‘Oh my god, I’m gonna get fired’: Inside the epic Severance finale with its Australian star

Severance has just wrapped its second season with an epic, 76-minute finale that will have fans obsessing over every detail for weeks to come.

Featuring a big band, a revolt, a romantic rendezvous and Gwendoline Christie going full Brienne of Tarth over some goats, the episode was a manic crescendo to the tensions that have been simmering since this strange show hit our screens in 2022. But is it a happy ending?

Deputy TV editor Meg Watson goes behind the scenes with Dichen Lachman, the Australian actor who plays Gemma.

MW: We finish this season with Gemma – having just been rescued from the testing floor – screaming for her husband, as Mark’s innie chooses the woman he loves. How do you feel about where Gemma ended up?

DL: That moment is so intense. I just keep feeling for the fans. I’m like, “Oh my gosh, they’re gonna be so torn!” As a fan myself, I’ve fallen in love with all of these characters in one way or another, and I don’t know how I want it to end.

I love the ambiguity of it: there’s no clear right or wrong decision for Mark or even any clarity about what his choice will mean for him and Helly. It must be so bewildering for Gemma, though.

Oh my god. For her, it’s unbelievable. I mean, can you imagine the husband and wife argument afterwards if they ever get out of that situation?

Britt Lower in the season two finale of Severance.Credit: Apple TV+

There’s this moment where her eyes land squarely on Helly and her expression drops. Does she recognise her as Helena? What’s going through her mind?

I don’t know what the writers have in mind but, for me personally, the choice I made was, “Oh, that’s not Mark. It’s someone else”. Gemma is having that sinking realisation that they’re all trapped in their own minds. You know, it’s that card in episode seven and also the one that Dylan steals from O&D: she sees a man fighting himself.

A card featured in “Chikhai Bardo”, the seventh episode of Severance’s second season.Credit: Apple TV+

On some level, you want all the different consciousnesses to kind of know about each other. You want to believe that you can’t completely separate yourself to such a degree.

The music cue, The Windmills of Your Mind, speaks to that, too. The lyrics (about “half-remembered names and faces” etc) are obviously so fitting, but the song is also an allusion to The Thomas Crown Affair with Faye Dunaway and Steve McQueen – a cat-and-mouse romance that echoes Helly/Helena and Mark’s relationship. Did you know that would be the soundtrack when filming the scene?

No, I didn’t. But this show … I mean, it’s almost not TV. To me, it feels like cinema. The way that people approach making this, it’s filmmaking. The quality and the talent involved in every single department is extraordinary – hair and make-up, production design, set decoration, props, production design, the music, the camera department. It goes on and on. Hundreds of dedicated, talented people. It’s like a very long movie, in a way. Not to be disparaging, but I feel like the filmmaking in Severance almost tops some of the top movies out there in terms of the talent involved.

Ben Stiller, who directed the episode, is amazing to work with. He’s just extraordinary. And he’s extraordinary at picking really amazing people, and giving people the space to let their talent shine. I feel like I got really lucky.

Your rescue scene must have been such a complex sequence to shoot. Can you tell me about the filming process?

That day was just really intense. Not only was it such a big emotional moment but, technically, it was probably the hardest thing I’ve had to do on the show. I had to do a lot of zolly transitions [which creates the distortion effect you see when people transition to their severed selves] that were unlike the others. Most people are standing still when the camera is moving, when they transition from innie to outie, which is easier because you need to be right in the centre all the way through the shot. But I had to travel much further, taking lots of steps – and when you’re walking, obviously you become shorter and taller with each movement.

Dichen Lachman in Severance.Credit: Apple TV+

I just kept thinking, “Oh, my god, I’m gonna get fired”. It was so hard! I’m good at technical stuff. But it was just so difficult in terms of hitting your mark and trying to stay the same height all the way through the shot, while also going through all that emotion when you come out of it – from Gemma to Ms Casey to Gemma again. It was like acting gymnastics.

What did you know about Severance going into the show? I can’t imagine they advertised the role as a corporate wellness director/kidnapped Russian literature professor, with 24 other hidden identities.

I literally knew nothing. The notes for the character were so ambiguous, and when I got the material to read for the part, I was like, “What is this?” I had absolutely no context and no idea why she was saying these things. It made no sense to me. That kind of thing happens a lot in our business though, especially with things that are at a high level.

It wasn’t until I got further down the road and Ben wanted to meet me on Skype that I found out. I grew up watching his movies, and I was absolutely … I don’t know if I should swear, but I was very nervous. Then it was a very long time between that moment and getting the scripts. I received all the scripts at once, while I was isolating in the hotel bubble for Jurassic World Dominion, and I couldn’t put it down. I stayed up all night finishing the show. It just captivated me on a level that nothing else ever has.

Dichen Lachman as Ms Casey in Severance. Credit: Apple TV+

I was wondering at what point that kind of information is revealed to you! I could imagine another director choosing not to tell you the season one reveal, so you fully play Ms Casey as the innie, not knowing anything at all.

Right? Exactly. Essentially, if the technology works, she doesn’t know anything. But as a performer, it was helpful for me to know.

Were you just as clued in for the twists of season two?

This season was a little bit more like a normal TV show where the scripts come out as you’re filming. But I think that the creative team is very good about only telling you, the actor, what they think you need to know.

Sometimes people ask, “Oh, what do you think is going on at Lumon?” I’m like, “Well, I have my own fan theories. I actually don’t know the answer!”

Jame Eagan (Michael Siberry) watches the chaos unfold. Credit: Apple TV+

The obsession with the mystery in this show is something we haven’t really seen since Lost. There are endless theories about how and why Gemma was taken by Lumon (The Twilight Zone references of episode nine have some people thinking she’s not human at all), what the completion of Cold Harbor would actually achieve for the company, and the true size of the Eagan dynasty (is Ricken a secret Eagan?) But the ending doesn’t give us more closure on any of this, instead focusing on the relationships. Do you think Severance is really about the mystery? What do you think is at the heart of the show?

At the heart of every good show that people really respond to and invest this amount of their time in is just the humanity. It’s really just about being human, you know? Those feelings of wanting to not experience something unpleasant, not wanting to deal with things, shutting down. Also, the larger themes about our society, in terms of corporate culture, or just the rules we all decide to believe in – the construct of our little societies. There’s so much commentary about our world and also those really human elements. I think that’s what really gets people inspired, and also because it’s so beautifully executed.

Let’s do one nerdy question … There’s a lot of discussion on Reddit about the possible meanings behind the testing floor room names – from Wellington to Allentown to Cold Harbor. But there’s also one called Adelaide, your hometown. Is that a shoutout to you?

Oh my gosh, I was thinking that when I was on the set! I meant to ask the writer, Dan Erickson, if he did that on purpose and I never got around to it. I’m so glad you noticed, though. That’s awesome. You know, so much effort and time from so many people that no one will ever hear of went into this show. The fact that you and other people are so invested, it just makes everyone feel like all that work was absolutely worth it.

Severance is now streaming on Apple TV+.

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