After keeping us waiting for almost three years for new episodes, it’s understandable that fans of Apple TV+’s Severance might be growing a bit impatient.
Fortunately, director Ben Stiller has shared a reassuring message with viewers ahead of the show’s return next month.
Opening up to IndieWire about exactly what has taken so long for season two, he explained: “It took a while to write season two. Then we started to shoot in October of 2022, and we got shut down by the strike in May [2023].
“At that point, we had completed about seven of our 10 episodes, and then we had to regroup after the strike.”
He continued: “It takes us a while to prep the show. And so, we didn’t start shooting until January [2024]. Then we shot from January to May to finish the last three episodes.”
Creator Dan Erickson agreed: “On a practical level, it’s a very intricate show. Each character has two lives – essentially, two personalities – and we are expanding.
“For me, the writing was the most painstaking part of the process because there were so many ways we could go. And sometimes we would come up with something that worked perfectly well on paper, and then it wouldn’t be until we got there and we’re shooting it that we realise: This isn’t quite it. We were never willing to let that turn it into something that wasn’t perfect.”
He admitted: “[We had] entire locations that we were planning to go to. We had already built or partially built them when we realised, ‘Oh, that’s not going to work’.
“Those aren’t always fun calls to have with [Apple], where you’re like, ‘Hey, you know that thing you put a lot of resources into? Well, we’re not going to do it now, or we’re going to do something that’s totally different’.”
“But again, at the end of the day, it’s worth it,” he insisted.
The second season of Severance picks up at the end of the first run’s dramatic cliffhanger, and sees Adam Scott, John Turturro, Zach Cherry and Britt Lower returning as the “severed” Lumon employees.
Joining the cast this time around are Game Of Thrones star Gwendoline Christie, Alia Shawkat and Bob Balaban, among others.
Severance season two will begin airing weekly on Apple TV+ from Friday 17 January. The first series is available to stream now.