Severance star Adam Scott on grief, memory and the office thriller’s return
From here, things only get weirder as the innies plan revolt, workplace politics get extremely culty and the office party descends into a funky psychedelic dance party.
So while it may seem television is in a race to the bottom and that society and culture are dumbing down, the critical and audience response to a whip-smart show like Severance comprehensively proves otherwise.
“I agree,” Scott nods. “I think audiences are incredibly smart and are thirsting for content that gives them credit, that hands them something to chew on, exercises their intellect and challenges them emotionally. When we made the first season, we had no idea how it would be received. The marketplace is so stuffed with new shows and content of all shapes and sizes you just don’t know if something’s going to resonate or not. We really had no clue if anyone would blink an eye towards it. I’m still in a constant state of relief that it connected. It’s wild.”
Scott is affable and relaxed and every bit the likeable fellow he’s made a career out of playing on the morning I chat to him. After I introduce myself as being from Aotearoa, he instantly asks which part.
“I spent a couple of months in Wellington,” he says, recalling his time living in the capital while filming the festive comedy-horror flick Krampus back in 2015. “It was beautiful. I loved it.”
His time here is clearly a warm memory for the actor. This is in direct contrast to one of the main themes of Severance, which is the denial of memory and the impact that blanking out a large segment of your life has on your sense of self and your self-identity.
“Those are the ingredients that make up a person,” he says. “They allow you to examine your life and draw conclusions about who you are, who you are in the world and how you fit into the world. To hand those reins over to someone else, even if it’s just eight hours a day, that’s giving up a lot of your life. For me, I always felt that you would need to be in quite a lot of pain to agree to a procedure like this.”
For Scott’s character Mark, the sudden death of his wife in a car accident and the unbearable grief that followed is why he applied at Lumon. It offered him eight hours away from his pain and, in its own way, eight hours of unburdened life. But of course, denying himself a proper grieving process only ends up prolonging his suffering. Processing grief is a crucial part of making a person themselves.
“100%,” Scott agrees. “To move on in your life, you need to feel it. It’s an important ingredient. Mark’s denying himself that.”
He considers for a second and then says, “I think there’s a certain comfort he takes in his grief. I don’t think he wants to give it up. He wants to keep it. All he has left of her are his broken feelings about her. Giving up 40 hours a week where he could be processing and grieving, is keeping him stuck in one spot for sure. It’s not at all healthy.”
Obviously, there are memories we’d all like to blank out. To err is human, after all. Everybody is sitting with memories of excruciating cringe, ill-advised haircuts and outfits or things blurted out that can never be taken back. But Scott says that while moments like these aren’t as cataclysmic as losing a loved one, they are still crucial in making you, well, you.
“Even deeply embarrassing memories are incredibly important. I have plenty of those memories where I think of an event and start sweating because it’s so embarrassing,” he confesses. “But those are important to have.”
If the Severance tech actually existed, are there any he’d like to forget?
He shakes his head and says, “I don’t think there’s anything I would want to erase, no matter how painful or embarrassing. It’s important to still be able to feel those things.”
Severance hypothesises an extreme management of work/life balance. As a famous and recognisable actor, I wonder if Scott finds that work/life divide hard to balance. Not so much on-set, but rather when he’s out in the world, living his day-to-day life. I ask if he’s managed to find a way to navigate the separation of being Adam Scott in public and private.
“I don’t think of it as work if I’m just out in the world and someone wants to chat about Severance or Parks and Rec or whatever it might be,” he says. “People are always kind and it’s nice of someone to say something kind so it’s never a burden. But I do understand that I’m extremely lucky that I get to do something that I’m fascinated by and interested in. I would still be doing it if I wasn’t being paid for it. I would find a way to be making stuff and acting in one way or the other.”
Unlike his character who has severed the connection between his work and personal selves, Scott’s work and life are intricately connected. There is no balance, it is all one. It’s his life.
“I don’t really have any hobbies,” he says. “My hobby, I guess, is work and I love doing it. So my work/life balance is skewed all over the place.”
Then Scott grins and says, “It might not be healthy, but it is what it is and I’m perfectly happy with it.”
THE LOWDOWN
Who: Adam Scott.
What: The new season of the mindbending TV series Severance.
Where: Streaming now on Apple TV+. New episodes weekly.