← The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S1EP8: What's for Dinner? (with John Turturro)
00:59:36
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- [00:00]
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, we're so done with New Year, new you. This year, it's more you on Bumble. More of you shamelessly sending playlists, especially that one filled with show tunes. More of you finding Geminis because you know you always like them. More of you dating with intention because you know what you want. And you know what? We love that for you, someone else will too. Be more you this year and find them on Bumble. Hey, I'm Ben Stiller. I'm Adam Scott, and this is the Severance Podcast with Ben and Adam, where we break down every episode of Severance.
- [00:51]
Adam Scott
Today, we're recapping season one, episode eight, what's for Dinner, written by Chris Black and directed. Directed by the one and only Ben Stiller. Ben, second to last recap, or as they say, penultimate recap of season one. How are you rating this show that you made overall on Rewatch Scale 1 to 10?
- [01:18]
Ben Stiller
I'm not good at judging my own work. Okay. So I've been enjoying. If I'm rating the process. I've been enjoying the process a lot. Yeah, it's been fun to go back in, you know, and have the different experiences of watching the episodes with some time in between, talking to everybody about them. Sometimes pleasantly surprised at something and other times looking at it and going, ugh, I wish I did that differently, too. Yeah, always too. But overall, I think it's been great and fun, and I'm super excited, too, for today because of who's on our show.
- [01:55]
Adam Scott
Yeah, me too. Me too. I think also rewatching the show with the intention of discussing it and digging into it is a different experience too, and that's been really fun as well.
- [02:07]
Ben Stiller
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And also, as we roll into season two, kind of looking back at season one and thinking about all the things that we thought about when we were making season two and the little details from season one that sometimes I go, oh, there are actually some things I actually look at and go, wait a minute, I forgot we did that. Yeah, maybe I shouldn't admit that, but there are no.
- [02:30]
Adam Scott
I see that stuff all the time, and it's really fun. Also, just incidentally, I'd rate this episode of the podcast that we've done so far as a 12 out of 10.
- [02:42]
Ben Stiller
Wow.
- [02:43]
Adam Scott
Yeah.
- [02:43]
Ben Stiller
Wow. All right, that's great. Maybe we should stop here. But no, it's gonna get even bigger and better because Turturro's coming up.
- [02:49]
Adam Scott
Oh, my God, you're right. We are joined by the legendary and Emmy award winning actor, writer and director, John Turturro, who we know and love on severance as Irving. John, welcome to the podcast. Thank you for doing this.
- [03:08]
John Turturro
Thank you. It's a pleasure to be here.
- [03:11]
Ben Stiller
Very excited to have you here. So excited as we were excited when you joined the cast back when we were starting the show, as was I. Yeah, that was a big thing for us. When you said you were interested. We met and talked and I remember we had a nice. We had a nice meal out in Brooklyn.
- [03:29]
John Turturro
Yes.
- [03:30]
Ben Stiller
And talked about stuff.
- [03:31]
John Turturro
It's always good to read great material. And I also, you know, sort of very grateful had been thought of me in doing something that I hadn't done before. That's always a big incentive and compliment. And you say, well, I don't. I'm not sure if how good I will be doing this thing, but I love to do things that I haven't done before. And I was a fan of a bunch of films that been directed right from the beginning. Was it Reality Bites first?
- [04:06]
Ben Stiller
Yeah, that was my first.
- [04:06]
John Turturro
That's right. Yeah. I remember seeing that. And of course, I'm obsessed with the documentary of Tropic Thunder, which I consider a documentary. When we met and we talked with Dan and everything, I thought the scripts were excellent and my major concern was who would be the apple of my affection. And then I suggested at the dinner Chris, because I've worked with Chris so many times and I know Ben knows him. And I just really love something about Chris, that child that sort of within him with this man who has this great experience and he's very skilled too. And he's a. You have a lot of. We always have a lot of fun together.
- [05:01]
Ben Stiller
I mean, Chris being Chris Walken. Christopher Walken. The great Chris Walken.
- [05:07]
John Turturro
Yes. Yeah, sir Walken.
- [05:08]
Ben Stiller
Yeah. I mean, that was pretty funny the way that all developed, you know, because we did have that dinner. And I remember at the dinner when we were talking, I think Dan Erickson was there, we talked about who might be Burt and you mentioned Chris and I just like, secretly, I kind of just. There was like a little bit of a. I had a mini kind of explosion inside of me, as you said, and I was like, oh, this is great. And yeah. And then you said, like, I can reach out to him or I can, you know, see if he's. And I was like, all right, well, if you're going to do that. I'll be happy to do whatever we need to do. And I know Chris a little bit because my dad worked with him back in the 80s in hurly burly. In Hurly Burly, a play that Mike Nichols directed and Chris Walken and William Hurt and Sigourney Weaver and my dad, Jerry Stiller and Harvey Keitel and just amazing cast.
- [06:05]
Adam Scott
Wow.
- [06:06]
Ben Stiller
And Chris and my dad became very close during that and I think knew each other over the years beforehand too, but he's still Christopher Walken. To me, as a fan, I'm just always slightly intimidated as. Honestly, John, I didn't really know you that well before we started working together and I was, I was a little bit intimidated too, because I think you're a great actor and director and you know, I know you're very like, like you're really serious about the work. And I, I. And that to me was exciting because I thought, okay, if you see something in this, you know, I was curious, what, what was it that you saw in it when you first read it? What was it that it.
- [06:45]
John Turturro
I thought it was so original. I thought it was so original. And I thought the characters were all really delineated really well. And I thought, you know, obviously you had put, you know, a lot of thought into it and I thought, wow, if you have the right combination of people, you know, this could be really interesting. And you know, the group that you put together, you know, of Adam leading and Brit and Zach and Tramel and Patricia, you know, it's a really good group and everyone works really well together. And you know, I've had plenty of experiences working with people who are wonderful actors. It's like a one way street, you know, and when it's not that way, you can create this space between the characters, you know, and so to me that's the most interesting thing. And also getting to know people, you know, you don't know someone. I didn't know anyone really, except for Chris. And so you learn how to work together and you start to say, oh, this is what the person likes. And you know, my job is sort of to bring all my homework and everything I do, but also to plug in to your brain and to Dan's brain to say, okay, this is what they're going for. You know, and it takes a little, you know, adjustment at times for, you know, I always think at the beginning everyone's nervous and it doesn't matter who they are, they're nervous. And you make choices and sometimes the choices are too big. They're too small. They're not brave enough, you know, and then once you establish that, then you can go a lot of different places, you know, and then. Then. Then you develop a shorthand. And, you know, I could tell a lot of times, okay, you know, you want a variation. And, okay, let me. Let me spin it this way, let me spin it that way. But so that's. That's always a joy for me, you know, to discover, you know, the chemistry between the people that I'm working with. And to me, that's maybe even more important or as important as a script.
- [08:54]
Adam Scott
It was really fun over season one over, particularly at the beginning with the four of us in mdr, remember us sort of getting to know each other and getting to know how each of us works, and all of us starting to, like you said, like, take some chances on whether it's too big or too small or whatever, but trying something out and knowing that we would be supported by the other three.
- [09:18]
Ben Stiller
Yeah, yeah, I watched that happen. I mean, I think I felt it too, as a director, sort of starting to feel more comfortable. I remember the first few days we were shooting some stuff in the hallways or something, and you came in with the Irving voice, and I was like, and I didn't know you were going to do that voice. And I was. And so the first time I heard it, I was like, whoa, whoa. And it was really specific and it was really committed, and I liked it. But I was also like, you know, it came out of nowhere. And I remember I was like, okay. And something inside, you know, it's interesting. Like, as a director, you feel like sometimes you have to, like, kind of say something or you have to, like, check in on it. And I wasn't sure. Honestly, like, the first time I heard, I wasn't sure. I was like, wow, this is like, a really. This is a really committed choice. Now, obviously, wasn't not sure that you would be good doing it, but it was a choice. And do you remember, like, I had a little conversation?
- [10:24]
John Turturro
Yeah, I remember. Yeah. Oh, yeah, I remember exactly. I remember exactly. And I said, let me listen to it. And I listened to it and I said, you know what? I need to just pull that back a little bit.
- [10:37]
Ben Stiller
Yeah.
- [10:37]
John Turturro
And once I did that.
- [10:38]
Ben Stiller
No, but you said, but it was. I don't think I gave you any direction on other than I said, are you like, is this like, tell me. Yeah, yeah.
- [10:44]
John Turturro
Are you sure? You said, are you sure? And I was like, I'm not sure of anything, really. But no, once I listened to it. I just thought, okay, you know, it's. You're still in a virginal state, you.
- [10:57]
Ben Stiller
Know, And I didn't want to. And as a director, I didn't want to, like, because, by the way, like, I once did that on a movie where I, like, I did like a New York. Like, more of a New York accent, and the director, like, freaked out about it. And it got me. And I got really. I stood my ground. I was like, no, I'm gonna do this. And I don't know if he ever was, like, happy that I did it. And I don't even know if it worked. But I also know, as an actor, I don't want to get. I don't want the director in my head, like, questioning a choice I'm making. Because you want to feel like, okay, like, let me go with this thing and explore it and not be self conscious about it. And I swear to you, by the end of the week, like, I couldn't imagine the character sounding any other way.
- [11:33]
Adam Scott
Yeah, it was just.
- [11:34]
Ben Stiller
You know what I mean? By the end of the week, the first week of shooting, it was just like, okay, this is Irving. And it's like, of course this is Irving.
- [11:40]
John Turturro
Right.
- [11:40]
Ben Stiller
You know.
- [11:41]
John Turturro
Right, right. But that's. You know, we're all getting to know each other and someone's trying something, and sometimes, you know, it's. I mean, there are times where people do things. You just go, well, that's out of the ballpark. You know, that's not. That's not in the vicinity. I've been there. You. And you're like, whoa, I don't think this is gonna. You know, but sometimes it's just the little adjustments.
- [12:05]
Ben Stiller
And also, there's so many questions about these characters that we don't know in terms of who their Audi is, you know, what their outside life is, where they come from that we don't know as an audience intentionally. And then there's the, you know, the interaction, like you're saying, between the actors, which I think is such an important thing. What you're talking about, that chemistry, because that's really what makes something that works. I think, you know that when that just happens and you guys develop that. I remember also there's a moment in episode three when you pull Mark aside and you say, we should take her to the perpetuity wing.
- [12:45]
John Turturro
Right, right.
- [12:47]
Ben Stiller
And that was for me and Adam. I know. I remember talking to you. Cause it was sort of very early on. There was such an intensity of belief, an understanding of why it was important to Take her to the perpetuity wing. That told me so much about Irving in terms of his commitment to the ideology or the right, the Kier Lumen, the rules and the mythology that you'd been taught and abided by and lived by. To me, that moment, I was like, oh, this is why the show can work. Because John Turturro, as Irving, is saying, you have to take her to perpetuity wing. And I believe him that there's such a depth there that I don't even know if it was even there in the writing of that scene.
- [13:34]
John Turturro
Well, there was an opening to go down deep, you know, to go to descend in your elevator, you know, which is sort of a metaphor for acting. And sometimes, you know, when I've worked with different directors who are even, you know, great directors, I always think sometimes, well, what are they good at? And what is my job? What can I do to surprise them a little bit, to give them, you know, a gift back, you know, and because I think, you know, that's. That's kind of your job is to give them something that maybe they haven't thought of. They. Because they have to think of so many things. And it would make, you know, Mark's character have to deal with this guy, you know, who has this kind of, you know, belief. Personally, I'm very, very afraid of cults. I really am afraid of them. You know, there are certain buildings, I cross the street, I go like. I don't want to be even in front of the building, you know, so it was fun to kind of delve into.
- [14:37]
Ben Stiller
What was that like, Adam, for you, when you were doing that scene?
- [14:39]
Adam Scott
It was the first, like, real one on one time scene that I had with John. So I was nervous about it. But that kind of fervent stance he was taking there with the perpetuity wing, like you're saying, it was just crystal clear. The. This was everything to Irving. This was everything. And it really helped me because I was still defining all the corners of Mark. And Mark had to be a believer in the place in order to become disillusioned with it. But he had to be in between someone like Irving and then someone like Dylan or Helly or something like that. So it really helped me kind of find the gradations of where Mark falls in the kind of loom and lore of it all. But yeah, I mean, it was just. I remember that as a big moment as well. It's really fun and it's really fun to watch.
- [15:31]
Ben Stiller
And also you say, you know, a gift that you Give the director, which. That's exactly what it is. But it's also, obviously a gift for the audience, too, because everybody's getting to watch it. But there are these moments there that I think, for me, you know, having spent a lot of time and editing it, and so you look at the material and you look at the takes and all of that as, you know, as a director, when you find that, okay, that. Or that moment that you want to choose that just stick with me. Like that moment in that scene. And I can think of two or three or four other ones across the series that, for me, are sort of like those moments. Whenever I see them, I'm so grateful that they're there because they just. I don't know. What is that thing when you see somebody have a moment that's real, that just pulls you into something in a way that there's no separation between what you're watching and what it is, because it feels real even though it's a TV show. That's, you know, crazy thing.
- [16:32]
John Turturro
Well, I think, you know, there are. The whole idea is to give it away, you know, obviously to the audience. But I always think of, like, you're gonna be in that room looking at all this footage. So, you know, you want to give someone choices and as much complexity, you know, as is required.
- [16:53]
Ben Stiller
Yeah, it's great. And maybe just before we start talking about the episode, your relationship with Chris Walken. You guys have known each other for a long time, and you've directed him a few times, right?
- [17:04]
John Turturro
I had worked with him as an actor once before in Search and Destroy, and we definitely got along. And I've directed him three different times. I directed him once as a theater critic, like an Oscar Wilde critic in Illuminata. And he's a very interesting guy. Cause he's confident, but he's very humble. He's a very humble person. And it's easy to get something going between the both of you. And I've seen him on stage when I was a student at Yale Drama School, and I've seen him do a lot of plays. He's a really tremendously talented guy. I know everyone imitates him and stuff like that, but he's so sensitive. You know, you just touch his hand and it's like, electric. So it's so easy to be in love with Fern.
- [17:53]
Adam Scott
Yeah.
- [17:53]
Ben Stiller
Yeah. And watching you guys work on those scenes across the season was always such a treat to kind of watch how you guys interacted and just sort of played with each other and allowing just the energy to kind of develop.
- [18:08]
Adam Scott
Yeah, those scenes are just so special, you know? John, I just want to go back to the beginning of the conversation. Just one thing I wanted to ask you. When you said that the show was something that you had never done before, do you mean like the genre or the character? What were you referring to? Both.
- [18:30]
John Turturro
Both. Both the genre and the character. And I thought, oh, this is something I could sort of, you know, morph into, you know, I mean, I love kind of, you know, the whole chameleon, you know, approach to something. You know, I love when someone asks me to do something that they haven't seen me do. And I feel like whenever that's I get that opportunity. It's always an exciting one.
- [18:57]
Ben Stiller
Maybe we should take a break and then come right back and then we can recap episode eight.
- [19:17]
Adam Scott
At Lumen, things are not always what they seem. Mark, Dillon, 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.
- [19:34]
Ben Stiller
There's definitely a lot more going on than you see. It's a little bit creepy.
- [19:38]
Adam Scott
I agree. There are more Q's than A's in this place.
- [19:41]
Ben Stiller
Yeah, for sure.
- [19:42]
Adam Scott
But luckily your workplace doesn't have to be so dysfunctional. Thanks to Confluence by Atlassian.
- [19:48]
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 backing and forth and a lot of creative interaction in the workspace.
- [20:03]
Adam Scott
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 5.2% average boost in productivity in one year.
- [20:34]
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.
- [20:43]
Adam Scott
Set knowledge free with Confluence. Learn more@atlassian.com confluence that's a T L a S S I a n.com C o n F L U E N C E.
- [21:03]
Ben Stiller
For the past three seasons of Gone south, we've covered one story per season. We tried to figure out who killed Margaret Coon.
- [21:10]
John Turturro
She told me, I'm gonna kill you. I said, well, do it, bitch.
- [21:13]
Ben Stiller
Go ahead and do it we delved into the violent world of the Dixie Mafia.
- [21:18]
Adam Scott
I'm an outlaw and I was a thief, But I'm far from being the psychotic nutcase that I've been made out to be.
- [21:26]
Ben Stiller
And we tracked a serial killer in Laredo, Texas.
- [21:29]
John Turturro
Just turn around, please. Turn around.
- [21:32]
Adam Scott
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.
- [21:36]
Ben Stiller
Now, Gone south is back for a fourth season, but this time we're doing things a little differently. So in gone South Season 4, we'll be bringing you new stories every week with no end in sight. I'm Jed Lipinski. Welcome back to Gone south, an Odyssey original podcast. Listen and follow now on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts for new episodes every week.
- [22:05]
Adam Scott
Okay. Episode eight opens in Irving's home. So we're with his Audi. He's drinking black coffee and cranking Motorhead's Ace of Spades and then just going to town on a painting. So this is sort of the Irving is super cool reveal, in a sense. It is so satisfying to learn that this character we've been rooting for all season is super cool and interesting in the outside world. First of all, Ben, this Motorhead song, Ace of Spades, how did that fit in? Or. John, did you have something to do with it or.
- [22:47]
John Turturro
No, I credit my director.
- [22:50]
Ben Stiller
We knew we wanted to have a fun song, and I think I've said before, I have this sort of severance playlist that over the course of the years making the show that we create and we're thinking of different fun, high energy songs, and that one just somehow felt right. And I think on a lot of levels, it kind of. It's interesting too, you know, when we start to learn more about Irving's backstory. But, John, I remember when we talked about this scene, you were really specific about this process of Irving painting, that you knew you had a sense of it in terms of. I just remember you had a really clear idea of how you wanted to do it.
- [23:32]
John Turturro
Well, yeah, I mean, I was practicing a lot, you know, in my dressing room during the other episodes, but I have a lot of painters in my family and things. And I was thinking, well, here's this guy who's really regimented. And a lot of the times, these people, they have a whole other life, you know, And I had done a lot of background stuff. But when you played that song, I thought, wow, this is great, because I had the song and then I had been practicing the painting and how we would paint it, and you were telling me, you know, use your hands more. Do that. As I've gotten, you know, more. More experience. Sometimes you have these sequences where you don't talk but you have something to do. And you kept saying, you know, you know, paint faster there. And you use your hands more with it and more like an action painter, you know. And one of my. My uncles was an abstract painter. It was real. And he's also searching for something, you know, as he's doing, he's trying to figure something out at the same time. And I remember it was really. I felt like a really great collaboration.
- [24:35]
Ben Stiller
With you in that.
- [24:37]
John Turturro
And it was without words, but, you know, you gave me, you know, and I was like, okay, we're like rock and rollin now. So.
- [24:43]
Ben Stiller
Yeah, I felt that too. It was so much fun. And then honestly, the last part of it was Jeff Richmond, our editor. Just when we put it together, he was so into it too, you know, and it just has such an energy to it and. Yeah. Says so much about Irving on the outside that without words, you know, that all of a sudden we have a whole new character that we're meeting and we see as you're squeezing out the black paint, that sort of black goo that really looks a lot like all those dreams we saw earlier. I got the info from Doug Coleman, who's our special effects person, who Doug, by the way, I've worked with on movies over the years in New York, is one of the prominent special effects people. He's also the guy who makes all our snow for real and all the other crazy actual practical effects in the show. And he said it's from Blair Adhesives, this company that is the same company that makes the slime for Nickelodeon. It's not the same material, not the same composite, but they obviously know how to make gooey, drippy stuff really well. By the way, I was talking earlier about some of those scenes where I had these memorable moments. The wellness scene. This is way back. I guess it's. Oh, yes. Yeah. With Ms. Casey.
- [26:04]
John Turturro
Ms. Casey. Well, she was brilliant in the scene. And you know, you think about what leaks in from his Audi. You know, obviously he has a vocabulary and stuff, but you're still in this kind of altered childish state or childlike state. But I just thought she was so good. And the way you did it, I mean, it's. A lot of these things are so challenging and a lot of it has to do with how you listen and you know, the point of view that you've developed to help you listen.
- [26:34]
Ben Stiller
Yeah.
- [26:34]
John Turturro
You know, from that. And he is star.
- [26:37]
Ben Stiller
He's so happy when he hears Certainly.
- [26:40]
John Turturro
I mean, so much of this is really, you know, the only thing I think when I read it too, and, you know, working on the show, there was this Kubrickian approach to it. You know, even Adam's character and how you, Ben, you know, went about it. And, you know, I never worked with Kubrick. I almost worked with Kubrick, but I didn't say the right thing, which. To Stan Lee, which movie? Well, I can talk about it. It's over now. So he wanted me to be in Eyes Wide Shut. There was a character that Todd Field played eventually that was supposed to be in the beginning, the middle and the end. But they cut the end and they said he was going to talk to me. And he did call me up and I had a two hour conversation with him. And I kept thinking, well, this is a joke. You know, it can't be Stanley Kubrick. And he was like, I know every film you've ever made. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I said, well, I know all the films you make too. And he said, I wrote the part for you and I think you're really a wonderful actor. I was embarrassed. And I said, well, thank you. And he said, well, you are. And I said, well, I can't walk around my house telling my wife that I'm a wonderful actor because she'll hit me with a frying pan. And then at the end, he said, how can I get you the script? It was in the 90s. I said, well, you could FedEx it to me. And he said, well, what if you're not home? And I said, well, my FedEx man throws it over my gate. I said, I know him. His name is Ray. And he said, that's unbelievable. He goes, mine doesn't do that. I said, well, do you talk to your FedEx man? He said, no, I don't know his name. So he said, okay, let's say you. I shouldn't go off anything. Let's say you get it, you read it, you like it, then what do we do? I said, well, then we'll, you know, we'll work it out. He said, but I heard next year you may do a film. This was a year away. He said, you want to direct something? I said, well, I directed one film. I'm not a director. I said. He said, yes, but what would we do? And I said, well, you know, we. We'd work it out, obviously, you know, whatever. I didn't say, you know, forget it. You're first. That's what he wanted me to say. And after talking to him, for two hours. The next day, they called me up and they said, stanley said, you're not available.
- [29:11]
Adam Scott
What?
- [29:11]
John Turturro
Because I wasn't available for two years.
- [29:14]
Ben Stiller
And you really. By the way, you really would have had to been available for two years.
- [29:17]
John Turturro
Yeah, I would have been replaced. Probably a lot of people were replaced. But I wanted to see what that experience of the hundred take thing was that incredible. But so when I was on this show, I kept thinking about that kept coming into my brain. I never really told you I was thinking, like, you know what? This is better anyway. I'm better off being here.
- [29:36]
Ben Stiller
The one decision I ever made that could compare with Stanley Kubrick favorably is that I hired you for this.
- [29:44]
John Turturro
Well, no, I'm telling you, it kept going through my brain because I certainly.
- [29:50]
Ben Stiller
Certainly think he's in all our brains in terms of just his influence on film. And I can't imagine what that's like to have Stanley Kubrick say to you, I wrote a part for you.
- [30:02]
Adam Scott
Yeah, yeah.
- [30:03]
John Turturro
And then he asked me about all the actors. What do you think of this person? What do you think of that person? Of course I'm gonna say, you know, they're good.
- [30:11]
Adam Scott
All the actors. All the actors he was thinking of hiring or that he had all for Eyes Wide Shut.
- [30:16]
John Turturro
Yeah, he had hired. Yeah. He wanted to know about, you know, what I thought about Tom and everything. I was like, he's terrific.
- [30:23]
Ben Stiller
I said, you know, that's amazing. That's an amazing story. Yeah.
- [30:28]
John Turturro
So at least I had that experience. So I forget I'd share that.
- [30:32]
Adam Scott
Incredible. Incredible. Well, I want to ask John, just what is it that you knew about your Audi? Kind of walking in the conversations you and Ben and Dan had about it.
- [30:45]
John Turturro
Dan gave me a whole backstory, and I did a lot of research on that backstory to see, you know, what would be the remnants of that for his inning. Right. And so, you know, I was. I was looking forward to that. But then, you know, once we decided that he had a leather jacket, and then Ben really liked the leather jacket, and then he paints and, well, I figured he. He likes painting and he likes classical music and all that stuff. But when Ben put that song on, I was like, oh, man, this is great. This is like, the secret. Yeah, this is the secret, Irving. You know, who goes to the underground clubs and stuff?
- [31:22]
Ben Stiller
Who knows, right? Yeah, who knows?
- [31:25]
John Turturro
You know, I mean, all of us have surprises.
- [31:28]
Ben Stiller
And that's, you know, that's the funny thing about this show, too, is, like, a lot of it is, like, you know, we don't Say what? The backstory is, obviously, you know, for the audience and. But there's also the influence of a wardrobe choice of, you know. Right. Like, all of a sudden it's like, wait, I was thinking this. Or, you know, here's. And the feeling of what that is, that even though it's all thought out ahead of time and incredibly specific, I feel like these choices in the moment are. Can really affect everything, too. And you have to be open to that, too.
- [32:01]
John Turturro
That's right. Absolutely.
- [32:03]
Adam Scott
And that he has a dog. That's really interesting to me too.
- [32:07]
John Turturro
Yeah. Radar.
- [32:08]
Adam Scott
Radar, yes.
- [32:09]
Ben Stiller
Your Audi likes. Your Audi likes the sound of Radar. We hear that in episode three.
- [32:13]
John Turturro
Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's kind of the man with his dog.
- [32:16]
Ben Stiller
That dog, by the way, his name. Ditto, the actor. And Ditto is also known for being in succession.
- [32:24]
Adam Scott
That's right.
- [32:25]
Ben Stiller
Yeah. We had to work around his availability for the star.
- [32:29]
Adam Scott
Okay, let's get into what the other folks at MDR are up to. Back in Lumen, Heli is scrambling to meet quota. John, did you have any personal theories while we were shooting or otherwise about what the numbers are, what they mean, what they're for?
- [32:45]
John Turturro
I would usually defer to Zach and we'd have these discussions. But Zach, of course, Zach had all the theories of those numbers or was enamored of those. Yes, you know, I had various theories, but obviously, like, in anything. When you're like in a factory, if you're counting and you're trying to get to a certain number, you may not know what that number actually means.
- [33:13]
Adam Scott
Sure.
- [33:14]
John Turturro
You know, so. But I did have. But I would change it because I would talk to Zach and. But I thought there was something important.
- [33:27]
Adam Scott
Sure.
- [33:28]
John Turturro
You know, at least in the state that we were in, that they needed this information, that we were breaking it down. A certain kind of statistic that they needed.
- [33:37]
Ben Stiller
Yeah.
- [33:38]
Adam Scott
You would think it's important.
- [33:39]
John Turturro
I had various scenarios.
- [33:40]
Ben Stiller
Yeah. And then When Heli hits 100%, there's the animated video of Kier Egan comes up, which is sort of like this really kind of rudimentary video screen animation.
- [33:54]
Adam Scott
Like from Apple II era animation. Yeah.
- [33:57]
Ben Stiller
That was Jeff Mann, who came on as a consultant, who designed that, who I worked with as a production designer over the years. Incredibly love, Jeff. Yeah. Very, very talented guy. Because it's actually interesting to me. I love, again, Irving's complete investment when he's watching the congratulatory, silly little video, as if. It's as if you're like meeting the Pope or something. I mean, it's so important.
- [34:26]
Adam Scott
That's this fascinating thing about this moment is that even though we're all kind of banding together to rebel against this place, when this video plays, both Mark and especially Irving get really excited and have all this reverence for this guy.
- [34:42]
Ben Stiller
In this video and. Yeah. Do you want. Should we play that little moment? I knew you could do it. Helly r. Even in your darkest moments, I could see you arriving here. In refining your macro data file, you have probably glory to this company and to me, Keir Egan. I. I love you. But now I must away, for there are others who need me around the world. Goodbye, heli r and thank you.
- [35:20]
Adam Scott
So, Ben, that voice, it sounds familiar.
- [35:24]
John Turturro
Yes. Some guy.
- [35:26]
Ben Stiller
Yeah, well, it's not the real Keir Egan because we hear the real Keegan recording in episode three in Petey's head and in the perpetuity wing. But this is some actor that they hired to do the voice for the congratulatory animated video. Obviously an out of work actor who needed the gig, really needed the work. Probably a guy had a couple callbacks for severance but couldn't get in. Sure.
- [36:01]
John Turturro
That stuff really gets me, man. I don't know what it is. I just listened to it and I'm like, yeah, wow, that just gets me.
- [36:08]
Ben Stiller
But I also love at this point where Irving's arc really is in my mind, where I look at it like a guy who's a true believer, who becomes disillusioned or whatever it is that allows you to make that choice, to be a part of this sort of insurrection, if you will.
- [36:29]
John Turturro
Yeah.
- [36:29]
Adam Scott
But you're right, it's a much tougher armor to pierce with Irving.
- [36:34]
John Turturro
Yeah, I think it's, you know, because, you know, what happens personally to him just sends him, you know.
- [36:39]
Ben Stiller
Yeah.
- [36:40]
John Turturro
This is what happens to people sometimes who believe so much in something and then they. They get really disappointed, you know, I'm really let down. And that was a. That was a challenging thing to do and I enjoyed doing it, but it was. It was challenging.
- [36:58]
Ben Stiller
Yeah. All right, let's take a quick break and we'll get into the waffle party. When we come back. Severing from your work self for your life self is scary. But you know what's even more frightening? Getting severed from your parents insurance policy. State Farm wants to help. State Farm serves you. Not here. Your agent is here to help support you when it's time to get your own policy. With so much to learn about insurance, you may start asking, what do they actually do there? But when you work with a State Farm agent to get off your parents policy Someone is there to help explain the insurance process and help you choose what fits for you. And if things get complicated, State Farm gives you lots of ways to get help too. Whether you prefer in person, over the phone, on state farm.com or through the app, it's your policy. So State Farm has options for the you are it's time to get off your parents insurance and into your own. Find out how State Farm can help@statefarm.com severance that's statefarm.com severance to get started Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.
- [38:16]
Adam Scott
Severance examines the relationship between employers and employees and the concept of separating one's work self from their outside of work self. Our partner, ZipRecruiter connects companies with people who are looking for a job they actually enjoy, not one they just want to forget about at the end of each day. So what if Lumen used ZipRecruiter to connect with potential employees? ZipRecruiter would have to find candidates with very unique skill sets, like grouping numbers into buckets. ZipRecruiter is the hiring site employers prefer the most. Let ZipRecruiter connect you with the right talent for all your roles. Four out of five employers who post on ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate within the first day. No special skills or security badges needed. Just go to ZipRecruiter.com severance to try ZipRecruiter Recruiter for free. Again, that's ZipRecruiter.com S E V E R A N C E ZipRecruiter the smartest way to hire oh such a.
- [39:18]
John Turturro
Clutch off season pickup Dave I was worried we'd bring back the same team.
- [39:22]
Ben Stiller
I meant Those blackout motorized shades lines.com made it crazy affordable to replace our old blinds. Hard to install? No, it's easy. I installed these and then got some from my mom.
- [39:31]
John Turturro
She talked to a design consultant for free and scheduled a professional measure and.
- [39:35]
Ben Stiller
Install hall of Fame son.
- [39:36]
John Turturro
They're the number one online retailer of custom window coverings in the world.
- [39:40]
Adam Scott
Blinds.com is the goat.
- [39:41]
Ben Stiller
Go to blinds.com for 40% off site wide. Blinds.com rules and restrictions may apply.
- [39:49]
Adam Scott
Okay, so it turns out when you meet quota, one person from MDR gets awarded a waffle party. Cobell asks Mark who should get it and Mark suggests Dylan.
- [40:00]
Ben Stiller
I just have to say, Adam, the moment that starts that scene with you and Patricia, the laughing, you're laughing about something that was said right before the scene starts And I remember we did it a few times, but you. There was one where we said, let's just try one where you're like, laugh for way too long and just keep the uncomfortable laughing going with each other. And we used every second of it in the cut. I love that. It's just so uncomfortable and weird and sort of forced kind of camaraderie or whatever it is. And you have your agenda. You know, what you're doing. She's always kind of, like, sussing you out, too. And the two of you are just sort of in your own worlds. But then. Yeah, it's great.
- [40:50]
Adam Scott
Yeah. Watching it back, I had forgotten just how much laughing there was. You skipped in there.
- [40:57]
Ben Stiller
I remember you literally used every single second of it. And it's great. And then she says, yeah, she kind of. You kind of tell her you want Dylan to take the waffle party. Cause that's part of the plan.
- [41:11]
Adam Scott
Yeah. And she's like, you can choose yourself if you want, because it's such a. We're starting to get the idea that the waffle party is a coveted event, and why would you choose someone else to do this? And so. So Mark's covering and just trying to convince her that, you know, Dylan deserves it because he's been working so hard.
- [41:31]
Ben Stiller
And also. That's also one of the phrases, a waffle party, you know, that Dan created along with innie and outie and all those things that feel they're so specific to the show. And I remember when the show finally went out into the world after working on it for a couple years, you know, hearing people talking about a waffle party as some sort of, like, what is a waffle party? And we've been talking about the waffle party earlier in the show. But then I remember thinking, like, okay, what is the waffle party? And Dan and I had conversations about, like, how far do you go with a waffle party and what should that be? It's the ultimate perk, right?
- [42:16]
Adam Scott
Yeah. Oh, it's kind of what everything is leading to.
- [42:21]
Ben Stiller
Yeah. Yeah. And he wants his waffle party. You know, I mean, everybody wants their waffle party. So when we. When we got to that point of having to sort of visualize it and figure out what it was gonna be, you know, I knew that it had to involve an actual waffle. Of course there would be waffle, and then there would be some other element of other, you know, perks that were. You know, it's. Obviously, there's like, some, you know, these dancers come in, and that whole. I Mean, just us figuring out how to choreograph that, how kind of seductive it would be, how risque. What was it insinuating? That was a kind of an inflection point. I remember, because it was almost like one of the first questions we had to answer that we'd put out there in terms of, like, you know, you could just be thinking forever, what is a waffle party? But we had to somehow show it. And I remember being a little bit concerned that, like, people would. Again, would buy it, would feel like, that's okay, you know, Is that too weird? Is it too. Is it inappropriate? I don't know. The whole thing is just so, you know.
- [43:31]
Adam Scott
Well, it does have a real sexual charge to it.
- [43:36]
Ben Stiller
Yeah.
- [43:36]
Adam Scott
It has a very risque kind of overall tone to it. And I always thought of it as you toil away for this whole time, and then you meet quota, so you get this reward. And since the entire place and the entire culture of Lumen is devoid of any affection or anything that is even anywhere near sex or anything, but these are feelings that all of them probably have and don't understand. This is the ultimate reward that they can engage and just sort of let themselves be a part of this. Is that in the realm of what you guys were thinking?
- [44:21]
Ben Stiller
I thought so. I thought that would be part of it. These human instincts that they're sort of deprived of. I mean, that's a big part of the Burt and Irving relationship, I think, too, is the sort of. You know, there's two moments between you when. The first time, when. When you go to OND and Burt sort of touches your hand, and Irving sort of gets a little bit freaked out by it and leaves. And then the second time, when you're back at O and D and you move to touch his hand. And then in the moment in six that Aoife directed so well, between the two of you, when you in the plant room, that energy.
- [45:00]
John Turturro
I think if you're starved for any kind of connection and these things, rituals take on a stronger resonance. And obviously, other people do, too. And that's what happens when you deny someone, whatever state they're in.
- [45:22]
Ben Stiller
A prison story, too. Same thing.
- [45:26]
Adam Scott
It's also interesting that there's a sexual charge to the dance, but the dance also has a dangerous feeling to it. So it's almost like, be careful. Here you go. But you need to move with caution as well.
- [45:42]
Ben Stiller
Yeah. So these dancers, we tried to figure out how to visualize this thing, and we work with a great choreographer named Taro Rodriguez, who really came up with this very unique dance that sort of embodied all the weirdness that we were looking for.
- [46:00]
Adam Scott
And the masks. Do you want to talk about the masks that they're wearing, Ben?
- [46:04]
Ben Stiller
I guess we could. I mean.
- [46:06]
Adam Scott
Or should we not?
- [46:07]
Ben Stiller
They're so weird. And so I know I hadn't watched 8 for a while when I watched it for this. And for a second I had forgotten that Dylan had the Keir Egan mask waiting for him on the bed, which just not having watched it for a couple years, we really went for it in terms of just the weirdness of this whole whatever this ritual was going to be that he ends up walking out on. But the masks were made by this artist that we work with on the show named Planko Patakanov, who is just incredibly talented. And I remember we were shooting. John, I'm sure you remember this location. We shot the Keir Egan replica house in a real old Victorian house in Yonkers, New York, that is part of the Hudson River Museum. And we shot there. We shot everything we were gonna shoot there for the whole series. So, you know, the first, I guess, episode three, all those scenes we shot there in the same couple of days that we shot for episode eight. And we didn't get to. And I think you probably had gone home by that point, John. But it was the last night we were there, and I think it was like 1 or 2 o'clock in the morning that we finally got to shooting the Waffle Party dance. And the dancers had been waiting all day. And we were at the very end of our schedule and we had to get it done. I remember we only had a few takes to get it done. And those dancers came in and they nailed it. They were so good and they were so prepared. And it was really that energy of like, okay, we gotta get this, and you know, they're gonna kick us out of here in half an hour. And it was really, really exciting and fun.
- [47:56]
Adam Scott
Yeah, I was wrapped and I came. I stayed to watch the Waffle Party. And it was incredible. They were so on point. It was really impressive.
- [48:06]
Ben Stiller
Yeah, I think they were gonna kick us out of there. Cause the Gilded Age was shooting there the next day or something.
- [48:10]
Adam Scott
Is that right?
- [48:11]
John Turturro
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I saw a rehearsal of it.
- [48:15]
Ben Stiller
Wow. Anyway, that was a really fun, weird scene. And watching it, having not watched it for a while, I was like, oh, yeah, this is weird and a little bit out there.
- [48:24]
Adam Scott
Should we talk about the egg party?
- [48:26]
Ben Stiller
Yes. I mean, this is basically the celebration for reaching 100%. And Dylan is gonna go get his Waffle party. But they have a pre waffle party, egg mixer, social type thing. And what always makes me laugh about this every time I watch it is that the party consists of the same four people who've just been working together. It's just they change the lights, they put on some kind of tiki music, and it's just the four of you having to hang out with each other. And yet it is kind of like a party because you split off into groups, but now with eggs, and I am not an egg person. Do you like eggs, John?
- [49:14]
John Turturro
I do, but I don't like to, you know, hold them in my hand.
- [49:18]
Ben Stiller
But they came in.
- [49:19]
John Turturro
But I like to, like, make different, you know, omelets and things like that.
- [49:23]
Ben Stiller
Kat Miller, our props master, she came in with a food stylist and created these crazy different egg concoctions. This, like, giant deviled egg within an egg.
- [49:34]
John Turturro
Yeah.
- [49:34]
Ben Stiller
Scotch eggs. Yeah. Oh, my God.
- [49:37]
Adam Scott
I like deviled eggs.
- [49:39]
Ben Stiller
Ah, well, that worked for you for the scene, because I. I was staying as far away as possible during shooting. Yeah.
- [49:44]
John Turturro
You.
- [49:45]
Adam Scott
You really don't like eggs.
- [49:47]
Ben Stiller
I have no problem. And Christine will make fun of me. I have no problem with eggs in something I eat. It's just the actual. I don't want to eat an egg on its own. Okay. Like, you can put it in a cake batter or whatever. I'm not, you know, I'm not vegan. I just don't like the actual egg situation. But that party is like, everybody starts kind of going off into groups, which is basically Helly and Dylan are talking, and then Irving kind of goes over to the Keir Egan portrait, and you have this kind of. How would you describe it? It's sort of a private moment where you.
- [50:22]
John Turturro
It's like a reverse prayer, you know, it's almost like what you normally go, like to pray or something, you know, and then. And I guess I put the egg inside of my. The manual, the book where all the laws are, the Bible of Lumen, and then crush it. I remember I was holding that egg for a long time. You know, it's part of his sort of rebellion.
- [50:46]
Ben Stiller
Yeah, yeah. And that's a turning point for Irving. And I mean, I guess we had the turning point earlier in Seven where Irving says, let's burn this place to the ground. But this is sort of, you know, the next nail in the coffin where almost directly to Keir Egan's face, you sort of defy him and. Yeah, yeah.
- [51:05]
John Turturro
I mean, Keir Egan, I mean, the actor you cast is. That's genius.
- [51:10]
Ben Stiller
He's great.
- [51:11]
John Turturro
I mean, I'm in the show and I saw it, I was like, oh, my God, no wonder I was a believer. You know what I mean?
- [51:18]
Ben Stiller
He's amazing. His name is Mark Geller. Yeah, Mark Geller. And he's so much a part of the show and so committed to the show and he's just great. But yeah, the waffle party pre waffle party egg social is also where Mark and Helly kind of connect with each other and have sort of a final check in before the plan goes into action.
- [51:41]
Adam Scott
Yeah, it's kind of the first time we let each other know that we have feelings for each other.
- [51:46]
Ben Stiller
And this is sort of where everybody sort of does the gut check and says, all right, let's, let's, let's go. And sort of. All systems go. And are we all still up for this? Let's take a listen to that.
- [51:59]
Adam Scott
Now, look, it's likely we'll all wake up around people could be driving or skiing, whatever we do up there. So be ready for anything as you go up the elevator, okay? The important thing is you find someone it seems you can trust and you tell them everything.
- [52:15]
Ben Stiller
We don't know how long Dylan will be able to give us, so we can't get distracted digging into our lives.
- [52:19]
John Turturro
Right. The mission is the priority.
- [52:28]
Adam Scott
I probably should have told you guys, but I. I kept this and the. There was a part of it that.
- [52:44]
John Turturro
Well.
- [52:51]
Adam Scott
Our job is to taste free air. Your so called boss may own the clock that taunts you from the wall, but my friends, the hour is yours.
- [53:10]
John Turturro
Page 197 slaps.
- [53:14]
Adam Scott
It's so much fun watching Irving now on the other side of this big betrayal, have such a shift in tone from those 107 scenes in the closet when he was so just sort of appalled by these, you know, burgeoning plans and feelings that everyone was having about Lumen. So what happens next, Ben?
- [53:34]
Ben Stiller
So basically everybody goes, you go to the elevator, you say what could be your goodbye to the group, which is, let's find out what's for dinner. Which is sort of. I always thought that was kind of Irving's catchphrase. Right?
- [53:47]
John Turturro
Yeah. What's for dinner? What's for dinner?
- [53:51]
Ben Stiller
And that scene in the first episode was really one of my favorite scenes. When I read that, that made me want to do the show too. Was that whole interchange about breaking down, what that meant when Irving says, hey, kids, what's for dinner? Because it means you're the worst dad in the world. If you're asking your kids what's for dinner? Anyway, it was so funny to me. So you all kind of go up, and then, you know, Dylan is left in the control room, security room, and has to figure out how to basically, you know, turn these two knobs that are going to activate the overtime contingency. And it's very, very tense, and we build up to it, and then the episode ends right when he hits the switch, and we don't know what's gonna happen.
- [54:35]
Adam Scott
Yeah, it's the cliffhanger before the cliffhanger. At one point, Ben, I think I remember you mentioning, like, is this cliffhanger gonna be too suspenseful for us to then follow it with one? The next one needs to be trying to balance it.
- [54:53]
Ben Stiller
Yes. I remember when we edited the episode, I was like, oh, this is a cliffhanger. I hope the next cliff cliffhanger tops that cliffhanger, because this is like a real cliffhanger. And then, of course, nobody ever really talked about the episode 8 cliffhanger because they felt the episode 9 cliffhanger was the real cliffhanger.
- [55:09]
John Turturro
Yeah, but it's embedded in it.
- [55:11]
Ben Stiller
Yes, for sure. For sure. And it's also like, I feel like that sort of, like, basic idea when you do a television show, too, is like you want people to want to watch the next episode. You want to keep the story engaging.
- [55:21]
Adam Scott
Hey, John, I just wanted to ask you. You know, Irving and Dylan have such a fun rapport and relationship. I just want to ask you about working with Zach real quick.
- [55:32]
John Turturro
I have to say, Zach is a big surprise. I said this to Ben, too, and I know we're not supposed to talk about season two, whatever, but to see Zach sort of blossom, you know, at first I thought, well, he's this really funny guy. And then he has all this other dimension to him as an actor and Dylan as a character. And one of my favorite things is, you know, when he explodes and he bites milchick. I don't know why, but it makes me laugh so much because it's a rebellion, you know, But I really think Zach is, like, a special guy. It's hard not to kind of, you know, really, really want to put your arms around him, you know, And I think his character is really interesting, you know, where he's going and that. That Ben gave him this opportunity. I mean, I think there are directors who do that. They see people and they. And they put them there, you know, and the same thing, you know, with Britt. And I think Ben has a great eye for that. And I have to say, I was really, you know, impressed in. He surprised me in a lot of different ways. Pleasantly, you know, and I think he's gonna, you know, he's terrific.
- [56:46]
Ben Stiller
First of all, I think as actors, we all have that thing where there's a director who, you know, is willing to give you a shot in some way. But I wasn't giving Zach a shot because he's like, incredibly accomplished actor, comedic actor. But he, you know, we've talked about it. He didn't really have material like this that he'd worked on before. But the fun thing for me was knowing who Zach is and knowing who you are. Like, I'm just like, okay, Zack Cherry, he's gonna be sitting next to John Turturro. What's gonna happen here? Cause he's, you know, and I think over the course of the eight or nine months of shooting, a lot of great stuff happened there that I never in a million years would have imagined. Love the relationship between you two.
- [57:27]
John Turturro
It's just. It's a pleasure, really.
- [57:31]
Adam Scott
And that brings us to the end of episode eight of the Severance podcast with Ben and Adam. What's for dinner, John?
- [57:38]
Ben Stiller
Thanks, man. Man, this was.
- [57:40]
Adam Scott
Yeah.
- [57:40]
John Turturro
Well, thank you. Thank. That was. That was so much fun talking to.
- [57:44]
Ben Stiller
You about this stuff. And next one, we'll talk about the Knicks and we'll see where. Where we are at that point. Okay.
- [57:53]
Adam Scott
The Severance podcast with Ben Stiller and Adam Scott is a presentation of Odyssey, Pineapple Street Studios, Red Hour Productions, and Great Scott Productions.
- [58:03]
Ben Stiller
If you like the show, be sure to rate, rate and review this podcast on Apple Podcasts, the Odyssey app, or your other podcast platform of choice. Our executive producers are Bari Finkel, Henry Malofsky, Jenna Weiss Berman, and Leah Rees 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 Davy Sumner.
- [58:26]
Adam Scott
Show clips are courtesy of fifth season music by Theo Shapiro. Special thanks to the team at Odyssey, Maura Curran, Eric Donnelly, Michael Lavey, Melissa Wester, Matt Casey, Kate Rose, Kurt Courtney and Hilary Schuff.
- [58:43]
Ben Stiller
And the team at Red, John Lesher, Carolina Pesakov, Gian Pablo Antonetti, Martin Valderruten, Ashwin Ramesh, Maria Noto, John Baker and Oliver Agar.
- [58:54]
Adam Scott
And at Great Scott, Kevin Cotter, Josh Martin, and Christy Smith. At Rise Management, we also had additional.
- [59:01]
Ben Stiller
Production help from Gabrielle Lewis, Ben Goldberg, Stephen Key, Kristin Torres, Emmanuel Hapsis, Marielexa Cabanaugh, and Melissa Slaughter.
- [59:10]
Adam Scott
I'm Adam Scott. I'm Ben Stiller and we will see you next time.
- [59:24]
Ben Stiller
Hey, Adam.
- [59:25]
Adam Scott
Yeah?
- [59:25]
Ben Stiller
Is your experience at work a bit dysfunctional lately?
- [59:28]
Adam Scott
I don't know. I think it's. It's okay.
- [59:31]
Ben Stiller
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.
- [59:43]
Adam Scott
Oh, my God. Well, if it's a choice between those two things, I think I would. Would 100% choose confluence by Atlassian.
- [59:51]
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 5.22% average boost in productivity in one year.
- [60:16]
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.
- [60:25]
Ben Stiller
I mean, I'm not great at math, but that sounds very close.
- [60:28]
Adam Scott
Well, I'm doing the math in my head right now as we speak, and I think that's great.
- [60:32]
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@atlassian.com confluence that's a T L a S S I-a n.com C o n F L U E N C E.