Though the Lumon Industries pop-up in New York City’s Grand Central Terminal may have inadvertently recreated the less-than-ethical work conditions of the shadowy conglomerate at the center of Apple TV+‘s Severance, star Adam Scott was cheery about the endeavor — to the stark contrast of his innie Mark S.
“This was super fun,” the actor said on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert while reflecting on the viral marketing stunt, which took place Jan. 15.
The long-anticipated Apple TV+ mystery-box drama busted out the display in the leadup to Season 2, which has been gestating for nearly three years since the nail-biting and twisty finale of its inaugural season. Scott — along with co-stars Patricia Arquette, Britt Lower, Zach Cherry, and Tramell Tillman — brought the austere, green office space from small screen to real life, all under the watchful eye of helmer Ben Stiller. As onlookers gawked, took pictures and videos of the stunt, much could be said of the meta recreation and the series’ commentary on surveillance, the nature of work and the interplay of the two in the modern world.
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“We were in there for 3 hours—” Scott recounted, before Colbert chimed in with a knowing joke: “Doing macro data refinement?”
“Yes, we were just in there working, and none of us peed — at all — for 3 hours,” the Parks and Recreation alumnus continued. “Didn’t leave a glass cube for 3 hours, and it was fun. People gathered around and just watched us do boring, monotonous office work.” (Not mentioned here is Scott’s computer going down in the middle of the recreation, requiring the actor to remain in character as he attempted to troubleshoot.)
Elsewhere during the interview, Scott admitted to being hounded for information about the series during its hiatus, including by his two teenage children who were previously uninterested in any of his other projects. While previewing the opening shot of Season 2, which features his character bolting down Lumon’s eerie white hallways, Scott said he, naturally, channeled Tom Cruise’s iconic run.
“He’s the best runner in the world,” Scott said. “You gotta get the blade hands, you gotta get the knees up, and he’s always running in uncomfortable clothes, so I had a suit and dress shoes and had to run an enormous amount. It took almost five months to shoot that sequence — off and on, for five months. That’s all Ben Stiller and we had our own little wrap party when we finally finished the running sequence.”
Season 2, which debuted on the streamer Jan. 17 after being heralded by glowing reviews, follows the subset of workers at Lumon who have opted in for a surgical procedure that separates their work selves from their home lives.
Watch the full late-night interview below: