Slight spoilers for Severance Season 2 are ahead! If you haven’t made your way back to the severed floor, you can stream the series with an Apple TV+ subscription.
When Season 2 of Severance starts, you are immediately thrown back into Lumon with Mark S. as he sprints through the hallways. This sequence is almost two minutes long, and it basically looks like a one-take as Adam Scott rushes through the halls of his workplace. However, in reality, this moment that opens the show’s run on the 2025 TV schedule took months to film, and Adam Scott and Ben Stiller told me the story behind why.
Ben Stiller Breaks Down How They Filmed The Opening Sequence
After watching Season 2’s premiere, I knew that when I sat down with the Severance cast, and specifically the show’s director and EP Ben Stiller and star Adam Scott, I had to bring up this jaw-dropping sequence. In the interview, I asked the Night at the Museum star how they filmed what looked like a one-take, and he quickly corrected me, noting how long it took to create this scene and how many parts it was split into:
It was actually filmed in a bunch of different parts. I think it was about 10 different parts to it, and each part usually had a different piece of equipment to get it done for whatever piece we needed. But it was actually shot also over the course of probably, like, five or six months, when we would have different sections of the set that were ready.
For a scene that looks so seamless, it’s wild to hear that it took five or six months to shoot. However, it also makes sense. Mark runs through so much of the floor, and each of those sets is used for different scenes throughout Season 2. With that in mind, it tracks that they’d film each part of this opening sequence as the various aspects of the office were constructed.
Stiller went on to tell me why they opted for this grandiose running sequence to kick off the season. Thinking about what Mark learned at the end of Severance Season 1 and the fact that he was returning after that, it made sense that he was frantic and energetic as he tried to figure out what was going on:
And it all came out of this idea, really, that when Adam and I talked about the opening of the season, that, you know, this impetus that Mark would have to run and figure out what was going on based on this news he just heard.
Getting into the technicalities of pulling this off, the Meet the Parents actor explained that they used a “bolt arm,” which is a robotic camera that is programmed to swing around and film Scott as he ran. Stiller said that was actually “very dangerous” to do, and along with this taking forever to film, it was also “a little bit scary.”
However, it all paid off in the end, as the director explained:
But making it was a really fun puzzle that all of our department heads collaborated on. And, you know, it was one of those things that took a very long time to actually finish, and when we got to the end of it, we were like, ‘We completed this shot.’ I think we even had a wrap party for the shot.
That shot deserved a wrap party! Between how long it took, the technical aspects and Scott’s performance, it’s an unforgettable and marvelous moment to start Season 2.
Oh, and speaking of the star of Severance, he also told me what it was like to be in front of the camera for this epic sprint.
Adam Scott Told Me What It Was Like Starring In Severance’s Opening Scene
While Ben Stiller was thinking about the technical aspects of this scene, Adam Scott was thinking about running, and running, and running, and running some more. As the director said, it took months to shoot this, and they picked it up here and there as they filmed the rest of Season 2.
When the Mark actor spoke about what it was like to perform this scene, he joked about how much Gatorade he had to drink and how he really had to brace himself for the running days:
Like Ben said it took five or six months to get through it. And every time I thought we were done with the opening running sequence, someone would be like, ‘Okay, so for next week, which color Gatorade is your favorite?’ [I’d] be like, ‘Oh, my God, is there more running?’ It's like, ‘Yeah, there's another part.’
The Party Down actor continued to tell me that he was “exhausted” when they finished filming it, but he thought it was “super fun.” It paid off big time too. Knowing how much time, effort, “Gatorade and bananas,” as Scott said, went into making this scene proves why the wait for Severance Season 2 was worth it and it sets the bar exceptionally high for the rest of the season.
To see this epic scene, you can stream Severance on Apple TV+, then make sure to check back in every Friday on the streamer to see what Mark is up to and how the show continues to blow our minds as Season 2 continues.
