Severance is one of the best reasons, possibly the best reason, to have an Apple TV+ subscription. The long-awaited second season of the show is airing on the 2025 TV schedule after three years of waiting, and if anything about it is certain, it’s that executive producer and director Ben Stiller found the absolutely perfect cast for the series. In fact, Adam Scott leads the Severance cast as Mark so well it’s difficult to believe that Stiller apparently had to fight the platform to get him cast.
Prior to Severance, Adam Scott was best known for straightforward comedy in shows like the hit Parks & Recreation. While Severance is certainly a very different sort of show in tone, Ben Stiller tells THR that it was specifically because of Scott’s previous roles that he wanted him on the series, which is, from a certain point of view, also a workplace comedy. The director said…
So much of the show is based in The Office and Parks and Rec and Office Space, and that genre. The humor in the script that Dan wrote was in that world but had this other layer to it. Casting was about figuring out who could handle that.
There is humor in Severance, even if most of it comes from perpetual weirdness (what is up with the goats anyway?) rather than jokes. Also, the show does revolve around a workplace, so it does make some weird sense.
Having said that, it seems the execs at Apple didn’t immediately warm to the idea of Adam Scott leading Severance. The actor himself says he completely understands the reticence, calling his casting a “big swing.” Scott explained…
I couldn’t really blame [Apple] at the time. I was thought of as more of a comedic person, and it’s a big swing.
Risk-taking is something that studios attempt to avoid at all costs. Making movies or television is an expensive endeavor with a high downside. As a result, studios frequently will fall back on what has worked before whenever possible. This frequently means casting that feels safe rather than taking chances.
This meant that Ben Stiller had to “battle Apple” to get them to agree to cast Scott. That’s a dangerous move as it can potentially backfire and doom an entire project. In the end, Apple let Stiller cast who he wanted, and he was proven right.
Scott is clearly grateful too. He says it’s the first time anybody has ever risked so much for him. He continued…
I’ve never experienced anything like that before in show business. No one’s ever stuck their neck out for me like that.
Adam Scott may not have had anybody fight for him like this, but other actors certainly have. For example, Jon Favreau has talked about his battle with Marvel over casting Robert Downey Jr. in the first Iron Man. And Kevin Feige has since called it the biggest risk that Marvel has taken in the MCU. So, yeah, I'd say sometimes the risk is very worth the reward.
Adam Scott isn’t the only one who should thank Ben Stiller for fighting for him. It’s hard to imagine Severance fans would be watching a better show today if anybody else was playing the role of Mark.
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