WATCH: Dichen Lachman Revisits Early Severance Days, Talks Gemma vs. Helly and Dollhouse Comparisons
When Dichen Lachman paid a visit to TVLine's New York office, 1) it was almost 16 years to the day that I published my first interview with her, and 2) the pop culture-verse was abuzz with theories about the Severance Season 2 finale, which dropped March 21.
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In the video Q&A above, Lachman and I very quickly commemorate our 'anniversary' before diving into all things Severance — starting with what all she was told about the role when she was first eyed for it some four-and-a-half years ago.
'I only had two or three [script] pages and absolutely no context about who this person was,' the Aussie actress recalls, 'and she's saying the most random, bizarre things!'
Lachman was allowed a bit more context after she and executive producer Ben Stiller navigated a potential scheduling conflict with her role in Jurassic World: Dominion. At that juncture, 'he finally, reluctantly told me the Season 1 cliffhanger,' where Mark S. bellowed to a confused Devon and friends, 'She's alive!' — meaning, his 'dead' wife Gemma.
Lachman then talks about the early direction she was given, on Ms. Casey's overall vibe as Lumon's wellness counselor. She hails Stiller's 'empathy and curiosity,' being an actor himself, and how he was able to play for her, on-set, the actual music that would score Ms. Casey's sessions. 'It really helped inform me of the pace and the tone,' she recalls.
After touching on how she developed Ms. Casey's speaking voice, Lachman talks about first getting wind of Season 2, Episode 7, which introduced viewers to a lot of Gemma Scout's other Innies. Until that point, 'I was noticing I wasn't in the scripts very much!' she says with a laugh. 'Finally, [series creator] Dan Erickson, who's just an extraordinary talent, mentioned, 'We have this episode….''
Once apprised of what 'Chikhai Bardo' would entail, 'I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel the pressure' — not just to do right by her castmates and bosses but 'for the fans of this show,' Lachman admits. 'It's an intensity I haven't experienced, the attention and love they have for the show.'
The dual Hollywood strikes of Summer 2023 and the pause in filming they dictated worked in Lachman's favor, affording her time to speak at length with 'Chikhai Bardo' director Jessica Lee Gagné and co-writers Erickson and Mark Friedman. What's more, 'We were fortunate enough to go to the house [where the Gemma/Mark scenes filmed] and have rehearsal,' she shares, where 'things did change a bit.'
Lachman then talks about working with teen icon Robby Benson as Dr. Mauer ('I'm from Katmandu, so I didn't know who he was! But I did learn very quickly that he was an absolute legend and is antithetical to the character he's playing'), and to what degree her stint as a regularly reprogrammed Active on Fox's Dollhouse helped with her portrayal of so many Innies.
'There are similarities, absolutely…,' she allows, though Actives were even more detached from their true selves. 'Maybe Dollhouse is the sequel in terms of the tech?' she quips.
From there, Lachman shares her take on the Season 2 finale (namely, whether Gemma saw the redhead Mark was with as any kind of threat)… explains why she enjoys 'living in the not knowing' what's to come ('I have complete faith in Dan and the entire team to come up with something that won't let anyone down')… and along those lines, gets candid about what all she knows about the Season 3 plan.Best of TVLine
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