Editor’s note: The below interview contains spoilers for Severance Season 2 Episode 9.It’s hard to believe that we’re less than a week out from the finale ofSeveranceSeason 2. So many questions have been answered, but they’ve also opened the door to even more mysteries that still remain unsolved. Chances are we won’t have all the answers by Season 2’s final episode, but there are some certainties when it comes toApple TV+’s most-viewed show ever, and that is the fact that Mark Scout’s (Adam Scott) sister Devon (Jen Tullock), as well as her husband Ricken (Michael Chernus), are often a bright spot of humor (and, in the case of Devon, a much-needed case of tough love) in a show that can otherwise feel dark sometimes. While the two characters' storylines primarily existed outside Lumon last season, they’ve now become even more entangled with the mysterious company. Devon takes a more active role in helping Mark investigate the whereabouts of his no-longer-dead wife, Gemma (Dichen Lachman), while Ricken finds himself being wooed by Lumon to write a new, only-for-innies version ofhis bookThe You You Are.
Now, with a supersized season finale headed our way next week, there’s no telling what the episode has in store — but the penultimate installment is already setting up a new alliance to potentially take down Lumon thanks to Mark and Devon joining forces with former severed floor manager Harmony Cobel (Patricia Arquette). Ahead of the premiere of “The After Hours,” Collider had the opportunity to speak with Tullock about her character’s most significant moments in the episode. Over the course of the interview, which you’re able to read below, Tullock defends Devon’s decision to reach out to Cobel and reveals why the final scene of Episode 9 hit her so hard. She also discusses the joys of working with both Michael Chernus and Adam Scott, teases what fans can expect from the Season 2 finale, and more.
Collider: Every time I see Devon and Ricken on-screen together, I know I’m in for a good time. What do you enjoy most about working with Michael Chernus — especially because your characters are the ones kind of bringing a bit of welcome comic relief to the show?
JEN TULLOCK: He is such a joy to work with. That guy can truly do anything, and the fact that he is able to bring so much insecurity and humanity to that character while also juggling the absurdity of that character is very impressive to me. And he’s a wonderful friend that I love in real life, so it’s easy to play off of each other. For the longest time, he and I felt like we were beaming in from outer space a bit because we only exist on the outside — outside of Lumon, that is — and because of that,we developed a connection that was helpful in playing a couple. I love that we’re on a show that, though it is meticulous and so carefully crafted, also gives us a little room to play and improvise, so that’s always fun.
Speaking of improvisation, I readin another interviewthat you improvised the line about Devon finding Senator Arteta’s wife hot.
TULLOCK: I did. That’s my recollection. I’m pretty sure in my defense, lest I sound like an absolutely unprofessional actor, [creator] Dan Erickson and I had discussed many moons ago the fact thatDevon had probably dated people of all genders before she met Rickenand probably went to a bar in Oberlin and had a really good time and played rugby and backpacked and ultimately decided that Ricken was the best long-term partner for her. But I had that dramaturgical nugget in the back of my mind at all times, and I don’t know why, in that moment, it popped out. I think it’s because the actress who plays Gabby is such an angel in real life that it was impossible not to have a crush on her. So I was surprised but delighted that they kept it in.
Jen Tullock Explains the Intricacies of Devon and Ricken’s Relationship in ‘Severance’
Sometimes, I do see viewers wondering, “HowdidDevon and Ricken get together?” They do seem like polar opposites in a lot of ways, but they balance each other at the same time. Did you and Dan talk, or did you and Michael ever theorize, about how these two coupled up? We do see a bit of their history in the Gemma flashback episode, where they’re talking about going rock climbing, and Ricken’s bragging about belaying.
TULLOCK: Yes. His first couloir.I was excited that we got to have that scene for so many reasons. It was meaningful and really special and emotional to get to film that with Dichen [Lachman], who I love so much in real life. Having built that backstory without ever interacting, it was like, “Oh, my God. We can finally hug, we can finally smile. Frankly, we can finally wear makeup.” It was so nice in the flashback to see them when they were all feeling a little bit more bright and bushy-tailed.
With the Devon and Ricken of it all, I think it’s important to remember thatwe’re meeting them at a very specific moment in time. If I were to line up every romantic relationship I’ve been in and look at them top to toe, no two days would have looked the same. And I think that in the wake of Gemma’s death and the grief that they’ve all experienced for themselves, but also the grief that Devon is experiencing via Mark, it has created a fissure in her marriage — for both of them, not just for Devon, for Ricken too. My understanding is that some of that insecurity in Ricken has been amplified by the fraying of this family group.
Even before that,they did have a symbiotic relationship. Devon sort of tethers Ricken to the ground a bit, but he also helps elevate her and reminds her to fake it till you make it. She probably had a wild and adventurous time through her twenties, and by the time she met Ricken, she was like, “I know I want a partner who tells me exactly who they are, I know I want a partner who will be a good parent, and I know that I want a partner who will let me be myself.” And Ricken ticks all those boxes. So, though he is verbose and easy to poke fun at, his heart is actually really pure.
Talking about relationships in the show, I can’t not ask you about working with Adam [Scott], because the two of you have such a lovely sibling dynamic. Did you really even have to work, though, to find that, or did it just develop naturally off-screen and then carry into your scenes together?
TULLOCK: It felt natural pretty immediately. When they were auditioning people, I came in, and Ben had me read with Adam. That was my sort of audition. I remember I walked into the room, and I made a joke about my bad haircut looking like Willie Aames fromEight is Enough, and I got a big chuckle. I remember thinking, “Oh, I think we could do this together.” He’s just so generous and warm as a human being, and that certainly extends to his work. It’s easy, it’s really easy with him. He’s so smart, he’s so funny, and I have come to love him as a friend so much thatit is not difficult to pretend to love him as Mark.
Before we had become friends,we shot Season 1 at the height of the pandemic, at the height of lockdown. So not only was there a palpable tension and worry in the air, but we could not spend the social time you otherwise would when you get to know someone that’s playing your sibling or your partner. You don’t get to have the fun splashy cast dinners, you don’t get to go have a coffee or a beer together, and go, “Okay, what do you think makes this character tick?” So we really learned on the job in that regard.
If memory serves, the first scene I shot was in the first episode of Season 1, when Devon knocks on Mark’s door to bring him to the non-dinner dinner party. The first time we see Devon was the first time, really, that me and Adam were seeing each other in character, and he just put me so at ease that we developed a tenderness very quickly. I’ve been lucky enough to spend some time with his wonderful wife and kids. Sometimes, the job requires that you pretend to love people who are awful in real life, and you still have to show up and do it. But very luckily, in this case, it’s the opposite. It’s the easiest job in the world.
‘Severance’ Is Finally Doing More With This Underrated Character
Lumon had better watch its back.
Jen Tullock Defends Devon’s Decision To Call Cobel in ‘Severance’ Season 2
You mentioned the fracturing of this family group that takes place after Gemma’s “death,” and obviously, there’s the big bombshell that gets dropped in the Season 1 finale — in Devon and Ricken’s house, no less. After that, though, Devon does take a more active role in helping Mark dig into Lumon and figuring out what role they might’ve played in Gemma’s disappearance, but initially, she is sort of skeptical. When is the turning point where Devon really starts to realize the truth — Gemma is actually still alive, and Lumon’s covering it up?
TULLOCK: I felt grateful to the writers that they gave Devon the opportunity to actually experience that gut punch in Episode 7 when Asal, played by the wonderful Karen Aldridge, says, “She is alive.” That was emotional for me, because I had spent the last couple of years watching Adam, as Mark, grieve this person — and getting that news, like you said, at the end of Season 1, everyone’s at a fever pitch. Devon has just had her baby kidnapped, or at least she thinks she’s been kidnapped. She’s found out the woman who has been helping her nurse her child is in fact a nefarious leader at this awful corporation that’s harming her brother. So when she finds out in Episode 7 that Gemma is actually alive,I do remember just needing to sit down. That felt very real.
I was grateful, because sometimes with supporting characters, we don’t always get that much access into their interior life, and because our writers are so good, they’ve never skimped on making sure even the smaller supporting roles have such a rich emotional life.I love that we got to have that moment with Devon and see her own grief, and then in the same episode, to see the flashback and see the love between her and Gemma, and that felt really special.
But for me, that’s the turning point. It’s that, and it was also watching Mark have the seizure. There were a lot of people online, on my own personal Instagram, being like, “What the fuck? Why did you call Cobel?” I’m super close with my brother in real life, and if anyone hurt him, I don’t care if I had to call Trump himself. If that was who had the answers, I would do it, because nobody fucks with my brother. And I think that was very much Devon’s experience, too. She was like,“I don’t ever want to talk to this woman again, but guess what? It’s the only choice I have.“So begrudgingly, she has to get Cobel on the phone.
Around the same time, too, Ricken is getting commissioned by, Lumon essentially, to write that new innie version ofThe You You Are, which is, as we see, something that Devon is not happy about at all. It does feel like she’s sort of keeping him at arm’s length when it comes to what she and Mark are digging into. Why is she keeping him out of their investigation? Is she just trying to keep him out of potential danger?
TULLOCK: I think it starts as an innocent thing. She knows Ricken needs to be involved in everything the second he knows it’s happening, and it’s a more practical choice she’s made to just go, “Until I know what they’re doing, I’m going to keep this under wraps.” What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. But as the season progresses, and Ricken starts to acquiesce with Natalie and have this almost flirtatious vibe with her and Lumon at large, and to suddenly be taken by the possibility of fame within Lumon,she’s so disappointed and turned off by seeing the person she loves fall victim to that, to this star-fuckery. She’s like, “Wait, what? Look, dude. I know you have a big ego, but really? You’re going to write a book for them?” She’s in the middle of processing her own distrust of him and her own disappointment in him when all of this stuff starts to kick up in Episode 9.
Once they meet up with Cobel, the move, at that point, becomes, “Let’s go to one of the birthing cabins so we can talk to Mark’s innie and get on the same page.” Where were those scenes filmed? Was it different from the cabins that were used in Season 1, or is it the same place?
TULLOCK: Well, yes, the exteriors are the same, so technically, they’re the same location. However, in Season 1, we shot the interiors at the practical location at this beautiful sort of fancy vacation grounds.This season, we did a lot more work on our stages, so it was actually really funny to be in what looked exactly like the birthing cabins, but then to step out when we were on a break to check my phone and be inside of MDR. That was a trip. Our production designer, Jeremy Hindle, and his entire team of set builders and fabricators did an incredible job with that.
That ‘Severance’ Scene With Mark’s Innie Was Emotional for Jen Tullock
There’s a moment at the end of Episode 9 where Devon’s interacting with Mark’s innie again. It’s the first time that this has happened since the OTC at the end of Season 1, and at that point, she didn’t know that it was Mark’s innie. What really struck me is how much extra care she’s taking with his innie in that moment, because he’s so scared and overwhelmed that she’s really stepping up and shepherding him through everything that’s going on. What was it like to get to play off of Mark’s innie and that half of Adam’s performance, especially since it feels so different from the outie?
TULLOCK: He has done such an incredible job differentiating between those two characters. He plays with such nuance and precision. Watching it is really incredible. There is a childlike element that he gave to his innie for obvious reasons. This person’s consciousness is quite young, which you see, I think, beautifully play out in his romance with Helly. But again, that was very easy to play, seeing the fear in his eyes when he opens up and doesn’t know where he is, but also the pain in Devon of knowing, “This is my brother, but he doesn’t know me. Yes, we’ve met once, but he doesn’t know me. I can’t joke with him. He doesn’t trust me.” There’s a moment where I go to touch his arm, and he tenses up, and I remember my eyes welled up in the moment, becauseit was just so sad to be like, “This is my brother I grew up with, and in this moment, he does not know me.“I was grateful that we got to see those moments between them and how much it transpired since that conversation in Season 1.
I don’t know how much you can tease, but what can you hint at in terms of the finale and how this story is going to play out?
TULLOCK: Obviously, I’m biased, but I’ve been in some shows that I didn’t think were great. It is one of the most beautiful episodes of television I’ve ever seen, and I’m in awe of how it was crafted. The way the storylines … I don’t know what I’m allowed to say. I’ll just say this.You won’t be disappointed. It’s a real banger.
TheSeveranceSeason 2 finale premieres next Friday on Apple TV+.
Mark leads a team of office workers whose memories have been surgically divided between their work and personal lives. When a mysterious colleague appears outside of work, it begins a journey to discover the truth about their jobs.
