Warning: This article contains spoilers for Severance season 1
Dichen Lachman, who plays Ms. Casey in Severance, reveals when she learned about her character's major twist. Created by Dan Erickson and directed by Aoife McArdle and Ben Stiller, the Apple TV+ thriller show premiered in February to universal acclaim from critics. Severance takes place in a world where some people chose to undergo a unique form of brain surgery, “severing” one’s work life from their personal life so that their “innie” knows nothing of their “outie” and vice-versa. In addition to Lachman, Severance stars Adam Scott, Zach Cherry, Britt Lower, Tramell Tillman, John Turturro, Christopher Walken, and Patricia Arquette.
Severance follows Mark, a man who chooses to become a severed employee of Lumon Industries in an attempt to cope with the death of his wife, Gemma, who is said to have died in a car accident. Each episode of the series has seen Mark begin to realize his workplace’s sinister nature as well as a larger conspiracy. At the end of episode 7, “Defiant Jazz,” as drunken Mark tapes together a photo of his late wife, Severance audiences are shown something major: Gemma is not only alive, but works in Lumon’s wellness department as Ms. Casey.
In a recent interview with Slashfilm, Lachman spoke on her portrayal of Ms. Casey in Severance. Specifically, she revealed when learned her character was a severed version of Mark’s wife. The actress says she didn't know until after her casting in the role, since she didn't audition with a script. Read the full quote below:
"I'm pretty sure I didn't know until after I was cast. I had a meeting with [Ben Stiller] on Skype. It was a very tricky character, as you can imagine, and I had no script [while auditioning]. I had very little information, so I was shooting in the dark a little bit ... My conversation with Ben was extraordinary because he's so specific about what he wanted in this world and trying to navigate around the fine line playing this character, not giving too much away, where it sat energetically. It was really interesting, but I didn't really read anything or know anything about it until months later when I was in London [shooting "Jurassic World Dominion"], and they finally figured out that I'd be able to do it in terms of my availability."
Even knowing Severance's Ms. Casey twist early on, it’s safe to say Lachman played her seemingly oblivious character — who has only been awake for 107 hours — to perfection. The game-changing twist of Gemma and Ms. Casey being the same person has spawned numerous theories; from Lumon resurrecting crash victims to a portion of the “Outie” world being one of Lumon’s various constructs and, in turn, experiments. The latter would explain why Mark lives in such close proximity to Harmony Cobel/Mrs. Selvig (Arquette) and has next to no other neighbors. It’s possible that Lumon orchestrated a fake death for Gemma to motivate Mark to become a corporate drone, or to test his reactions to Ms. Casey on the severed floor.
Severance’s penultimate episode sees Ms. Casey tell Mark's Innie she has been fired and will cease to exist following their session. As he and his co-workers perhaps to experiment with Lumon's overtime protocol, it’s unclear whether her Outie (aka Gemma) even exists. Regardless, the Severance season 1 finale likely won’t be the end of Lumon, Mark, or Ms. Casey, as Severance season 2 has been confirmed ahead of the season 1 finale, which premieres on April 8.
Source: Slashfilm