Did the ‘Severance’ Hallways Confuse You? Patricia Arquette Agrees
Ben Stiller’s Severance has been a breakout hit on Apple TV+. Based on the Philip K. Dick sci-fi story Paycheck, the dystopian thriller series stars Adam Scott, Britt Lower, Patricia Arquette, John Turturro, Christopher Walken, and Tramell Tillman.
Season 1 features nine episodes illuminating the bleak careers of Lumon Industries employees. Characters have their memories severed so they can’t cross the streams of their working and nonworking selves (Innies and Outies, respectively).
One of Severance‘s major characters is the Lumon Industries building itself, where Mark Scout (Scott) and his co-workers foster the gains of their Optics and Design department. The maze of similar, sometimes claustrophobic hallways and rooms were practical sets built in Brooklyn.
Arquette, who plays Mark’s supervisor, recently shared some interesting stories from her time filming Season 1.
The set of ‘Severance’ was a confusing mass of hallways
At San Diego Comic-Con, Stiller, who directed six episodes of the Emmy-nominated thriller, said the design choice was intentional and deliberately confusing.
Stiller explained, according to SlashFilm, “We also always wanted it to feel a little bit confusing … We were able to do these long walks through the hallways … I know some people say, wow, that’s a lot of hallways in that show. That, to me, was part of the fun of it. You could just completely get lost in the halls on the set.”
It certainly left fans bewildered and wondering what was going on, much like the characters in the show. The confusing mess of hallways simply adds to the actors’ realistic reactions, making the show more believable, palpable, and scary.
Patricia Arquette had to resort to strange tactics on the ‘Severance’ set
Harmony Cobel, Arquette’s mid-level manager character, often feels adrift and lost in Season 1 of Severance. This was true to life on the set, too.
According to Vanity Fair, the Escape at Dannemora actress said, “I’d be on this set, going down these weird maze halls, getting lost. They’d change the doorways and openings overnight.”
Because of this, Arquette had to resort to tactics that weren’t normal when she got lost. She told EW, “The layers that went into this world, I can’t even really explain to you … We’d be in there like a rat in a maze, like, ‘I’m on set, I can’t find you guys!’”
She explained that they filmed during COVID-19 lockdowns. It drove her “insane” because she’d be in this claustrophobic space at work, only to come home to be isolated due to real-world events. Life imitating art, perhaps?
All these circumstances on- and off-set did helped the cast shine even brighter during a show that garnered critical and popular acclaim.
What’s to come for Emmy-nominated ‘Severance’
The season 1 finale has several surprise twists for the main characters. They discover that the lives of their Outies are not what they think they are (a la The Matrix).
Season 2 has been greenlit. Showrunner and creator Dan Erickson plans a 10-episode second season, so fans can explore the aftermath of the build-up in season 1.
Fans and critics can’t wait. The show has earned a whopping 13 Primetime Emmy Award nominations for 2022. We can’t wait to see what’s down the next corridor at Lumon Industries.
