On ‘Severance,' Britt Lower excels at playing her own double

Boston Globe

11-02-2025

On Apple+'s surreal workplace drama, the core cast of Lower,
Advertisement
Crucially, there's such a complete divide between the outies and innies that neither have any memory of the other's actions. One of the show's enduring questions is whether or not they should be treated as two separate people, but for all intents and purposes, that's how the actors have to play it.
That holds especially true for Lower, whose rebellious innie Helly would happily burn Lumon to the ground. Unfortunately, her outie, Helena, is a committed member of its terrifying ruling family. Helly's fiery temperament couldn't contrast more with Helena's icy cool — a jarring revelation for them both, to say the least. For Lower, though, playing two such different characters in the same bizarro world must be the juiciest kind of acting challenge.
(Before we continue, here's your requisite SPOILER WARNING: If you're not completely caught up on the second season of 'Severance' and want to be before knowing at least one of its twists, turn back now!)
Advertisement
(You're still here! You sure?)
(Okay, cool. Here we go.)
In 'Woe's Hollow,' Turturro's Irving realizes that Helena's been tricking the group into thinking she's Helly, whom we apparently haven't seen this season at all. Like her predecessors in the 'Parent Trap,' Lower's been playing us by playing the double-layered character of Helena pretending to be Helly — and to be honest, it wasn't a
complete
shock.
That's not to take anything away from Lower's performance. In fact, it speaks to the subtle work Lower did that Helena's restraint pushed through the 'Helly' veneer enough to raise viewers' alarm bells before Irving's went off. As he got closer to the truth, Lower let Helena peek through bit by bit until her hard stare finally cracked under the pressure.
'Severance' is only ramping up its science fiction elements and raising more questions in season 2; the show could easily lean so far into lore that it spins right off its own axis. That makes it doubly important for the main characters to feel authentic, and in turn, for canny actors like Lower to keep them grounded.