In Severance Season 2, Tramell Tillman is giving a career-great performance as Seth Milchick, Lumon’s newest Severed Floor manager. Despite the actor’s incredible talent and professionalism, however, even he “almost lost it” while filming one of the biggest scenes in Season 2, Episode 4, “Woe’s Hollow.”
In a massive departure from Severance‘s typical in-office scenes, “Woe’s Hollow” let the Macrodata Refinement team’s innies go out-fucking-side! Written by Anna Ouyang Moench and directed by Ben Stiller, the episode saw Milchick and his right-hand gal Miss Huang (Sarah Bock) organize a two-day Outdoor Retreat Team Building Experience (ORTBO) for Mark (Adam Scott), Helly (Britt Lower), Dylan (Zach Cherry), and Irving (John Turturro). After the group spent the day exploring Woe’s Hollow — the place where Lumon’s founder, Kier Eagan, is said to have tamed the four tempers — Milchick gathered the team around a campfire and read aloud from Kier’s twisted fourth appendix, which suggested the founder killed his twin brother Dieter because he masturbated. Yikes!
From the pile of Kier marshmallows sizzling away in the fire to characters gradually losing composure to laugh at the absurdity of Milchick’s words, Tillman admits he nearly burst out laughing himself while filming the crucial campfire scene.
“There was one time that I almost lost it. And that was during the campfire scene,” Tillman told Decider when he visited our studio back in January. “It’s just so weird. And just out there. And Helly’s laughing, and Mark’s laughing, and then I look over and Dylan starts laughing, and then he looks over and he stops laughing. It’s just this whole — in typical form, Milchick has set up this beautiful idea, and it all falls apart. And you’re watching him watch it fall apart and him trying to grasp for control. It’s just hilarious.”
Despite his near case of the giggles, Tillman summoned his strength and kept a straight face long enough to nail the sequence, just as he did when shooting Mark’s comical “kind eyes” scene with Adam Scott in Season 1. Aside from the extra challenges he faced while trying to keep a straight face, Tillman absolutely adored getting the shake up the series with the special Minnewaska State Park location shoot.
“We get to go outside!” the Severance star exclaimed. “It is so fun to be able to travel. It was like a big field trip. And we had the best crew to ensure that we were safe, that we were warm, that we had everything that we needed at our disposal. And I have to give credit to our cinematographer, Jessica Lee Gagné, who was incredible in creating these shots. I mean, every shot of this outside experience, it’s like art. It’s fascinating.”
The cast’s stunning wardrobe also help make the episode so eye-catching. While the MDR team is dressed in all black, Milchick dazzles in a gorgeous snow-white fit, which Tillman played a role in selecting.
“It’s funny about that, because Ben had this idea of creating this world where Milchick had more of, like, a ski outfit. But I thought it would be more interesting for him to tie in with the more historical aspect of Kier of that time,” Tillman explained. “He wants to create this experience for them as well. Like, these are the footsteps that Kier Eagan has walked. So let’s embody it fully. So this kind of 18th century, 17th century garb was really quite fun to really embody and live in, with Milchick having his own spin on it.”
Though Tillman agrees with his fellow cast-mates that filming the ambitious episode was “freezing,” he loved getting to see Milchick’s creativity flourish outside of the usual office setting — even though his elaborate ideas ultimately blew up in his face.
“Story wise, it’s so cool that Milchick created this world for the innies. Everything from the last detail — like the seal that’s rotting in the forest — it’s so smart, and so mischievous of him as well,” Tillman told Decider. “The way I see it is that Milchick knew the innies desperately wanted to be outside. So it’s kind of like how a parent to a child is like, ‘You want to go outside? OK. Let me take you outside. This is what’s outside.’ It’s to create this image of ‘It’s safer indoors with us.’ Unfortunately, it doesn’t go well. There’s a hitch at the end of the [episode], which is a real page-turner for me. And it really sets the season on a whole other level.”
Craving more “Woe’s Hollow” insights? Be sure to read Decider’s in-depth Season 2, Episode 4 recap and the rest of our Severance coverage here.
New episodes of Severance Season 2 premiere Fridays on Apple TV+.
