The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott - Gwendolyn Y from Branch 5X (with Alia Shawkat)

Episode Date: September 11, 2025

For the penultimate episode of the podcast, Ben and Adam are joined by their penultimate podcast guest: Alia Shawkat, who plays Gwendolyn Y from Branch 5X. They talk about Alia's early career as a child actor on Arrested Development, why she doesn't own a TV, and being type cast as an angry teenager. Plus, they discuss what it was like to be the first ones back on set for season 2 of Severance. Then, they answer some fan hotline questions and open up about high school. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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click of a button, and you can switch therapists at any time. As of the largest online therapy provider in the world, BetterHelp can provide access to mental health professionals with a diverse variety of expertise. Find the one with BetterHelp. Our listeners get 10% off their first month at BetterHelp.com slash severance. That's BetterHelp. H-E-L-P.com slash severance. The Severance podcast with Ben Stiller and Adam Scott is presented by The Farmer's Dog. Try fresh, healthy food at the farmer's dog.com slash severance. Hey, I'm Ben Stiller. I'm Adam Scott. And this is the Severance podcast with Ben and Adam, where we talk to the people who make severance, and also sometimes we talk to the people who influence severance, sometimes we talk to our

incredible fans, and just if it has anything to do with Severance, we're talking about it. Yeah, we do. We have, and we will, but only for two more episodes. Yeah. Next week, we're bringing in Yule Vasquez, who plays Mark's best friend Petey. But in this penultimate episode, we're going to be joined by someone that Ben and I both love, who we were lucky enough to work with on Severance. Yep, nice use of the word penultimate. Thank you very much.

I like that word. I use that word in life. I use it constantly. You just did, but yeah. And our penultimate guest is Alia Shawcat. Yes. Who played Gwendolyn Y in first episode, season two, and one of Mark's new MDR teammates. She was so great.

Oh, my God. So good. So good. And she's such a great actress. She really is incredible. Yeah. And has done so many interesting projects. So many interesting things.

She was the iconic Maybe in Arrest Development. She was Dory on Search Party, another great show, starring another great actor, Christine Taylor. And she was Mona and Rami Yousaf's new animated series, number one, Happy Family USA. She was incredible on The Old Man. She's been in movies like Whippet, 20th century women being the Ricardo, so many great things. Yeah, yeah. I'm excited to talk to her about her process and what it's like to jump into Severance, too, what that experience was like for her. I felt very lucky to have her.

And then after that, she's going to help us with some of our hotline questions. Yes. Yeah, it's going to be fun. So let's get into it. How are you doing, Ben? How is everything? Things are good, Adam. Thank you.

It's been a little busy lately. You're shooting the Falker-in-law. That's very exciting. Yeah. Yeah, we're about three weeks into that. And that's been really fun to work with the old gang and kind of jump back into that world. Is it surreal to jump back into something? that just I found restarting party down 13 years after to be very strange but then

automatically we just locked in and it felt just like it is it is it strange like that for you or fun yeah yeah no it's exactly that like you kind of at first you're like this is just weird and our whole you know we've had our whole life experience since I think it's been like 13 or 14 years since you did the last one and so you've had your whole life that's gone on then all of a sudden you're back in this environment and doing these things that are so familiar you know and uh i just feel like from scene to scene i'm just constantly things are just you know things are happening to my character really well just you know frustration not quite understanding how to navigate situations so well gay lord falker really does kind of get himself

into sticky situations he does but it's uh yeah it's been really uh really fun to work with mr deniro again oh man how fun yeah and And Ariana Grande is amazing, I have to say, working with her. She's just a total pro and like so, so funny and so talented. And so she's obviously this new element in the movie. Yeah. And she just feels like she's just such a part of it and has always been. And so that's been really fun.

She's incredible. What a brilliant piece of casting. Yeah. And have you been checking out the U.S. Open? Because as we're recording this, the final is about the men's finalist tomorrow in the women's final is today. Yeah, I've been dipping in here and there, and yeah, it's been very exciting. I've seen you sitting in the audience here and there along the way.

Yeah, I've gone a couple of times, had a really fun time, went with Owen Wilson one time. And that's been fun working with Owen, too, on the movie. Oh, man. Yeah, we saw Djokovic, a Djokovic match. And, you know, he got ousted yesterday, but, man, what a great run for him, you know, And just at this point in his career, playing at that level. And Sinner has been incredible. Sinner is like, yeah, he seems like he's a tennis machine.

He's, uh, it's just, it's fascinating to watch how good he is from the baseline and just doesn't seem to ever miss, doesn't, you know, can get to everything. I don't know, you know, these, these players, when you get a chance to watch up close, it's insane. I can't imagine. I really wanted to go this year and we just couldn't figure out schedule, but I would love to see that in person. Yeah, it's fun, you know, and like people who show up like Stan Smith, you know, the tennis

great who designed the famous sneaker. Sure. So like you'll be standing there next to Stan Smith and look down and guess what he's wearing. Stan Smith. He's wearing Stan Smith's. Incredible. Which is what he has to do. What if he was wearing Chuck Taylor's?

That would be weird. Yeah. That would be weird. You know what I noticed on TV is these guys, either the male or female players, on TV, you can't really tell. They just look like people out on the tennis court. But then you kind of see that they're serving down and you realize these people are all like six, five. They're all enormously tall, most of them anyway.

Yes, I think that's, you know, the new sort of normal for, I think, to play tennis now. You have to have that height. It didn't always used to be that way. Right. Even, yeah, Djokovic in person, I guess everybody in person, to me, seems tall. Same, same. But he definitely, you know, he's tall. sinners like I think six six three or six four yeah yeah and I think you know just the amount of the

court that they can cover and the flexibility I mean jokovitch is just like he's always been so flexible it's almost like yeah like gumby or something it's insane you know how he and then to watch the return of service and how that happens and then when they kind of like notch it up a little when they have to you know get there in a match yeah really really it's just the amount of energy these players have to expand because those matches are long man yeah yeah the best of five It's crazy. Yeah. I love the clothes, too.

I love all the fashion. I love the polo is everywhere and just seeing what everyone kind of chooses to wear. There was a match the other day. It looked like someone had matched the other in what they were wearing. And I was just wondering if there are mind games as far as what they wear. I don't know anything about tennis. Well, there's definitely mind games that go on. In terms of like the fashion mind game, that's an interesting angle.

Well, you know, like Al Carrez has got the sleeveless, you know, he's rocking the guns. Right. That's definitely an intimidation. factor. I would do if I had those guns. I saw Tuturo was there one day, too. I saw Toturo operating a camera. Yeah, what was going on there? I don't know. I just saw a clip that they let him operate one of the cameras, which, I mean, he is a director. Sure is. Yeah, and he seemed to be having fun. I would let him operate anything. Yeah, for sure. And he, you know, he loves Liberty, New York Liberty basketball team. And Nick's, of course, he's a season ticket holder.

Oh, yeah. Yeah. So he's a big sports guy. Yeah. Okay, should we get Alia in here? I'm really excited to talk to her. Let's do it, yeah. Hey! Hey, Alia. Hi, guys. Thanks for joining us.

Yeah, thanks for having me. So happy you're here. Me too. Well, let's start. I mean, I could even just ask, do you like to or do you watch things that you're in? You know, I've had this kind of routine because not to be that guy, but I don't own a television as someone who makes money off the television. I know. How dare you.

That's a TV behind you, right? No, I just, like, haven't owned one, but it's weird because I grew up with, like, I fell asleep to TV. Like, TV was such a big part of my life as a kid. And then I just was like, I'm just not going to get one and haven't. So I have this routine where I go back to the desert to see my family. They have a huge television that's never off, usually. And we watched anything I've done there. I'll watch it once with them.

And it's kind of this, like, narrative thing where I'm like, oh, they didn't use that scene that I was. And my mom's like, oh, but you look cute. I like that. You know, it's like a very kind of talked over experience, and it kind of makes it easier for me in a weird way. Interesting. And your family is out in the desert. Yeah, like Palm Springs.

Okay, okay. Yeah, you grew up in Palm Springs. Yeah, I grew up in Palm Springs. And you were a child actor. Everyone knows that. So would you just drive and, like, commute to L.A. for work and for auditions and stuff as you growing up? Yeah.

My dad and mom would trade, but mainly my mom, like, really helped me do that. And I never lived in L.A. until I was like, because I moved to New York first. So I didn't even live in L.A. until I was like 21, I guess. Oh, interesting. Yeah. So Arrested Development, you didn't necessarily live in Los Angeles? No. We stayed in like those really weird, like made up apartments, you know,

and Michael Sarah was staying at the Oakwood. Yeah. And I always said we called it the joke wood. Yeah. And we stayed at like one level up. My mom was like, we won't stay there. We'll stay at the other. That's like, you know.

The almost identical one. But like they have valet or so. Right, right. Yeah. But no, because we used to shoot them Fox for the, first seasons. Oh, right. Way out there. And just like, no social life, like me and Michael and his mom and my mom going to Cheesecake Factory every night. That was it. That was our life. How old were you when you were doing it? The pilot, I was 14. And then the first three seasons,

it was like 15 to 18, pretty much. And was that your first job? No, my first job was a Barbie commercial, a national one. At what age? Nine. And then my first real job, like, later that year, was Three Kings, the David O'Russell movie. I just rewatched Three Kings a couple weeks ago. And I was like, there is Alia. Crying. So cute and heartbreaking. No, I know.

I watched it a couple of years ago. I know. And I was like, oh my God, Alia is in that, right? Playing an Iraqi refugee, which is one of my go-to role. I always play that. Yeah. And when you were a kid, you were doing in-person auditions, right? It wasn't self-tapes.

No. Oh, my God, self-tapes. That was pretty self-tape. Yeah. It was really like when I looked. back on it now I feel like everything's changed so exponentially that it feels like it was the 50s like the idea of what auditioning was like it was like an empty warehouse and it was kind of dirty and there was like a light flickering in the corner and you like go down and sign in and there's

one other girl who looks like you and you're like sitting there and especially as a kid you have your moms and everyone's mom is weird and then you went in and I had to like pretty much cry that's kind of the main thing as a kid they're like can you get emotional in front of us and I was like yeah sure And then they come out and meet your parents because they're like, oh, my God, like, your daughter's amazing. And I just remember being like, you know, you get that high being like, my parents. Like they came to talk. It must have gone well.

They're talking to my mom. And then my dad is a Rocky. So when I did the callback, whatever, David O. Russell, he was really excited that I was actually Iraqi and met my dad and kind of gave my dad this like kind of big role on the set as like an advisor and stuff. Oh, wow. Yeah. So we got really involved in the movie.

So you, like, we're going from back and forth from Palm Springs to audition in L.A. and then as a kid, and your dad, I read, owns a strip club? He does. He does. I mean, my parents opened it together, and then he runs it, yeah. Amazing. So not in showbiz. Showbiz, a version of showbiz.

But it's another showbiz. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But they were totally supportive of you kind of going and doing this thing. Yeah, I mean, I have two brothers, and I think it was looking back on it. It's like, I don't know, I guess it's like a middle child thing being, like, wanting so much attention. But I realize how much sacrifice it was for my parents.

parents, like, now that I have a kid to, I'm just like, so you had three and you would leave to Los Angeles and come back the same night. That's crazy. And then make sure everyone did their homework and had dinner and get ready the next day. Was that like a two and a half hour drive? Yeah. And I would have to do my homework on the way up and then sleep on the way back. And then sometimes we do it twice a week.

Wow. I remember the only audition we didn't make was for Blow, the Johnny Depp movie to play his daughter and we like didn't get there in time. And my mom's like, I'm so sorry. But my mom was always so proud of herself. She's like, Blows, the only one we missed? And you would have got it if we got there. But Arrested development.

Arrested development ended up being obviously such a seminal and important show. Do you feel like, I mean, you were 14 years old. Did it feel like a great fit at the time? Did it help kind of hone your comedic or just general sensibility? Or did you come in with a sensibility that really fit into that show? Or like, how did that happen? Yeah, I mean, I like to think I, I, like, had something special, obviously, as a child.

But me and Michael talk about it a lot. Like, we genuinely would be, I mean, it was also back in the day when you do table reads of a lot of the scripts in front of executives. And Mitch Hurwitz, the creator would always be like, let's just make sure we pop it up a little, like, the energy to, like, sell these jokes. Yeah. And we were like, yeah, yeah. So we, you know, you'd go into these, like, offices and everything felt, again, very, like, old Hollywood compared to now. And me and Michael would be like, you know, we knew how to act. Like, we would do it.

but we kind of didn't fully know why it was so funny, especially like the sexual tension between the cousins. I was aware of why it was funny, but I wasn't like so like, I didn't understand the nuances of like, I'm sitting on his lap and it's a bumpy car ride and that's why it's funny. You know, it's like, I think I even have a line where I say,

and that's why it's funny, you know, like that was my main line in the pilot. So I think me and Michael, some stuff was going over our head, but we were just learning in real time. Yeah. And then we were with this amazing cast of people who definitely never told, talked to us like that we were children.

And I mean that, like, in the best way, you know, sometimes not always the best way. But, like, for the majority, they would just kind of, like, treat us like adults and professionals. Like, they weren't like, oh, hey, and delicate with us. So we just kind of had to learn quick. And reading scripts like that, like, those scripts were amazingly well written. There was nothing easy about them. Yeah. Nothing was, like, flat out.

Like, this is what's funny about it. It was kind of confusing and surreal. And meta, like, Tobias is, like, in a wheelchair bleeding from the ears. And I'm like, what has happened? You know, like, it was just all so much at the same time that me and Michael just, yeah, we just like learned. But it also required something so specific from the two of you that wouldn't have worked if it was like two kid actors being cute and like really selling. Like you guys really brought your own very specific sensibility to it that really pushed it into a place where it felt new. Well, thank you.

Yeah. I mean, I was very, I was also a teenager. So I was like so insecure. And everyone was so funny and Michael obviously is so funny and sometimes he would get like a lot of my stuff would set up his jokes but I was like I'm not the funny one

and I would like get so insecure because I was like 16 and I was like and I'm fat and not funny and I'm fat and like but me and Michael were such good friends like we always had such a good time onset but I don't think I was ever like wow this is like an insanely good show I was just like yeah this is the quality right

it wasn't until it was over where I was like why is everything so bad Yeah, why does everything else suck? Why is everything else? Like the quality is crazy. And I was so bitter. I was like, oh, that was such a, it makes it easy when the writing and the people around you are so good because you just feel really taken care of.

Yeah. And that you can kind of match it with just being natural or whatever. Yeah, you guys were so grounded and real as the younger actors, which you don't necessarily always say. I think the casting in that show is just. Yeah, it's amazing. Mitch Hurwitz is so talented. And it was so, yeah, so the casting was amazing and so unique in tone.

it's just like there hasn't really been anything like that show since yeah it's incredible after doing that was it sort of like you said like there's a little bit of a letdown trying to find other stuff or did you did you kind of just think okay now you know I'm 17 18 19 now you're into other stuff

yeah I mean I started painting I moved to New York I was like dating someone I kind of a lot of the responses I would get when I'd go on auditions for like the snarky teen was Alya seems like she doesn't want to be here from like my agent at the time And I was like, the truth is I don't. Yeah.

Ding, ding. Yeah, I was like, I've been doing this forever. Like every, I always say like every kind of five or six years, or maybe it's the seven where you change completely. There's this moment where I'm like, am I going to do this? Is this really it? Like, you know, and I've been doing it since I was nine. So it feels like yes. But I like to keep open this possibility.

Like, hey, maybe you're going to do something else. So I was having a cycle there where I like, I was still young but had been doing it already for so long. And I was like, what do I do? and does this make me happy? And I was kind of a little resentful afterwards. I was just like, none of this stuff's good. I'm not going to try and be just like a worse version of maybe over and over again. And then this film Whippit came and that's when I was like, okay, I'm excited about this.

Yeah. You know, but that's good to be in touch with that instinct. I think it takes actors, sometimes it takes, took me, I think, a long time to figure out like, oh, wait, I should just go with like instinctually what I really, really like. Same. It took, it took decades for me to even come close to that. Yeah. Okay, it's time for us to take a break. We'll be back with more from Alia Shawcat right after this.

Hey, Adam, you got any trips coming up? We do, actually. We're going to go for our first parents' weekend, visiting our son off at school. Oh, wow, that's exciting. Yeah. Wow, you're already there. That sounds amazing. We're already miss him and just can't wait to get over there.

Yeah, that'll be fine. And so what are you doing with your house when you're away? Well, I'm not exactly sure. Why? What do you mean? Well, I'm just saying that, you know, if you're away, you could actually be hosting an Airbnb. Huh. Yeah.

I mean, I've used Airbnb on a few family trips before and loved it, but... Love Airbnb. Christine has actually done a movie right now. She's staying in an Airbnb. Yeah, it's the best. It's so much better than a hotel. I guess this whole time, whenever we're out of town, we could have been making a little extra cash while we're gone.

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you can't get it at stores, you can't get it at Lumen, you can only get it at thefarmer's dog.com severance. This offer is for new customers only. What's your perpetuity wing like? Did the Egan's move? Uh, no. Huh. Probably because it's an older branch. Ours were animatronic.

They even did this little choreograph dance. So yours just stand there? That's weird. In my first perpetuity wing, the eagans were brooms. Brooms? Each were a face made of a plate. A plate? You were very poor.

It was such a big deal that you and Bob Balaban and Stefano were coming in to play these roles. How did that end up kind of happening coming together? I mean, I just remember getting, like, talking to my agent. They're like, okay, so there's a pardon severance. And I was like, yes, just yes, all the way, yes. It was just one of those kind of beautiful, simple things where I was, like, so excited about it. And I remember, I don't think I knew that it was going to be Stefano and Bob Balaban until, like, a week before.

But I was so excited. And I was also so excited that Ben was directing the episode. I was like, oh, that really makes it such a cool thing, you know, so excited. I felt the same way. So excited you were doing it. And we really, and also because it was sort of, you know, this sort of kind of like, I would say like cameo-ish type part. Yeah.

I will say so many of my friends are like, oh, my God, you're on severance. And I was like, I am on the first episode. And everyone was like, Alie, it was on severance. It was like, one of those things where I was like, wait, slow down. I'm only in the first episode. Yeah. But you know what? It was like, it was interesting because like that was also, you know,

one of the reasons why I think we thought it would be amazing to have you is because like it felt like you really could be like, oh yeah, we're introducing. Yeah, it's like a red herring or a little bit of a red herring, you know, which is kind of cruel to the audience, but yet like to kind of have a little bit of a misdirect, hopefully, you know? Totally. But then after it's like, oh, man, it's too bad because you fit in so well to the world. Yeah, the show easily could have gone in this Allie and Bob Malaband direction.

It would have been even more depressing probably. They had no hope. Should we listen to a quick clip of... Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's listen to... Yeah, let's listen to... Yeah. Then we'll break it down.

So, did you really see the Alvi world? Yeah. How's the sky? I don't know. What? You didn't see it? Well, I went outside for a second, but I was distracted by my brother-in-law. Seriously?

Because we made a list of what we'd most like to see on the outside, and a sky was an easy number one. Brothers-in-law weren't even on the list. Grazie. Can you tell what state we were in? Because three of us put Wyoming on our input survey. Did you see any beutes? No.

Oh my God, how's wind? Is it just like getting breathed on, kind of? Hello, refiners. Hello, Miss Wong. Oh, no, it's the ball game. Let's head to the kitchenette. Yeah, what a weird setup. The whole thing was just so weird shooting that.

Did you see any beutes? Yeah, did you see any buttes? I remember the ball we tried lots of stuff where she like throws the ball at me and like I run after the ball or something she was great too yeah Sarah Bach that was like her first stuff

and you and Bob in the ball scene I love because there was just this whole history just the into like looks between you that we like hate each other yeah yeah about your whole work history together without any dialogue awesome but I mean it's such great writing

it's like so surreal that it comes back to making so much sense Like, I feel like that's good writing where it could be like the most obtuse idea. And yet it makes all the sense in the world. Like, you guys have known each other forever, you know, because it doesn't have to say it. It's really fun to play. It says you guys work together at Branch 5X, but there's no explanation beyond that. That's all you needed to know.

Yeah, but in episode two, you kind of get a little bit of the, like the idea of what happened there in terms of the story. That's right. Another Milchick attempt. It was funny to me because shooting that episode was the very first thing we shot. for season two. So the first couple of weeks, and Adam, I'm curious how you felt, too, it was like doing this alternate version of severance for the first couple weeks. Yeah, it was so weird starting with all of this stuff with Alia and Stefano and Bob because it had been a couple of years since we shot the show. And it felt like we were just

starting a new show. And it wasn't for, I don't think, Britt and, and every, Tremel came in like after a week. But then everyone else didn't start for a few. few weeks. So it was just us doing this. Now, I remember like on the third day and we were still shooting the first scene. I know in the same set, which I guess you've gotten used to, but that was crazy making. I remember you being like, so does it always take this long? Right. Yeah. I was like, yeah, pretty much. Yeah, yeah. I know. I do remember this like, we would cut and then I think Ben or someone, you would come in and just like kind of move a cup. slightly to the left and you'd be like

okay let's go again and I'd be like oh my God and I was like that's why it suffers that's why it's severed so my performance doesn't really matter at all well there is this this walk we had across the room remember

where you're like following me asking me questions yeah it's like the cabinet or whatever yeah that's right that we did a lot yeah because there were a lot of different like they were following us there was like steady cam then there was just like we did it well it's like a it's like a film like a high-end film, you know what I mean?

It's not this kind of like, we're shooting it over the shoulder and like, I'm messy, whatever, you know? It's like, it's so stylized and so beautiful. And then when you watch it all come together, you're like, oh, of course. But yeah, a lot of the stuff I shoot, especially television, doesn't usually have that kind of pacing. Adam and I were talking about this earlier in terms of like doing multiple takes and things. How do you feel about that as an actor? Because we were saying, like, sometimes I'm acting in the movie now. It's like, I'm feeling the other side of it where it's like, okay, I thought we got it like two takes ago.

Well, it must be hard too. like such a big director and you're like now then you flip again and you get kind of impatient right I can imagine but I think it's just an actor thing it's just more like that actor I don't know I feel sometimes that actor sort of thing of like I I had it and now like I don't know if I'm going to get it again and you know that that sort of thing but are you do you like a lot of takes are you I usually I'm a little more fly by the seat of my pants like let's I like a rehearsal I love doing like kind of rehearsals and then we start shooting when it feels right and we kind of just do like couple. But at the same, I will say that when I've done things where there are lots of

take, certain things, it gets like, oh my God, this sucks again. And then it starts to be like, oh, wait, actually now it's coming back around where I'm getting so loose that I'm like, this actually makes sense. This is why we do it again, you know? But it does have that low of like, oh, I'm terrible and I'm just saying words. Yeah, I know. I hate that feeling. And I was actually doing a scene last night where, you know, we shot the scene and then we shot my side of it, my angle and then they turned around to shoot the other actor and during the other actors takes I was like oh my god I you know I've now I got it now I figured it out yeah I know that always happens right it's not on you or even like improvising I was like oh I came up with like

funnier line that'll haunt me for the rest of my life sometimes always yeah in bed you're just like well I guess I'm not bold enough yeah or on the drive home you're like oh Jesus Christ that's what it was supposed to be that's what it was this whole time exactly yeah yeah Exactly. There was a story that Billy Wilder used to say that he said like at La Siena again, Melrose. He used to shoot movies, you know, like at Paramount. And he said that like he would be driving home to like Beverly Hills from Paramount and like on Melrose and he get to La Sienega. And that would be where it hit him that, oh, that was what I should have done. Wow. You know, like that's comforting. Yeah. Yeah. Seriously. He felt that way. I guess it's like that David Fincher, Stanley Kubrick thing of doing it like 75 times. Yeah, because they do it a lot. A lot. And I think. at least Kubrick's thing was like the actors you wear them down and so by the time you're on take 57 or whatever they're not thinking at all and they're just behaving like people do yeah at least that was his thinking why he did that at least that's a theory of why he did that I mean that makes sense it's just like who has the time I guess right well I've done I've done a few movies with Noah bomb back and he does that oh he does like an average of like I'd say 35 takes oh

And I'm always amazed at how he's able to do it. And then movie, you know, doesn't shoot forever. Right. But somehow they figure out that, okay, there's going to be these three angles and we're going to have time today to do, you know. This many takes. And then imagine when they edit, they're just like, are they looking through take one even? Probably not. Yeah, no, no, that's interesting too.

I think, I mean, just with Noah's process is like, I think he, not to speak for him, but I think he doesn't like even look at an assembly of the movie. A lot of times you were making a movie, the editor is putting together scenes without the director looking at them, and then you wrap the movie and is an editor's assembly of all the scenes, you know, kind of like a big long version of the movie.

He doesn't do that? I don't think he does. I think he just does all his, you know, takes and all that, and then he starts from the beginning with his editor and just goes through the takes and starts to put it together piece by piece. Wow, meticulous. Yeah, very different.

So on Greenberg, where you're in every single scene, let alone every single shot of the movie, how was that doing that many takes and chipping away at the re-roll in the movie like that? Yeah, you know, I think it's that thing of trust with the director where you just, you know, you just go, okay, I'm getting to be in a Noah Baumbach movie, this is his process, you know,

this is what I'm lucky to be here. Yeah. And kind of just, he's not giving a lot of feedback direction-wise, too. You know, he's not really saying a lot. So I trust if somebody's not saying anything to me that just do right keep going right yeah yeah yeah and he's looking for something i guess i remember it more on um the myerowitz stories where like doing scenes where we do them a lot and you know it was funny with dustin hoffman too because dustin is so funny and he would like get kind of a little bit

like kind of cranky after i think take 30 as we all yeah seriously i'm like we would get like sort of conspiratorial like what the hell is this guy doing but like it's all kind of like you know, we're just, we all know his process, but when you're in it, it can drive you great. Of course. Yeah. And I think no one knows it too. And he just sort of like, oh, this is what, you know. But it works for him, obviously. Yeah, for sure. And like I said, like everybody feels, you know, happy to be there and do it. Because it's nothing like any other experience that I've ever had doing that. Yeah. But also those relationships in Meyerowitz stories between you and Dustin Hoffman and Sandler and they're also complicated that I'm sure that brought

all sorts of different stuff to it, too. Yeah, I do think like that, that thing after you do it a number of times where you start to kind of explore it a little more. Have you done a lot of theater, Alia? No, it's funny, though. I just got kind of asked for something that I think I might do. Really? That's great.

But I don't know yet, 100%, so I won't talk about it. But I am like, I'm really into the idea of doing theater. Yeah, right? Yeah, yeah. Okay, yes. You should. It's called. You definitely should.

But, you know, like in theater, when you're doing a project. play, it's kind of like that where you're doing it over and over and over again. Yeah. Yeah. But, you know, it's just on a nightly basis. And you really do go so much deeper because you have to kind of figure out ways to make it fresh and new. And also you find things in the writing that maybe you wouldn't have found. Of course. Well, they say like theaters for the actor, TVs for the writer and movies are for the director, right? Or something like that. But I feel like I haven't really, I did the performance piece at Bam once called The Second Woman, where I was on stage for 24 hours. Oh. It was wild. And like I did the same scene with a hundred different men and I was dressed

up like Gina Rollins from opening night. And that's the name of the play in that movie. The second woman. For 24 hours? So for 24 hours I was on stage. Did you sleep at all? No. No, no. I was on stage the whole time. I would have two and a half hours. I'd have a break for like 10 or 15 minutes so I could pee and like eat like a piece of a chicken. And then there was these two directors, these Australian women who are amazing. And they were like, all right, you need to like really push the energy here and make sure it's this. But the idea is that you do the same scene over and over again with men to kind of, and then I was in this kind of mesh box that was being filmed. And there's a TV next to it, a screen. So it looked like a cinema at the same time, but like someone was filming it with a steady cam. And the audience,

yeah, could come, you know, of course, there's like three New Yorkers who brought like blankets and snacks and we're like, we're here the whole time. But otherwise it would like, come and go and it's like a study about like how men kind of look from the outside in a way because some people would react very differently than others from the same scene like how women get into situations with men where they just have to kind of do the same thing just to get through it exactly yeah and at the end like there's like Chinese food that I kind of like throw on them and some people kind of laugh and some are embarrassed and some get angry you know like or they know they're being watched because they weren't actors even though a couple actor friends of mine snuck in

So they were just men coming in. They would pick people up off the street, kind of, and make sure they weren't crazy. There was, like, one guy who was, like, I think he was just, like, acting and trying to make it seem like he was mean. And you were like, I wish this wasn't mesh. I wish this was a steel cage. Yeah, exactly. And I was like, I want to bring you home with me. No, but I was, like, genuinely, like, a little nervous, but I kind of, like, kicked him out, you know, because I can't say anything outside the dialogue, you know?

But it was like a social studies. It was really, really amazing. So that was the only thing. So you're playing off of all these different non-actors. Yeah, except Josh Hamilton came once and Chris Abbott. Oh, cool. And so that was cool, because they surprised me. They knew I was doing it.

And so when Josh came on, I was like, ah. And that was really fun. Chris Abbott played my son in the last play I did. Oh, no way. Like 15 years ago. Yeah, he's a great guy for a long time. Yeah, he's really good. But does that, in terms of how you react, I mean, like even doing it on the show,

on Severance, like working with Adam, you guys seem to have a very good, you know, kind of back and forth, you know, comedically, again, like, you know, going back to Arrested Development and also Search Party, it was just an amazing. So great. Oh, thanks, guys. Such a great, the tone in that show, so interesting, how it could go in, you know, from really funny to very serious to weird and out there. But tonally, you know, for Severance and working with Adam, what's it like kind of going

back and forth with him and did you feel like you, you know, had to kind of, was it sort of like just plugging into that or always like you guys. I got to say it was really hard. Um, no, I mean, all about Adam. Yeah, I just have to kind of work around his orbit. Um, no, I mean, you know, to talk about you here, but Adam's like the nicest guy and so giving to be the lead of this like, the most popular show on television. You know what I mean? It could be, it could be many different things. But we've met briefly before in different environments several times. So I felt like I was like, No, I know, Adam. But it's like always nerve-wracking coming on to, especially this, like, big set where it's like, there's a big crew and everyone has an important job to do. It's not this kind of like small, like, we'll figure it out. It's like, no, we show up and we do our thing. So it's always a little nerves. And then, but Adam was so welcoming. And it just felt like we were, had been on the show forever. You know, Adam was just so like joking and relaxed and sharing stuff with us. And I mean, I remember this one scene, which I don't even know actually made it, but where I had to do like a fake dance. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

And every take, talk about I didn't figure it out until the reverse. I was like, I could have done, I should have done one where I just, like, didn't move. I think I did that on your coverage. Yeah. And Adam was like, it was so fun. Like, I just, like, enjoyed trying to make Adam laugh as much as possible. And that was like, it's a really nice quality when someone encourages you and you're like, oh, I could just go for days. Oh, yeah.

Now I'm just like on a joke roll and it's a nice feeling because it's like gives you confidence to be loose and to have fun. It was super fun. I remember we just sort of, it was very, I felt like right at home with Allie. And I was like, oh man, I wish she was just on the show. I know, it was super fun. And then with Bob Balaban, who was like, you know, such a legend and everything he said was so funny. I know. It's just so beautiful.

Stefano. And Stefano's so good. Love Stefano. Yeah. You guys were just so specific and unique and I love that group. Totally, yeah. Now it's time for us to take a quick break. but when we come back, Ben, Alia, and I will answer some of your hotline questions.

We'll be right back. This episode is brought to you by Defender. With its 626 horsepower twin-turbo V8 engine, the Defender Octa is taking on the Dakar rally, the ultimate off-road challenge. Learn more at landrover.ca. new scrambled egg loaded croissant or is it croissant no matter how you say it start your day with freshly cracked scrambled eggs loaded on a buttery flaky croissant try it with maple brown butter today at tim's at participating restaurants in canada for limited time summer's here and you can now get almost anything you need for your sunny days delivered with uber eats what do we mean by almost well you can't get a well-groom lawn delivered but you can get a chicken parmesan delivered a cabana that's a no but a banana that's a yes a nice tan sorry nope But a box fan, happily yes.

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All right, let's go to some hotline question. Will you answer some hotline questions? Oh yeah. Wait, you guys really do? Oh, my God, that's so cute. Wow. How long have you guys been doing this? We've been doing this for like 18 years.

Yeah. Nice. So even before this was a show. Way before severance. We had a morning zoo show back in the 90s. I'm KX, PX. Giraffes. Morning drive time. Okay, let's go to our first hotline question.

Hi, Ben and Adam. This is Emily calling from New Orleans, where the heat endix in August is way hotter than the actual temperature. I'm a high school teacher. We just went back to school, and so I want to know what you think. our outies would have been like in high school? What kind of kids would they have been? And perhaps more broadly speaking, are there any characters on Severance who you think would have fit real like teenage archetypes such as the jock, the goth? All right. Thank you so much. Love you both. Praise here. I think Hellies would definitely be a goth, right? Yeah, I think that's an interesting

idea though of like the any sort of like their breakfast club sort of prototype. right or you know I think Irving seems like he's kind of the like poetic nerd kind of yeah poetic nerd intellectual yeah yeah um what about Mark? Mark maybe like teacher's pet yeah or like the nerd who ends up getting the girl right kind of vibe like right not not the Jed Nelson rebel I think that's Dylan okay the stoner Judd Nelson kind of guy yeah yeah okay but wait we're we're thinking of what the outies would what their high school archetype would be. No, I think it's what the Indies high school archetype would be.

Okay. Because the Aides wouldn't know. Right, right. But what was your, like, what were you in high school? Yeah. Each of you, yeah. Oh, gosh. What was I in high school?

I mean, since I was working, I was like a weird professional who would like leave town and then come back. And everyone's like, where were you? And I was like, oh, I was doing this show. And they were like, okay. Like, everyone was kind of mean to me. So did it make you like an other than? Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. I was really popular in middle school because I went to a small school and then high school, just like it all turned. Because you were gone for three months. Because I was gone and I was doing a rest of development and I would tell them like I was doing this show and they just kind of like, it was like they didn't believe me. Right. You know, they were like, oh, you're in L.A. And I was like, we just won an Emmy. And they were like, well, okay.

So they didn't watch your rest of development. No, no one watched it. No one in high school when I was doing high school. Now it's like kids love it. But when we were younger, we did go to these award shows, me and Michael in the cast, but nobody knew who we were. so no one really cared because we were like 16-year-olds, you know. But we went to the Golden Globes once, and we lost to Desperer Housewives. For comedy.

Yeah, I mean, literally for best comedy. They won every year. That's crazy. And I was just wasted. And I was like 16 years old. And I was just like drunk on champagne. And I had this like long chiffon dress. And we were just like walking around.

And I was going up to every celebrity like I saw Will Farrell. And I was like, I love you. You're so funny. You know? Or like, Ewan McGregor. I was like, oh, my God. I have a crush on you. I was just like a drunk child, you know?

And then I remember we were leaving and my mom, like we met up with my mom and she was like, I had a champagne flute and my clothes tells the story. I was just standing there and I just threw up in my champagne flute. It just like filled up the flute and my mom was like, you're drunk. And then I got home and like called my friend. I was like, I got drunk in the Golden Globes. And I was like so embarrassed. Oh my God.

That's funny. That's amazing. That's such a interesting dilemma for a kid. Yeah. I know. I felt very like I was living two lives. Like I wanted to go back to L.A. because I was, like, treated with respect. And Michael was like my best friend. And we would hang out. And then I'd go to the desert and all of a sudden just be like, I'm just like a regular kid again. I just kind of like shoved into this. And these dumb dums are treating you like shit. Yeah. Because I went to a private school. So it was kind of like annoying rich kids. But I had other really good friends. And I would say I became if I had to pick an archetype. I became like the stoner rebel. Yeah. I was like, I'm a badass. And I like to smoke weed. That's the coolest that to me. Yeah, it's pretty cool.

Adam, what were you in high school? I was like, I was a theater kid, but I was very conscious there was a real social stigma to being a theater kid. At my high school, they called them drama mags. You were up in Santa Cruz, right? Santa Cruz, yeah, yeah, yeah. Have you been to Santa Cruz? I've been camping there once. Oh, really?

I love it there, yeah. Henry Cowell? Yes, exactly. Really? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I also, I straddled being a theater kid, but also was on like the water polo. team and the swim team just because I didn't want to be complete my identity to be completely absorbed by directing and acting in plays and all that stuff so I was kind of doing both it was important to me

to like maintain some popularity and so I very well balanced yeah yeah it didn't totally work my grades were terrible because I was spending all my time maintaining this like social balance how about you bent I didn't really have an identity in high school It was, which is the worst thing. Like, I didn't fall into one group, you know. I had a bunch of friends. I was not the cool kid, for sure. But I also kind of had a similar sort of double life thing going on

because I would do, like, little acting things. Like I was on a soap opera for a few weeks. And I was auditioning and trying to get work. I wasn't really working that much. But, like, in my mind, it kind of, I just dissociated from my high school life. And it's like, no, this is really, like, what my real life is. Or my parents, you know, were actors. And I was going and hanging out with them where they were working and liking that so much more.

So I never really, like, fully engaged in high school. I had a bunch of friends. I was in a, you know, band in high school, but we weren't, again, not semi-nerdy, like the, you know, almost nerdy group, but not totally. When you feel like you rather be around adults when you're in high school, which I totally had, it's a disconnect. Yeah. You know, where you're just kind of like, I get along with adults better. I'm ready for the environment like I want to go you know like I'm doing stuff what am I doing yeah I don't want to wait here anymore I had that a lot and Ben did you were there other kids in

your school that were going off and like doing acting jobs or was that just like a completely weird thing for you to be doing you know upper west side same thing kind of like you know rich kids kind of school actually was a movie called rich kids that shot at our school wow oh my god it doesn't get more on the nose than that yeah John Lithgow yeah John Lithgow's like John Lithgow Trini Alvarado, and we were extras. That's the first thing I was ever in, actually. Wow. That's so cool.

But, yeah, there were kids who were, there weren't like any, you know, afterwards, Jordan Peel went to my high school. Oh, wow. Yeah, but during that time, there weren't really any. The closest thing was that Henry Winkler's niece went to school. Which is huge. Yeah, and I got a picture through her that was assigned Fonz's picture saying, to Ben, one man's ceiling is another man's.

floor, Henry Defonds Winkler sent to me. So cool. One man's ceiling is another one's floor. And then years later, I showed it to Henry Winkler, and he said, I never signed that. No, that's even more upsetting. He's like, I would never write a weird cryptic line like that. But

then he did send me a real autograph picture. Oh, wow. He's such a great guy. The nicest man to showbiz, I always say. He really is. Another amazing arrested development character. Oh, yeah. Oh, my God. Greatest. All right, let's go to to the second question.

Hi, Ben and Adam. This is Michelle calling. My question for you is, if you were a severed Lumen employee and feeling rebellious, what would you do to stick it to your Audi? Thank you. And praise care. I like how they all say praise care at the end. Yeah. Well, you have to. Otherwise, lightning will strike. Right, right, right. Do you think Gwendolyn, why, feels any resentment or anger or anything towards our Audi? You know, it's funny, there's like one shot in the second episode. In the second episode of me just like entering, yeah. And I had this like whole like idea of like what my Audi would. And I was like, I like the idea that my Audi was trying, like she was a smoker and like an addict to like she drank a lot or something.

And so when she would come in, Gwendolyn Wye would be kind of like hung over, but like not knowing why, you know, just be kind of like out of it. Which I never actually played. But I had this whole idea. I was like, it would be funny if from the outside they just get like fucked up, you know? And then they come in and they smell and the innie's like, what's wrong with me? Because they're usually so innocent the innies, you know? So I thought that was like as like a payback.

She would just like do all these drugs and get like kind of messy. And then I have to, or any would have to deal with the flip side of it. That's so cool. That's interesting. That's the flip side of the question. That's what Audi doing something to punish the. Oh, that's Audi.

Yeah. So what would the iny did the Audi? Right. I mean, you can do what Hellie almost did and like chop a finger off. Right. Right. That would really stick it to them. Or a bad.

Or a bad haircut or something. Bad haircut, that's a good one. Shave eyebrows off. Shaved eyebrows, hilarious. I remember seeing you when you came to shoot the Audi part. And I didn't have eyebrows. You didn't have your eyebrows? I was like, what is going on?

But you, that was like six months later or something when you came to do that, right? It was, it was longer after. Oh, it was? Yeah. Was it six months? Maybe. I have no idea. You had been there the whole time, which I remember being like, how are you?

Yeah. Are you still doing this? And weirdly, too, like on a personal. That's when I found out I was pregnant when I came back. Really? Yeah, because I was just there for a day. And I remember sitting there being like, what am I going to do? And do you have a two-year-old now?

Yeah, he's two. Incredible. I know, of course. Congratulations. That's amazing. That's incredible. People have kids all the time. Yeah, it happens all the time.

It's really nuts. But when you have one, you're like, wow. Yeah. Now everything's different. That's right. Well, thanks for coming and talking to us. Yeah, thanks for having me. This is super fun.

So nice. Really nice to see you guys again. Congratulations on such a masterpiece, truly. Well, thanks for being a part of it. Thank you, guys. Praise cure. And that's it for the episode. The Severance Podcasts with Ben and Adam will be back next week with one final episode for you.

The Severance podcast with Ben Stiller and Adam Scott is a presentation of Odyssey, Red Hour Productions, and Great Scott. If you like the show, be sure to rate and review this podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or your other podcast platform of choice. It really makes a difference. If you've got a question about Severance, call our hotline, 212-830-3816. We just might play your voicemail and answer your question on the podcast. Our executive producers are Barry Finkel, Gabrielle Lewis, Naomi Scott, and Leah Reese Dennis. This show is produced by Ben Goldberg. It's mixed and mastered by Chris Basil.

We have additional engineering from Hobby Cruces. Show clips are courtesy of fifth season. Music by Theodore Shapiro. Special thanks to the team at Odyssey, Mora Curran, Eric Donnelly, Michael LeVay, Melissa Wester, Kate Rose, Kurt Courtney, and Hillary Schuff. And the team at Red Hour, John Lesher, Carolina Pesikov, Jean-Pablo Antonetti,

Ashwin Ramesh, Maria Noto, John Baker, and Sam Lyon. And at Great Scott, Kevin Cotter, Josh Martin, and Christy Smith at Rise Management. I'm Ben Stiller. And I'm Adam Scott. Thank you for listening.