Timestamp [67:33] Britt Lower:
Britt discusses her collaboration with costume designer Sarah Edwards, focusing on Helly's functional yet stylish wardrobe. She highlights the hand-knit sweaters and tailored A-line skirts that allow her character to move freely during escape attempts.

Timestamp [65:00] Ben Stiller:
Ben praises Adam's hairstyle for its sleek and timeless quality, contrasting it with Helly's rebellious look. They humorously debate the impact of hair choices on character perception.

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Conclusion and Future Insights

As the episode wraps up, Ben and Adam reflect on the emotional and psychological layers of Severance. Britt shares her strategies for embodying a character with no personal history, emphasizing the importance of separating her identity from Helly's traumatic experiences. The hosts tease future discussions, hinting at deeper explorations of character relationships and the expanding lore of Lumen Industries.

Final Timestamp [71:35] Ben Stiller:
Ben signs off by inviting listeners to engage with the podcast and stay tuned for more episode breakdowns and exclusive content.

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Notable Quotes

• Ben Stiller [04:15]: "Whenever you say we should have permanent daylight savings time, I hear sort of anecdotally, farmers won't like that."

• Britt Lower [12:01]: "She's this sort of catalyst for asking questions. I think 80% of my dialogue in season one were questions like, what the hell is going on here?"

• Adam Scott [33:24]: "It really reminded me of Eternal Sunshine when the memories are kind of dissolving into each other."

• Ben Stiller [57:06]: "It is hard because you have to commit to a tone and a feeling and a level of whatever it is that might seem totally, you know, in the moment."

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Final Thoughts

This episode of The Severance Podcast offers a comprehensive exploration of "In Perpetuity," blending plot analysis with intimate insights into the show's creation. Through candid conversations and behind-the-scenes anecdotes, Ben, Adam, and Britt provide a rich and engaging narrative that deepens the listener's understanding and appreciation of Severance. Whether you're a long-time fan or new to the show, this episode serves as an invaluable resource for unraveling the complexities of this gripping workplace thriller.

Transcript

[Ben Stiller]

This episode of the Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller and Adam Scott is brought to you by Confluence by Atlassian, the connected workspace where teams can create, organize and deliver work like never before. Set knowledge free with Confluence.

[Adam Scott]

Wow.

[Ben Stiller]

What's up? I just bought and financed a car.

[Adam Scott]

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[Ben Stiller]

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[Britt Lauer]

Wow.

[Adam Scott]

Mm.

[Ben Stiller]

Hey, have you checked out that spreadsheet I sent you for our dinner options? Finance your car with Carvana and experience.

[Britt Lauer]

Total control financing subject to credit approval.

[Adam Scott]

I'm Adam Scott.

[Ben Stiller]

I'm Ben Stiller. And this is the Severance Podcast with Ben and Adam, where we break down every episode of Severance.

[Adam Scott]

And today we'll be recapping Season 1, Episode 3 in perpetuity, written by Andrew Colville and directed by Ben Stiller. Ben, speaking of, how are you doing?

[Ben Stiller]

I'm doing well. I live in the New York area, so it's always nice this time of year, you know, when you get to actually feel the chill of winter.

[Adam Scott]

Sure. You get the sweaters out.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah. And it's very festive. And it's festive all the way through New Year's. Right. And then there's like four months of just, you know, pain.

[Adam Scott]

But yeah, then I. I've noticed this. Living on the east coast now for two full falls and winters making severance, I had never spent that chunk of the year on the east coast exclusively. And so I've noticed the wonderful fall. And then after New Year's, sort of by the end of January, you hit a wall of hardship, weather wise, that just pushes through all the way till, what, mid March?

[Ben Stiller]

No, I'd say end of April.

[Adam Scott]

End of April, definitely.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah. That's when the leaves start to come on the trees. And I always now am aware of the leaves coming back on the trees because we're always in a race to try to finish filming the season before the leaves come back. And we never make it. And we always end up having to then shoot until the very last wintry moment. And then we go inside and shoot some more. And then sometimes we have to figure out ways to make the leaves go away in different ways.

[Adam Scott]

That's right. It's usually the springtime when off in the distance, I see giant plastic sheets of white covering nearby hillsides and blank spaces to make it look like it's still snowing. Because Severance is a winter show.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah. And I. Even when we're not filming the show, because we've gone through it a couple of times now, I have this sort of Pavlovian reaction to when, you know, when are the leaves, when are the buds. I'm like looking at the branches, waiting for the buds to come out and feeling stressed because I think we're not going to be able to get our winter shots done.

[Adam Scott]

That'll be with you for the rest of your life.

[Ben Stiller]

Yes. One of the gifts of making the show.

[Adam Scott]

One of the many gifts. That's right.

[Ben Stiller]

Also, I just have to say it's.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah.

[Ben Stiller]

The daylight savings time or the going back to standard time or whatever it is, it's just awful. And I know, you know, this is not a political show and I don't want to get political at all, but, you know, can we please have daylight savings time all the time?

[Adam Scott]

Can we have our hour back? Is that what you're.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah. And I don't know why that's controversial. Maybe we can ask. We can ask Britt Lauer when she's here.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah. Our guest today is Britt Lauer, our own Helly R. We talked about her the last couple episodes. I think it was touch and go there if she was gonna do the podcast or not. Deep in negotiations.

[Ben Stiller]

Oh, was it tough to get her for this?

[Adam Scott]

Oh, man. Oh, you have no idea. I mean, I wasn't involved, but I heard.

[Ben Stiller]

I'm curious, I'm curious what her resistance was.

[Adam Scott]

Well, we can ask her about it. Can I just say about daylight savings time? I believe it was invented for farming. Am I right about that?

[Ben Stiller]

Are you asking me? Because I am not the person.

[Adam Scott]

Was it invented for farming?

[Ben Stiller]

What I know is that whenever you say we should have permanent daylight savings time, I hear sort of anecdotally, farmers won't like that. And I'm pro farming and I don't want to make farmers lives tougher. But I also feel like just for our mental health, it's sometimes, you know, just seeing it get dark at 4:00 and. Or one day it's dark at 5:30 and that's already tough. And then all of a sudden the next day it's dark at 4:30.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah. But I will say I hate losing the hour of sleep, but I do like it when it gets dark earlier. I think it's kind of cool. I do.

[Ben Stiller]

Really?

[Adam Scott]

Yeah. I like, like 5:00, it's nighttime.

[Ben Stiller]

But I'm completely diametrically opposed to you on this issue.

[Adam Scott]

If it were up to you, it would be full daylight, 24 hours a day. That's what you're saying.

[Ben Stiller]

No, no, I'm not like a strange. I don't know. I want to have darkness. And I love sleeping, too.

[Adam Scott]

Oh.

[Ben Stiller]

I just.

[Adam Scott]

I just sounded to me like you were a fan of daytime all the time.

[Ben Stiller]

No, I like daytime better than nighttime when I'm awake, if that makes sense.

[Adam Scott]

Sure. You hate the night. You hate darkness.

[Ben Stiller]

No, I like the night, too. It's just, you know.

[Adam Scott]

All right, I think we've settled it. I feel good.

[Ben Stiller]

Good. I'm glad. That's. That's why people listen to this podcast. 100% the daylight savings time debate.

[Adam Scott]

But we'll make it a weekly feature. Don't worry. We will be talking about daylight savings time for at least 15 minutes per episode.

[Ben Stiller]

Or maybe like a Farmer's Almanac sort of section where we just talk about something that's in the almanac.

[Adam Scott]

Should we move on? Should we get to our guest?

[Ben Stiller]

Yes. Okay, here she is. Britt Lauer. Welcome to the podcast.

[Britt Lauer]

Hello, Brit. You know, I know that it took me a long time to decide whether I was gonna do this podcast, because, you know, I come from a long line of farmers on both sides of my family, and I heard there was some shade being thrown on daylight savings time on this podcast.

[Adam Scott]

Not by me.

[Ben Stiller]

No.

[Adam Scott]

I guess some people. Britt, just between you and I don't know if Ben can hear this part. Some people don't care where their soybeans come from. Some people don't care where their broccoli comes from. They just want the daylight to come and go as they please.

[Britt Lauer]

Wow.

[Ben Stiller]

Brit, seriously, though, farmers. Seriously.

[Britt Lauer]

Yeah, yeah. Apple farmers on my mom's side of the family, and corn and soybeans and regular stuff on the other side.

[Ben Stiller]

What town are you from?

[Britt Lauer]

I am from a very small farm town with one blinking red traffic light, and it was 20 minutes south of a town called Normal, Illinois, which is a real place.

[Adam Scott]

And you grew up there all the way up until you graduated high school and went off to school. You were in this small town.

[Britt Lauer]

Yeah, that's right. It's the kind of town where, you know, like, everyone's middle name. Sure, yeah.

[Ben Stiller]

Can I just say.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah.

[Ben Stiller]

You are so perfect in the show that when you auditioned, what I felt when I saw your audition was, this is the person that I didn't know in my imagination that I imagined. And this is helly.

[Britt Lauer]

Wow. Thank you, Ben. That's so kind.

[Adam Scott]

It's 100% true. Brit, do you want to just tell us how you first heard about the show and then we can kind of talk about how you auditioned and all that stuff?

[Britt Lauer]

Yeah, I mean, first of all, thank you, Ben. I think that was really apparent to me. Season 1 When we were filming, because you, I think you exclusively called me Helly. And then in season two, like I individually graduated and became Brit.

[Ben Stiller]

You reminded me that you had a real name.

[Britt Lauer]

I was like, hey, I'm Brit. But yeah, you know, it was one of those things where your agents call you and they're like, hey, we've read this really special script and there's a role we think you're right for, and it's a real long shot. And I, I was kind of working in relative obscurity for long enough to believe them when they said that. And you know, this was prior to Covid, so you were still doing in person auditions at that time. And initially you guys just had so many people signed up to audition that there was no slot available. And so my agents were like, can you just make a really good self tape in your house? And yeah, it was, you know, I read the script and it was that moment where you're falling in love with the characters and the story and the whole world that Dan created. And you're, you know, my heart is kind of breaking because I'm just hearing like, oh, it's a long shot in my head. And I was thinking, man, it's gonna really break my heart when I don't get to play Helle.

[Adam Scott]

And you did make, you made a tape. And Ben, do you wanna talk about that tape a little bit? Because I remember hearing about the tape before Britt came in the room.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, you made this tape. It's the first scene on the table and I think you shot it. Were you in your bathroom?

[Britt Lauer]

I was in my bathroom. And you're on the good lighting.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, you're on the floor of your bathroom. And you did this whole scene where you have to wake up and figure out where you are. And it was so cinematic and you really took your time. And as I was watching and I was just thinking, oh, wow, you know, you just get that feeling when right off the bat you go, well, this is somehow in my mind what I had imagined.

[Adam Scott]

It was really unusually good.

[Britt Lauer]

Oh, thanks guys.

[Adam Scott]

Well, well directed. It was, it just looked great and it just felt like Ben said earlier, just felt right.

[Britt Lauer]

Thank you. You know, I have to give probably two things credit. First, probably the courage that you get from thinking you're never gonna get the job.

[Adam Scott]

Right.

[Britt Lauer]

You know? And I was like, well, I get to be Helly today. And so I might as well just, like, enjoy this character in the comfort of my bathroom. And the other thing was that I had just directed my first film a couple of months prior, in which I acted in that film, too. So I was kind of in the rhythm of watching myself and having a kind of critical eye and not taking anything too personally.

[Ben Stiller]

What was it that you connected with when you first read her?

[Britt Lauer]

She is just. She's so unapologetic. She's brave and defiant, and she has this kind of feral quality. But she also has a sense of humor about it, which was in Dan's writing. And I was like, how fun is this to play the rebel who's, like. Who knows exactly what she wants and how to go about getting it?

[Ben Stiller]

That strength of her character. That's what I always loved from the beginning, was just that, you know, she really was a force. And for me, it always felt like Mark and Helly were these sort of dual protagonists. And actually watching these early episodes, that tension between Mark's sort of company man innocence and Helly's sort of strength of her will, it's just such a great tension.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah. And it's so great watching these first three episodes and seeing the collision course that begins from the moment Heli arrives and Mark just trying to maintain some semblance of order and consistency, but her just sort of awakening this thing in him that he just keeps trying to resist. And Helly doesn't give up.

[Britt Lauer]

Yeah. She's this sort of catalyst for asking questions. I think 80% of my dialogue in season one were questions like, what the hell is going on here? Like, what is this? Why is very much that kind of teenage energy of just like. But why? Why have you tried it? And then it slowly starts to dawn on. I think the other characters probably also had their moments of rebellion when they first entered the office, but they've been kind of beat down and brainwashed. And, you know, they've tried and tried, but they've kind of come into this status quo. And I think we talked about this a little, Adam, that, like, the currency between heli and Mark finally coming into an alliance is that that, like, exchange of, like, breaking the rules. And Mark in. I think it's in the red ball scene, whatever that's called.

[Adam Scott]

That's what I was just about to say.

[Britt Lauer]

Yeah, yeah. When he's like.

[Ben Stiller]

I call it the red ball scene.

[Britt Lauer]

The red ball scene, when he breaks protocol. That's in a different. That's in the previous episode. But there's like just a little glimmer of his rule following cracking there.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah. Well, the funny thing is, is that he broke the rules. And I don't know if the actual breaking of the rules that he did in secret when no one was around, if that was because of Heli. But him telling everyone was certainly because of Heli. He wanted her to hear that. And that's almost more important than him actually doing it, is that he was willing to put it out there in front of Milchick just because he wanted her to know that he can do it too.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, she totally is the influence on Mark. But it's also interesting too, that the first few episodes, I feel like the audience is seeing this world through Helly's eyes, even though Mark is, you know, it's his story. Supposedly in the beginning, Heli is the person that we are identifying with. And I think, you know, advocating in a way for what you think you might do in this kind of situation. And like you said, with a great sense of humor and with style, and you're just like, she's just cool.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah. Okay, let's take a quick break, and when we come back, we'll get into episode three. At Lumen, things are not always what they seem. Mark, Dylan, Helly, and Irving in MDR make a great team. But what else lies beyond the four white walls of their department? There seem to be more questions than answers as the secrets of Lumen are slowly revealed.

[Ben Stiller]

There's definitely a lot more going on than you see. It's a little bit creepy.

[Adam Scott]

I agree. There are more Q's than A's in this place.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, for sure.

[Adam Scott]

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[Ben Stiller]

I feel like something like Confluence could really help those severed workers. You know, they're kind of always organizing and trying to come up with group ideas and things that need organization and back and forth. And a lot of creative interaction in the workspace.

[Adam Scott]

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[Ben Stiller]

I think any boost in productivity, especially with a group like the Severed Group, imagine How many more files they could complete if they had Confluence.

[Adam Scott]

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[Britt Lauer]

I'm Anna Garcia with True Crime News the Podcast Every crime tells a story. Every story demands justice. True Crime News the podcast covers breaking crimes, investigating high profile and under the radar cases. Every week we dive beyond the headlines, exploring the effects of violent crimes on victims and search for justice. We hope you join us as your weekly source for true crime news. Listen to and follow True Crime News the podcast on the Free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Ben Stiller]

We're going to dig into episode three, which is one of my favorite episodes actually.

[Adam Scott]

Tell me why that is.

[Ben Stiller]

Just because there's so much stuff we did to set up the world and looking back on it, having not looked at it for a while, I feel like there's just so many fun little severancy moments in terms of like the hallucinations and funny rickon stuff and there's some action and then there's animatrons and there's, you know, just all like the weird, fun stuff of the world of the show.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah. And we get a lot of the really fun gear of the world that I feel like is integrated into the show in a really interesting. But it's not overdone, it's not lingered upon for too long. It is in there for functionality.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, for sure. For sure.

[Adam Scott]

Okay. When episode three in Perpetuity begins, we find out that Petey is in fact alive. At the end of episode two, we saw him showering in Mark's basement. He passes out. We did not know what was going to happen with him. He is alive, but the reintegration process has left him with something that he calls reintegration sickness and it has a bunch of terrible side effects. Ben, do you want to describe reintegration sickness a little bit and what's going on there?

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, I think it has different symptoms. Probably the biggest one is that the hallucinations or not really knowing where you are. So what we're seeing is PD going back and forth between his Innie and his Audi and we're seeing that happen at the same time. There's also physical effects where he's getting nosebleeds, he's coughing, and you know, that was one of the things when we were figuring out how to do the show was how to do these sort of fantastical sequences that didn't have A lot of visual effects. We tried to keep everything as sort of homegrown. And I have to say that, for me, is like a big, big part of that is just watching the work of people like Michel Gondry or Chris Nolan, people who really have a facility, I think, with doing sci fi stuff in a very grounded way visually. And so that was sort of what we tried to go for in terms of mixing these realities and actually having physical objects in different places. And we do that throughout the episode. And that was fun. It was fun to figure out. As we went along and watching this episode, I realized we actually established a lot of rules that we follow for the rest of the show.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah, watching the episode, I saw that too. I was like, oh, my God. This is where all of this sort of began and came into play. As we get a little deeper into the episode, I wanna talk about how you guys really did some of that. So we see the effects of this reintegration sickness. He's staying in Mark's basement. Mark tells Petey a couple of times that he doesn't wanna reinte. Great. Because he lost his wife. You know, he just wants to disassociate. He's fine. This whole severing thing is really working for him. Let's hear a quick clip of this. This interaction. I just want to let you know I'm not going to reintegrate. You know, I lost my wife a couple years ago in a car accident.

[Ben Stiller]

This is.

[Adam Scott]

It's helping me.

[Britt Lauer]

I'm sorry, Mark.

[Adam Scott]

No, no, no.

[Ben Stiller]

At work, you'd come in sometimes with red eyes. We had a joke that you had an elevator allergy.

[Adam Scott]

There's even a song for it.

[Ben Stiller]

But I always wondered. You carry the hurt with you.

[Adam Scott]

You feel it down there too. You just don't know what it is. Which is also the incredible Yoel Vasquez as Petey and Brit. This conversation that. This thing that Petey's saying to Mark here about, like, you. Your feelings filter through down there. You just don't know what it is. You don't know what these feelings are. Is that something you thought about at all with. With heli down. Down there? The stuff that kind of pushes through, whether it be just like puffy eyes or an actual feeling.

[Britt Lauer]

Yeah, I think we talked a lot about that. Like what is shared from the innie and the Audi. And, you know, obviously their subconscious is a shared space. So whether that's their dreams or just something they're not even aware of, but also the trauma that's stored in their bodies you know, so the grief. And when he says that line, you know, you take it with you. It's like, yeah, you know, what part of Heli? I had to kind of go into season one with, you know, some knowledge of Heli's Audi, of course. But for the most part, I. I allowed myself to be kind of in the dark about what was going on with Helena, so that Heli was kind of on this really physical journey of trying to figure out what was going on and being hungry to figure out those clues.

[Adam Scott]

Sure. I remember this stuff was really the first dialogue stuff we shot of the whole show.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah. And looking at it, I really feel like it captures the isolated quality about the. The whole thing. There's a line that Dan has early on when you say the neighborhood never really filled out there, and I've always thought that was interesting, you know, the idea of what is this, you know, townhouse community? And as we see in this show going forward, this episode particularly, you know, what are the connections of this place with. With Lumen itself? And we're getting a sense of Lumen having reach. We see it, you know, we see it even in the town in episode two, when the whole Mayan Collective kids are protesting. You see that statue of Kir that they're under?

[Adam Scott]

Yeah.

[Ben Stiller]

And the name of the town is Kir. And the tentacles of Lumen and Kier Egan are everywhere.

[Adam Scott]

It's everywhere. And if you notice later on when Ms. Cobell, Ms. Selvig breaks into Mark's house, she has her own key to. To his house.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, yeah. Also, we see Ms. Selvig baking her shitty cookies, watching you through the window.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah.

[Britt Lauer]

And has the messiest apartment in the whole series.

[Adam Scott]

Totally.

[Ben Stiller]

You noticed, right?

[Britt Lauer]

It's. Yeah. I mean, it's like there's stuff everywhere on our apartment.

[Adam Scott]

It's very weird. And she really cares. She's, like, caught up in Mark's life outside of the company. She's like, oh, no. Like, really sort of involved.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah. I thought that was interesting. It's one of the few times we see inside of Selvig Cobell's house, and I think she has a little sign up by her window that says, you must be cut to heal. So there's like, a little Egan philosophy there. That was one of the first things we shot with Patricia, too. Oh, it was? Yeah. Yeah.

[Adam Scott]

Interesting.

[Ben Stiller]

And, you know, just as directing Patricia, it's just she's so good. And, Britt, I'm sure you have interesting experiences working with Patricia, but you just never know where she's gonna go and just shooting those close ups of her watching. She just has such a great, fun, mysterious quality. And it's funny and scary and everything.

[Britt Lauer]

Yeah. The vulnerability and the wheels turning. I feel like when I first was working with Patricia, before a take, she would sort of whisper what her inner thoughts were to me. And I think one. One time she was like, you little rascal or something like that. And I was like, this is so great. Like, I'm getting just this little insight.

[Adam Scott]

That's great. Okay. So then we go back to work and we see Inymark back in mdr and he finds an envelope with new group photos at his desk. But then Helly tells him not to bother putting those out because she submitted her resignation request and is getting out. And we pretty quickly find out that her resignation request has been denied. And then this episode kind of ends up being at least partly about Heli's various attempts to escape. Just different ways of trying to get the hell out of here.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah. I love how upbeat and sure you are that you're gonna get out.

[Adam Scott]

I know. It's so heartbreaking.

[Britt Lauer]

Yeah. At this point, she thinks it's still her versus the machine, you know, her versus the man. And she's not yet clued into the fact that it's her own self. So she's like, of course I just put it in. And it's kind of sad how happy she is about it. I also noticed Milchik, I think this is where we really see his photographer character come. And I wanted to ask Ben, did Trammel's portrayal of photographer in the office space influence your character? Bendo?

[Adam Scott]

This is a really good question.

[Ben Stiller]

This is what we're going to talk about. Bendo.

[Adam Scott]

All right, we have to introduce Bendo.

[Ben Stiller]

Bendo is a character that Adam actually named me because I started bringing my, like, a film camera on the set to take pictures. And I was basically Bendo, the worst set photographer in the business.

[Adam Scott]

Always getting in your eyeline.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah.

[Britt Lauer]

Because your camera didn't have a silence, silent click on it.

[Ben Stiller]

It didn't have a blimp or anything. And, you know, it's one old school camera. You hear the shutter and it's what. It's kind of the same camera that Tramell is using, only we have his branded as a Lumen camera, but it's really a Leica. And I would just. Yeah. Just not even make an attempt to. I just get right in the way.

[Britt Lauer]

And get right in the eye line and quite gymnastically.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah. Agile.

[Britt Lauer]

Yeah. You just bend your body and get the shot.

[Ben Stiller]

Right.

[Adam Scott]

And it was always just like, oh, sorry. And then jumping right out of the.

[Ben Stiller]

Way, you know, but still don't ask for permission.

[Britt Lauer]

You took some amazing photos though, Ben.

[Adam Scott]

And true.

[Ben Stiller]

Well, I had years. I had years to work at it because we shot. It took us. Well, we had like a nine month plus shoot on season one, and on season two it was even longer.

[Adam Scott]

So Helly's trying to get out. She, as we said, submitted the resignation request, which her Audi denies. She tries to evade the code detectors by riding on her arms. Which we have to say now, along with your iconic wardrobe. What I've noticed with people dressing up like Helly for Halloween is they often write on their arms from this scene.

[Britt Lauer]

Right.

[Adam Scott]

What does it say on there?

[Britt Lauer]

Let me out, Let me out.

[Adam Scott]

You also try to eat a pen cap with a note folded up inside of it, prompting Mark to explain that Milchick would have to forcibly extract any ingested messages himself. And it's one of the first scenes where he kind of comes down hard on her and is kind of like gross with her.

[Britt Lauer]

And then I made sure I had a lot of saliva in that pen cap. Spit onto your hand in retaliation.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, we let the dribble. The dribble moment happen. We then go to outside and we see Devon and Rickon are dropping off Rickon's book at Mark's house.

[Britt Lauer]

Yeah, that scene is so funny.

[Ben Stiller]

This is where we start to get a feel for the Devin and Rickon relationship and how incredibly insecure and self obsessed he is.

[Adam Scott]

Michael Chernis and Jen Tullock just being incredible in that scene.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, and him sort of obsessing on where to leave his book gift for Mark on the front stoop.

[Britt Lauer]

And it has a sprig of pine on it, I think, or something.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah.

[Ben Stiller]

Yes, it does. Our incredible prop department headed up by Cat Miller. And then he drops the book off and we see Cobell come out of her house or in her selvig. Well, she's actually in her Cobell attire. Cause she's heading to work after.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah, yeah, she's about to go to work.

[Ben Stiller]

That's right. So she waits till the coast is clear. She goes to the front door and pulls out a key. And we learn that Lumen has access.

[Adam Scott]

To Marek's house 100%. And her being in Cobell attire makes it all the more confusing. Once she's in the basement and Petey sees her in your thinking, Ben, does that sort of trigger him a little bit, seeing her down there in the first Place. But also her being not in Selvig attire, but being in Cobell attire.

[Ben Stiller]

I think it might. We were thinking about that Also in the scene right before that, you see that Petey is already hallucinating and he thinks he's in the office with you. And that's one of those scenes where we sort of doubled up the office cubicle in the basement. So we actually brought the cubicle into the basement.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah, I wanted you to kind of talk about all that and how you guys did that.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, it was all. It was pretty simple. It was just basically, we would shoot a version of the scene, Petey in his robe in the basement on the couch. Then we did a version of the scene in the basement on the couch, but there was the cubicle there, and you were there, and there's these whip pans where the camera goes between the two of you. So we actually did the whip pan between you and Petey. But we did a version where you were in the cubicle with him in the basement. Then we did a version where he was in his suit, but he was also in the basement. And then we went to the MDR set, and we shot a version where Petey was in the cubicle in his regular work clothes. And then a version where Petey was in his robe. And so we had all these different sort of variations of it that we would then just do the scene. And then we just, in the editing room, would intercut between the different versions of it. And my favorite part of that whole scene is you saying, what's that? You're doing Sudoku.

[Adam Scott]

I know you loved that so much. Was that Sudoku?

[Ben Stiller]

Sudoku.

[Adam Scott]

I just remember doing that line exactly like that. Because you liked it so much, so many times. Because we were doing it in the basement, like you said, with different costume configurations. And then at the office. And then that shot of him coming out of the bathroom being like, dude. And talking to me about Cobell and me in any mark attire, not recognizing who Cobell is.

[Ben Stiller]

Right, Exactly.

[Adam Scott]

It's so fun to watch all of that and to kind of try and unpack it as a viewer. It's really fun.

[Britt Lauer]

It really reminded me of Eternal Sunshine when the memories are kind of dissolving into each other.

[Ben Stiller]

Completely inspired. Ripped off from Brilliant. Michel Gondry, who directed Eternal Sunshine and is just an amazingly creative film director. And I felt like we had to figure out our own sort of language for the show. And we came up with this little idea, too, of dollying over one shoulder to the next to try to use that as a sort of a wipe between the two realities. And we played around with that. But the goal was to use as few visual effects as possible. And just to hear you say sudoku, Sudoku, Sudoku, sudoku. As many times as possible.

[Adam Scott]

Taking the four desk cubicle, transferring it from MDR to the basement is no easy task. Right. That is a big piece of furniture. Very heavy.

[Ben Stiller]

Yes. That cubicle is a very bespoke, unique thing that Jeremy Hindle designed. And as we were figuring it out, because it was written in the script, as you know, they're all together at a cubicle. But I'd never really directed a pilot for an ongoing series. I directed limited series and sketch comedy and movies and stuff. But knowing the responsibility of this set, because I knew that if the show were to be successful, this set is gonna go on for a long time, and we're gonna be shooting a lot in here. So you really are thinking, like, what are we gonna be able to do in this space, as you know, on episode six, seven, eight, to keep it visually interesting. Yeah. And just knowing you're gonna be in this place and you're gonna have to figure out how to do scenes. And one of the cool things about the set that we figured out was that we could have the dividers come up and down and have them at any height so that, you know, really, for whatever scene, we would think about the scene and go, okay, what height should the dividers be for this scene to work? And it was really fun in episode two, watching Turturro work the divider.

[Adam Scott]

Totally.

[Ben Stiller]

And the first time I saw him do that, where he just understood how funny that was to be his own sort of, like, in and out of the scene. And his timing with that was just amazing.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah. And it's great for, like, punctuating a line in one way or the other. They just really worked really well.

[Britt Lauer]

But the set itself becomes this, like, character throughout the whole series. You know, the set and the props. Heli's weaponizing props. Patricia's throwing cups like, the doors punctuating, like, everything. Really worked with us as almost this. This set with a personality.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah.

[Adam Scott]

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[Adam Scott]

Okay, so we see Selvig in Mark's basement digging through a bin labeled Gemma's Crafts. She takes a red and green candle out of it for some reason. And then while Cobell is in the bathroom, Petey escapes and she drives away. And we see Petey start to walk by Mark's house and then suddenly we see the hallway. And this is kind of continuing that discussion of how you guys did this, but I remember that. I remember you guys pulling up a piece of the hallway and putting it next to Mark's house out in that neighborhood. Am I remembering that correctly?

[Ben Stiller]

Yes.

[Adam Scott]

So you could just seamlessly have him walk into that world.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, we wanted to have a real hallway there just to pan into. So we put that outside of the house and then went into the real hallways with him. And then we went onto this bridge in Kingston, New York. And that was another. Again, just sort of like the experimentation phase of figuring out how to show this reintegration and this disorienting reality.

[Adam Scott]

Okay. Then we're back at Lumen, and Irving is the one who suggests the field trip to Perpetuity Wing. After Mark's struggling with Helly in the bathroom, Mark asks Cobell for permission to take the team on this field trip. She doesn't really grant it. She plays some mind games, throws a coffee cup. And then Mark and Helly have that scene. Sorry, Brittany.

[Britt Lauer]

No, I just wanted to call back the colbett. Like my favorite of this episode is when Cobell, she's just thrown a cup at you. And then Mark's like, door open or closed? And she says both.

[Adam Scott]

Oh, yeah, that was Patricia improvising that.

[Ben Stiller]

Total, total improv line from Patricia.

[Britt Lauer]

It ends up being so brilliant. Right. Because is it the innie or the outie? Both. Like it's. I don't know. To me, that's genius.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, it's great.

[Adam Scott]

It's very confusing to Mark.

[Ben Stiller]

That's also the whole scene. She's super calm and just has it all. And then she goes, I'm gonna throw a coffee cup at you. And then she does. And that to me is the whole sort of Cobell, you know, the thing that's so dangerous about her is you just never know what she's gonna do.

[Adam Scott]

And then Mark tells everyone, we're going on this field trip. We're going to the Perpetuity Wing. And so they set off on this four person little journey into sort of the guts of the severed floor. Is that right?

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, it feels like it's, you know, a little bit of a Wizard of Oz. Yeah. Going out, you know, down the yellow Brick road. Venturing out of their safe space. I love the. The banter there. And the sort of back and forth that's going on where we're learning more about the lore and the, you know, the accepted realities of this world. They run into O and D. Right. They see Burt and Felicia.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah. We run into Claudia Robinson and Christopher Walken out in the hallway. And this is such a fun scene to watch. I hadn't seen it in a long time. Just Zack in this scene just kills me and Britt. You in this scene is great. Cause you're just standing there looking at all this, like, what is happening? It's so weird. Why are these people, are they afraid of each other? Like, what is going on?

[Britt Lauer]

I think it's like the first exciting thing that's happened in Heli's mind. She's like, oh, she kind of has a morbid fascination with the coup. And, you know, she's like, all right, maybe this is exciting.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think also we're still, you know, the audience is still sort of seeing this through your eyes too, because Dylan is talking about it. Like, this is like a scene from west side Story or something. These are like the Sharks and the jets meeting up.

[Adam Scott]

And he's such a dick to Claudia Robinson's character, to Felicia. He's like, what the fuck? He's just so mean to them because he thinks they're bad guys.

[Ben Stiller]

He doesn't trust them. He doesn't trust them at all. But we see that there's a spark between Burt and Irving.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah.

[Ben Stiller]

And then the perpetuity wing for me was just when I read that for the first time and talked to Dan about it. I love Animatrons, animatronic things, all that sort of Disneyland, Pirates of the Caribbean, you know, Haunted Mansion characters. And the idea of this sort of like hall of presidents of CEOs. Yeah, yeah. It's the corporate. You know, a corporate museum on the grounds. It was so much fun to dig into.

[Adam Scott]

I remember you telling me about it, Ben telling me about we're going to have these animatronic mannequins. But then getting there and actually seeing it, we shot. I don't remember what the place was. We shot.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah. So this was a weird location. We found a space in Yonkers, New York. It's called the Hudson River Museum.

[Adam Scott]

Right.

[Ben Stiller]

And we found a museum space that had this 60s sort of brutalist cement architecture and an amazing staircase. And that was why we wanted to use that space. But then to create the Keir Egan House, the reproduction of Keir Egan's entire house. Sort of like the image in my mind was always the Temple of Dendur at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where they have recreated, you know, they put back together the Egyptian temple in this indoor space.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah.

[Ben Stiller]

But this is a Victorian home. So we actually found at the museum there, besides having that great room with the staircase, they also had this amazing Victorian era house. And so that room that you guys go into, as you will remember, it was actually outside. And that lawn is outside and the house is there, but everything else we sort of built around it.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah, it's wild.

[Ben Stiller]

And at this point, also Jeff Mann, who's a great production designer, had come in and created that Smile Wall. And the Smile Wall is all members of our crew Smiling. He just went around and took pictures. I don't think it was Bendo who took the pictures.

[Britt Lauer]

Which is so funny because we actually never saw our crews faces because we were all wearing masks.

[Ben Stiller]

Well, that's the irony, isn't it Britt? You used to always say to me when I'd be talking to you in a scene, remember you would always say, can you please take your mask off? Cause it would help you to understand what I was wanting you to do.

[Britt Lauer]

Well, we were all wearing those cones of shame. We were dogs out of surgery. We had a mask and then also the cone in front of us and I think you had a cone.

[Ben Stiller]

Oh wait, wait, we didn't actually have cones.

[Adam Scott]

No, they were the plastic barriers.

[Britt Lauer]

Yes, we had to wear those cones around our heads. They were these, they were these like plastic shields.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, they were like shield, but they weren't like, like dog. I know, the dog cone thing.

[Britt Lauer]

They were basically dog cones.

[Adam Scott]

Okay, okay. And so I remember we also had leashes. We each had a person that walked us around that had held a leash. No, no, that was just. Because it was super fun.

[Ben Stiller]

Just Adam.

[Britt Lauer]

But yeah, you would come and give a, give a direction and it would be like, okay, but so you're just gonna go this and here. Got it. And I'd be like, ben, I can't hear you. But also, you know, I think because you're an actor, you give so much like non verbal in your like direction. You know, I can just. So yeah, I think it's because I'm not.

[Ben Stiller]

It's inarticulate is actually what you face.

[Britt Lauer]

No, I think you just, you know, you've. The minute I could see your face, I could interpret your note better.

[Adam Scott]

That's also Bendo coming out because Bendo's such a physical being.

[Britt Lauer]

But do you remember also there were those air scrubbers, they were like noise canceling machines that were on incessantly when we weren't filming. And I went a little.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah, you did not like those. I remember that.

[Ben Stiller]

No, everybody went a little crazy, let's be honest. I mean it was all the time with all of the, the PPE and stuff. And it was like most of the time I was on a walkie talkie with shield and mask and it's just a whole new thing to have to be able to connect. And then every time they'd say rolling that all the stuff would come off and then it would go right back on.

[Adam Scott]

It was a drag. I mean we were talking with Zach last episode, Brit, and talking about how the only time the actors got to talk to other people and see their faces was when camera was rolling. Other than that, we were either alone in our dressing rooms or completely masked up with the, like you said, the plastic thing in front of our faces. It was really weird.

[Britt Lauer]

Right. Well, you know, I think that's, you know, in a way, it brought a lot of humanity to the actual acting part because it was. Yeah. It was like, the only time in like, nine months that any of us had been. Yeah. Close.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah.

[Britt Lauer]

Close to other human beings.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah. We. We have a clip here of the perpetuity wing.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah. This is interesting because this is where Irving is talking about the history of the Egan family. And again, it's like a way to learn some of the lore and what the rules of this world are. She was five CEOs ago. They never had a woman before. As she told her father at age 7, she was going to be the first. Isn't that lovely?

[Britt Lauer]

It's beautiful. It almost makes me wish I remembered my own childhood.

[Ben Stiller]

It's an unnatural state for a person to have. No history makes us someone gives us a context, shape. But waking up on that table, I was shapeless. But then I learned that I work for a company that has been actively caring for mankind since 1866.

[Adam Scott]

Britt kind of picking up on that. The thing is, usually when you get a character, when you're playing a role, the first thing you do is. Or some people do, some people don't. But you build out somewhat of a backstory. Childhood, family interests, like, stuff like that. But that is just not an option with heli or any of the enies. Did that absence of history or backstory or whatever you want to call it, was that challenging or was that fun? How did you handle that?

[Britt Lauer]

I listened to a lot of music, a lot of Patti Smith. I went down, like, a YouTube rabbit hole of people escaping from court, like, who were on trial.

[Adam Scott]

Oh, yeah.

[Britt Lauer]

Like prisoners who were just, like, at their court appearance and then just escape. I watched a lot of videos of, like, animals that were trapped. And I watched a lot, actually. We exchanged a few of those Ben documentaries about amnesia.

[Ben Stiller]

Right, right.

[Britt Lauer]

And there was a really interesting one called Tell Me who I Am on Netflix about these twins who. One of them was in an accident and woke up with no memory of who he was. And you just sort of see the nature versus nurture play out in that documentary. And so, yeah, I guess it was sort of a physical approach as opposed to, like, a writing an autobiography.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah.

[Ben Stiller]

Right. But you also have these Little cards that you make up, and you showed them to me. They're like, almost like little kind of miniature Wes Anderson style frames of sort of the actions of your character. Can you explain it? They're beautiful.

[Britt Lauer]

Yeah, I. You know, because we were filming out of order and we had all the scripts in advance, I just had never done so much filming out of order before. So as a kind of visual tool for myself, I drew little pictures of Heli's journey physically, like running through the halls, smashing through windows. And so whatever episode that we were filming, I could be like, okay, I've already cut my arm here. I've already hit Adam in the head. This is where I'm trying to escape in this moment.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, I think that's something people don't maybe know about when you're filming something that you are filming out of order most of the time. And for an actor, you have to kind of commit to a tone and a feeling and a level of whatever it is that might seem totally, you know, in the moment. Like, whoa, what's that? But in the story, when you see it in the movie or the show, it will make sense. But you have to kind of do that on your own. And I think it's hard to do, because it is hard.

[Adam Scott]

So they are venturing through the replica of the Egan home, and Irving sees the bingo card in Mark's pocket. Should we explain what that.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah.

[Adam Scott]

Egan bingo is a game that Petey and Mark and Dylan used to play to make fun of Irving. And Mark now is not as into it because he's supposed to be the leader of the group, but they all have this bingo card, and they're marking off lame things that Irving says throughout the day. Mark has it in his pocket, Irving spots it, pulls it out, and they start kind of going at each other a little bit.

[Britt Lauer]

I'm sorry, can I just. I just want to say my other favorite moment in the episode is when Mark tries to sit on the bed and then gets caught.

[Adam Scott]

That's right.

[Britt Lauer]

He's like a kid with his hand in, like, a candy jar getting caught.

[Adam Scott]

Again, that's direct heli influence. Cause there's like this little, like, barrier between where you're standing in this stupid bed, and all he does is put his foot on the other side of this 7 inch barrier. And Irving immediately catches him.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah. And also. And also, by the way, why are you not allowed to sit on the bed? Because it's a replica of Kyrie's house.

[Adam Scott]

Not even the real house, and no one's there. There's no one there. It's so ridiculous.

[Britt Lauer]

Just fourth graders on a field trip.

[Adam Scott]

That's right. That's right. So while they're doing this and Dylan's in the room with them, kind of distracted by them, Heli makes a run for it and she has taken her bingo card and her pencil that she has and written on a piece of paper, never come back here. And she is hauling ass through the severed floor and Mark is chasing her and she is headed for the exit that she kind of burst out of in episode one, I believe.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah. The full on running through the hallways for Britt.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah, this is our first real run through the hallways. First of many.

[Britt Lauer]

Yeah. Heli, I think at this point still thinks if she can get a message out to her Audi, then obviously she'll see that this is unethical and she's being held here against her will. So she's just trying to get the note through the door in order to get her head out enough to see and read the note.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah, yeah.

[Britt Lauer]

I just wanna say our camera operators are like, again, another extension of the characters on the show. Like the way they move with us, especially in the hallways. It's like we're on like a basketball team together.

[Adam Scott]

They're incredible.

[Ben Stiller]

That's interesting, Brit, because didn't you play basketball in high school?

[Britt Lauer]

I did play basketball. I really felt like even wearing heels, I felt like there was a basketball quality to Helly season one. And you love basketball.

[Ben Stiller]

I do. The Knicks are playing right now as we record this. But they are dedicated. I am.

[Adam Scott]

How are you handling this right now?

[Ben Stiller]

I am severed from the basketball game right now.

[Adam Scott]

Your innie is watching. Will be watching basketball later.

[Britt Lauer]

Did you know. Did you know that me and John Turturro and Zach Cherry are huge Liberty fans?

[Ben Stiller]

I love that.

[Britt Lauer]

We saw a game together.

[Ben Stiller]

I saw you guys at the world Champion Liberty. Yeah. In the finals.

[Adam Scott]

So Grainer shows up and this time Mark is like taker. Like last time he stepped in front of her and went to the break room in her stead. This time he lets her go. So Heli enters the break room, finds Milchick there waiting for her, and he makes her read something called the compunction statement. And we actually have a clip of that.

[Britt Lauer]

I'm bringing up the compunction statement for Heliar. What? What is this?

[Ben Stiller]

Read it.

[Britt Lauer]

I don't want to.

[Ben Stiller]

No.

[Britt Lauer]

Do forgive me for the harm I have caused this world. None may atone for my actions but me. And only in me shall their stain live on. I am thankful to have been caught, my fall cut short by those with wizened hands. All I can be is sorry. And that is all I am.

[Ben Stiller]

I'm afraid you don't mean it. Excuse me again, please.

[Adam Scott]

Do you want to talk about what that was like, Britt, shooting that stuff in the break room?

[Britt Lauer]

Well, that room was pretty frightening to be in. And, like, watching it back is. It's a pretty disturbing scene, really. You're watching a person realize they have no free will, and she's realizing she's there to be broken down.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah.

[Britt Lauer]

So, yeah, I mean, I remember the projector being in my face. It was just sort of physically uncomfortable. But I thought Tramiel did such an incredible job of grounding that scene. And you guys added the shot of Patricia.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, there's a shot where she sort of just appears. It's almost like an apparition, but she's there watching. I mean, it is disturbing. You do such a good job in that scene, and I can imagine it was not easy.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah. It must have had a similar effect on you as it does. The character just having to sit there all day reading that one statement, it's just insane.

[Britt Lauer]

But I think, you know, that's the. The kind of meta part of our show. Right. Our job as actors is to split ourselves into selves. And anytime I was filming a sequence that was, like, a little frightening, I just. Just, like, did simple things, like remind myself in the morning that I was putting on a character's clothing and that at the end of the day, I'm putting on Brit's clothing just to help my. Again, we're talking about how trauma is stored in the body and just reminding my body, like, oh, this is real and this isn't real.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah. I feel like you have such a respect for the character you're playing. Working with you over these years, you've always looked out for Helly.

[Britt Lauer]

Totally. Yeah. I mean, I'm really drawn to her. There's, like, an archetypical energy about all of these characters. Right. And to be able to step into a character like Heli who is just such a fighter for justice, you know, initially for her own, to fight for her own freedom and autonomy. And then as the season goes on, she really starts to fight for the rest of the MDR as well, because she feels like, you know, they're her family.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah.

[Ben Stiller]

It didn't fit. There wasn't any, like, weird meta thing where, like, I would be saying, like, do it again. Take 12, take 13, take 14.

[Britt Lauer]

Right. No, no, no. Not at all. Okay, good.

[Ben Stiller]

Wasn't like.

[Britt Lauer]

No, not at all.

[Ben Stiller]

I was mad at.

[Britt Lauer]

I just met, like. I meant on a macro scale. Like we go to work and we put on.

[Ben Stiller]

No, I understand.

[Britt Lauer]

Different clothes and assume a different identity. But yeah, no, it's a. It's a completely like warm and loving environment to be working in. Sorry.

[Ben Stiller]

Adam likes to. Lot of takes.

[Adam Scott]

I do.

[Ben Stiller]

Do you like to do a lot of takes, Britt?

[Britt Lauer]

Yeah, sometimes. I mean, it's a very technical show at times. Right. So we have to do a lot of different angles. And I've come to really enjoy working with again, the camera crew and you know, the. We. We had all those Libra heads in season one that were like these robots that we were working with that were being operated by someone else in a room.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, Libra heads, which are the remote camera heads, which because of they're used a lot. But especially with the pandemic, it allowed the camera operator to be operating the camera remotely far away. And so the camera's just sort of on this kind of robot head, as Britt was saying. And so you're having to deal with that a lot.

[Britt Lauer]

But I kind of loved that. Right. Because it's.

[Adam Scott]

I did too.

[Britt Lauer]

It's like the camera is like dollying down the hallway, then it's making a turn and then doing a 360 degree turn and then someone's pulling focus on your eye and then you say your line. You know, like, that's so fun.

[Adam Scott]

I thought it was sometimes great to have that because sometimes people are distracting and when you're in there just sort of by yourself with a camera for whatever reason, sometimes it took inhibitions away from me. And then sometimes it felt lonely and weird. I guess it just depended on what we were doing.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, that's one of my favorite things. When you're shooting a comedy, if you're doing a scene and you're like cracking up. You know that thing sometimes when you would lose it, right? And then you're like. And then you really lose it and you can't do it again. You keep it going. Like now you're just laughing because you're laughing. I could always cure that by then looking at the grip who was just looking at his phone, waiting to go home. And it just made me stop.

[Adam Scott]

Just once you go home.

[Ben Stiller]

By the way, Brit, you and Tramiel in that scene are great. And your friendship with Trammel, you guys are. It seems to me like you guys have a very special relationship. And did that come out of working on the show together? And what is it like working with him?

[Britt Lauer]

Oh, Tramiel's the best. He's so thoughtful. He has such a depth and empathy and he's kind of. I think he's a genius, really. His portrayal of Milchick is so layered and. Yeah, I think the whole cast, we got so close, you know, over the course of, like living through a pandemic together. And then the strikes happened and a lot of us, you know, got closer by being on the picket lines together. It's such a warm and wonderful cast. Everyone's obsessed with making this show.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah, it's a great, great group of people. Ben, do you want to talk at all as far as the break room goes about the lighting and the design of it?

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah. Jeremy created these weird off angle walls. It's just ridiculous. Strange angles for the, for the walls.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah, it's almost like small too, right?

[Ben Stiller]

It's pretty small. And it was. It almost feels like. I don't know. I don't know why the walls are like that. But, you know, we had that sort of cottage cheese that, you know, the perforated panels that to me are just like the most depressing thing ever. It almost feels like from another era, you know, or like a. From like a sound studio in the 50s or something. Right. And then we just kept it very, very dark. And really that table was Cat Miller's design, our props genius. I also think.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah. Speaking of genius.

[Ben Stiller]

And she had to figure out a table that could do this sort of old school acetate projector, which is that projector that he slips the slide into that has the writing on it, which goes back to my era as a kid in grade school of how they would, you know.

[Adam Scott]

The overhead projector.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah, the overhead projector thing. And then finding all this great old school, you know, cassette deck, mini cassette deck. Almost like a lie detector vibe happening. And I love all the details of that scene too, that she made in terms of like the Lumen first aid stuff. And then it's really ultimately comes down to the actors always. And it's just the tone in that scene. And I think you're right. Tramiel has this amazing facility to be still and to hold a moment. And on the surface it seems like he's not doing anything, but there's so much going on. And that's just a quality that he has. And I think it's the work that he does for his character's inner life that, you know, is all there. But he feels no need to have to show it. It's just. He trusts it's there.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah. Tramiel is a force. He is just unbelievable.

[Ben Stiller]

And he's a great runner, too.

[Britt Lauer]

Some good hallway running scenes and an incredible dancer.

[Ben Stiller]

Oh, my God.

[Britt Lauer]

I'll get to that.

[Ben Stiller]

We'll get to that later in the season.

[Adam Scott]

Oh, come on.

[Britt Lauer]

You know, I just want to say we haven't touched on how incredible Adam's hair is compared to how rebellious my hair often is. Ben.

[Ben Stiller]

I mean, don't get me started.

[Britt Lauer]

Do you want to comment on.

[Ben Stiller]

Well, I mean, I think you want to talk about it. It feels to me like you want to talk about my hair obsessions, and. Well, I don't know if this is the forum to talk about. We might need a separate podcast.

[Adam Scott]

I think this is the exact forum to talk about it. Oh, you think we may need a separate podcast for the hair of the.

[Ben Stiller]

Severance that I'm not.

[Britt Lauer]

I didn't. I didn't even have hair until I was five years old.

[Adam Scott]

You're a bald person.

[Britt Lauer]

Yeah. My mom used to have to put, like, a Velcro bow on my head.

[Ben Stiller]

I just saw the pull quote for this episode in the press. It's going to get picked up everywhere.

[Adam Scott]

This episode is sponsored by Baby Propecia.

[Ben Stiller]

Is that. That's. Was. Were people wondering what was going on or.

[Britt Lauer]

With my hair?

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah.

[Britt Lauer]

No. I just was a late bloomer. But when it did grow out, it just. It doesn't want to do anything it's told to do. And so we often. I feel like at the end of the day, Adam, you and I would just mess our hair up in a rebellion.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah. I will just say Adam's hair is something that needs to be addressed because it's incredible. And I am both obsessed, envious, amazed, appreciative. And your hair is amazing, too. And I know that the look that you came up with for your hair on the show with your costumes by Sarah Edwards is very, I think, iconic because it's sleek, cool, and of a time, but not of a time. And. And I did pop in every once in a while to just make sure the hair would be in the right place. Right.

[Britt Lauer]

Just a hair or two. A flyaway. Yeah. That's okay. I just also want to say, can you imagine if Helly had been a brunette?

[Ben Stiller]

No.

[Britt Lauer]

We almost did that.

[Ben Stiller]

We did.

[Adam Scott]

Mm. Mm.

[Britt Lauer]

Yeah. Remember, you called me and you were like, I think. I think we gotta go brown. And then you called me, like, a couple days later and you were like, I'm sorry.

[Adam Scott]

I'm.

[Britt Lauer]

So I changed my mind. It's gotta be Red.

[Ben Stiller]

Oh, my God.

[Adam Scott]

Well, the red hair goes so perfectly with the wardrobe with Sarah Edwards. Do you guys just really quickly. Cause again, this is like a Halloween costume now. Can you talk about the wardrobe and the building of that with Sarah Edwards, who I'm sure we'll have on at some point.

[Britt Lauer]

Yeah, I was just talking to Sarah about this, actually, because I wanted to get the details right. But the sweaters that I wear on the show are knit by a company. Like, they're hand knit and dyed so that they're a specific color that will match whatever blue that Ben wants, because Ben loves blue. And the A line skirts are all made on site, and they're tailored so that I can move in them. Especially, you know, when we were developing the character, I was like, she's on the move all the time. I think we really started with the shoes, like, trying to figure out how. How I could be running through hallways. And Sarah found these ballroom dancing shoes from Italy. Yeah. I think anybody can make something complicated, but I think it takes a genius to make something simple. And that's where Sarah Edward really shines in her costume design, is that she. You know, there's like this elegance and simplicity to all the costumes.

[Ben Stiller]

And then, of course, Brit, it's also the way that you wear the clothes and your walk. Cause the heli walk is as identifiable as any. Any walk. I think it's like there's like Denzel Washington does a walk, and then there's like the Brit Lauer heli walk.

[Britt Lauer]

I didn't even know this was a thing.

[Ben Stiller]

I. When I see Denzel doing his thing, you know, there's like a walk that swagger that he has in certain characters. That's a very specific thing.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah.

[Ben Stiller]

And I feel like you have your own version of that as helle that is very forward moving, leaning in, and self assured, and it's just like you could identify it.

[Britt Lauer]

Wow.

[Adam Scott]

It's true. It's totally true. Heli is, like, taking over the space she's in when she's walking around.

[Britt Lauer]

I'm very honored to be in a category with Denzel.

[Adam Scott]

Okay, we're at the end of the episode, and Petey is in a convenience store at a gas station yelling about needing tokens. So he's sort of feeling like he's at MDR needing tokens for the snack machine. Mark arrives home to discover Petey's not there. So he hops in his car to go looking for him, sees some ambulances, decides to follow them. He lands at the convenience store and sees Petey being brought out with some EMTs, and they make eye contact. And at that moment, Petey just sort of collapses to the ground. Mark gets freaked out and a little paranoid and takes off. And we're left not knowing exactly what Petey's fate is here, but it's not good.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Adam Scott]

And Mark runs home, goes to the basement, hides any evidence that Petey was ever there.

[Ben Stiller]

That was also always interesting to me that Mark had this sort of guilty streak in him.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah. One thing I remember being really important is writing that line of Mark believing or not believing all this stuff that Petey's been saying to him, and no one would believe all of it. It's just too crazy. But it is all sort of piecing together a little bit. So it's starting to form in his head that there might be something there. And then he sees him maybe drop dead at the convenience store. He's not sure what exactly is happening, but decides to cover his tracks a bit here just in case.

[Ben Stiller]

And then that phone rings. We don't know who it is or what it is. And end of episode.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah, the cell phone that Petey ostensibly left behind.

[Ben Stiller]

Right.

[Adam Scott]

Well, Brit, thank you. Can't thank you enough for doing this. It was so fun.

[Ben Stiller]

Yeah. So much fun, Brit.

[Britt Lauer]

Aw. Well, you know, I'm not mad about the daylight savings anymore, so.

[Ben Stiller]

But just curiously, are you into you? You. You're anti Daylight savings time.

[Adam Scott]

Oh, my God. Here, I'm just curious.

[Britt Lauer]

Honestly. Honestly, I have absolutely no opinion on it.

[Ben Stiller]

See, that's the problem, is most people have no opinion. Okay. All right.

[Adam Scott]

The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller and Adam Scott is a presentation of Odyssey, Pineapple Street Studios, Redhour Productions, and Great Scott Productions.

[Ben Stiller]

If you like the show, be sure to rate and review this podcast on Apple Podcasts, the Odyssey app, or your other podcast place platform of choice. Our executive producers are Bari Finkel, Henry Malofsky, Jenna Weiss Berman and Leah Rhys Dennis. The show is produced by Zandra, Ellen and Naomi Scott. This episode was mixed and mastered by Chris Basel. We have additional engineering from Javi Cruces and Davey Sumner.

[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, Matt Casey, Kate Rose, Kirk Courtney and Hilary Schuff.

[Ben Stiller]

And the team at Red John Lesher, Carolina Pesakov, Gian Pablo Antonetti, Martin Valderrudin, Ashwin Ramesh, Maria Noto, John Baker and Oliver Agar.

[Adam Scott]

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

[Ben Stiller]

We also had additional production help from Gabrielle Lewis, Ben Goldberg, Stephen Key, Kristen Torres, Emmanuel Hapsis, marielexa Kavanaugh, and Melissa Slaughter.

[Adam Scott]

I'm Adam Scott. I'm Ben Stiller, and we will see you next time.

[Ben Stiller]

Hey, Adam.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah?

[Ben Stiller]

Is your experience at work a bit dysfunctional lately?

[Adam Scott]

I don't know. I think it's.

[Ben Stiller]

It's okay. I'll take that as a yes. Your team could undergo a highly controversial surgical procedure that would mercifully sever any and all memories of that work experience from your home lives. Or you could try Confluence by Atlassian.

[Adam Scott]

Oh, my God. Well, if it's a Choice between those two things, I think. I think I would 100% choose confluence by Atlassian.

[Ben Stiller]

Confluence is the connected workspace where teams can collaborate and create like never before, where teams have easy access to the relevant pages and resources their projects call for, while discovering important context they didn't even know they needed. A space where AI streamlines the things that normally eat up their time, letting teams generate, organize, and deliver work faster. In fact, with Confluence, teams can see a 5.5.2% average boost in productivity in one year.

[Adam Scott]

So that would equal out, like, if we're playing with, like, let's just say 100%, 5.2 of those percentage points. Yeah, that's the improvement.

[Ben Stiller]

I mean, I'm not great at math, but that sounds very close.

[Adam Scott]

Well, I'm doing the math in my head right now as we speak, and I think that's great.

[Ben Stiller]

So why not keep your team unsevered in Confluence, the connected workspace where teams can do it all set, knowledge free with Confluence. Learn more at atlassian.com confluence that's a T L-A-S-S S I-A N.com C O N Fluence.