Innies and outies, rejoice! AppleTV+’s Severance is finally back for a second season. The show follows co-workers at a mysterious, cult-like company who volunteer for a procedure that separates their work life and their home life: While at work, they have no memory of their home life and vice versa. The first season ended with a massive cliff-hanger, and fans have been pondering theories ever since.
Britt Lower, who plays Helly, and John Turturro, who plays Irving, say in the three years the show’s been gone, they’ve been asked for spoilers many times.
“I think there’s that moment that we’ve all experienced of someone wanting to know and then saying immediately, ‘But don’t tell me anything!'” Lower tells ABC Audio. “And I think people want to be on the journey of mystery.”
“Right? That’s part of the fun for the audience,” Turturro adds. “They really are participating that way — the longer it goes on, the better it is.”
Patricia Arquette, who plays seemingly evil manager Harmony Cobel, says she simply channels her character when people press her for details.
“It’s funny, I don’t really carry around characters very much, but when people ask me, a little inner Cobel comes out,” she says. “I really want to lie to them. I want to throw them off of the scent.”
Christopher Walken, who plays Turturro’s romantic interest, Burt, likes that Severance‘s multiple mysteries mean the “audience is always catching up.” He tells ABC Audio, “It’s the element of surprise, which in show business is very valuable.”
In addition to being mysterious, Walken says Severance is “a little bit funny” and “a little bit scary, which is always a good combination.” He also likes the fact that as “somebody who plays all these unsavory characters,” he gets to play “a good guy and a love interest,” noting, “I don’t get a lot of that.”
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