Helly R. was [REDACTED] this whole time???
This piece bear major spoilers for the finis ofSeverance .
Severance , the Apple TV+ mystery - box show set almost wholly within the basement of an office building whose employee " sever " parts of their minds away from the whole , built up its tension episode by episode , culminating in a finale with Book of Revelation that raised more motion than they answered . In other words , a perfect concluding instalment to the first season of a show we hope goes on for at least 10 more . ( Earlier this calendar week , the show was formally renewed for Season 2 . )
After nail their workplace for the after part , the " innies " of Lumon Industries ' Macrodata Refinement scheme viawaffle partyto activate the " overtime eventuality , " releasing their discerp self into their bodies in the real universe to attempt to make signified of who they really are . Amid a doomed love story and one dead - wife - who - is - very - much - live shocker , one Lumon employee gets a lot more than she dicker for . To make a picayune sense of all this madness , Thrillist spoke to Britt Lower , who play both rebellious cut off innie Helly R. and her " outie , " who deform out to be none other than Lumon Industries heiress Helena Eagan — a big reveal that was just as distressful and exciting for low as it was for the residual of us .
Apple TV+
Thrillist : When did you find out who Helly really was?Britt Lower : I do n’t know the exact moment , but it was definitely after the sense of hearing . And pretty too soon on in the operation of developing the character . I eff the broad strokes , but not a lot of details .
How much that noesis went into you developing Helly as the total contrary of who she change by reversal out to be?When I was playact " innie " Helly , it behooved me to have less data about who I was on the outside because that ’s one of her main motivators is to get out and to recover out who she is . So , while I was in the business office , I try out to blank out everything I knew about Helena Eagan and focus on being in a state of discovery . In terms of developing the characters , they are the same person . I remember about it as sort of nature versus nurture . And that Helly on the inside is representing more of an i d type of vim , whereas Helena is more of the ego . What she ’s experienced from the outside , all of her conditioning and the indoctrination of the company that she ’s grown up in . And so for me , innie Helly was really representing the rebellious side of Helena Eagan on the outside , which may or may not have ever been evince before .
I love the way that all of you flirt your innie self as children . You ’re adult , but you also have these very childlike ways of come across position and deal with each other . Yeah , utterly . We ’re all these original in a kindergarten classroom . There ’s the teacher ’s dearie . There ’s the rule follower . There ’s the course clown . And then there ’s Helly , who desire to hold authority at all monetary value .
Apple TV+
Always one of those in the kindergarten class . Yeah . And she does n’t care what anyone thinks .
I really love the moral force between all of you guys in the federal agency . What was it like , developing all of that?It was a process of find in all of our relationship . Zach Cherry [ who plays Dylan ] and I both add up from the improv comedy cosmos and we kind of descend into a natural backchat too soon on . That was a nice surprise that was n’t necessarily on the page . I think Helly and Dylan kind of see each other in that neither of them in reality buy into the party ’s , you know , spiritual aspect . But they go at it in a very different path . Dylan is thinking he ’s gaming the system , but he does n’t really handle about the Lumon principles . I recall they see eye to eye in that regard . It ’s so fun , becausethat set is so sparse , that you ’re getting a very sterile surroundings with which to diddle . It almost feels like you ’re on a theatre solidification . So , the most interesting affair is your connection to the other humans in the space .
Helly is kind of the hero of the show . She ’s the one who comes in and directly tries to get out . And then she finds out that she ’s fundamentally the arch scourge of the whole operation . The environment is so drastically unlike than inside the office . She wakes up and she ’s at this grand event fag a fancy night-robe , and smother by — I think we counted 45 image of innie Helly on these immense rotating cube . I entail , just as a person , see myself like that is appall . Like , Brobdingnagian paradigm of you circumvolve around . It was like being in a crazy funhouse , seeing yourself reflected back to yourself . It was totally recursive . I ’m seem at image of myself , she ’s consider a television of herself in the middle of the room . I just stress to stay in the moment and be truthful to the experience of look at your bad incubus come to life .
I suppose that help Helly on the inside being as malcontent as she is . It makes gumption that she grow up in the culture of Lumon , and that she has this unstated , repressed rebellion internally . I thought that was a really beautiful way of life to be the idea that we crush aspect of ourselves , and that she ’s compartmentalize . When she wakes up take in no memory of growing up in a system that is altogether controlling , that was n’t a part of her before . It just was strangle .
That ’s frankly one of the coolest part of look out this and watching you guy wire play parts of people , but as whole people themselves . I did a lot of enquiry early on about memory loss . I watched this really beautiful infotainment calledTell Me Who I Amabout these matching comrade , one of whom is in an chance event and wakes up with no retentivity of who he is . You were kind of find out the nature versus bringing up in these two twins . And Helly is a totally full human being on the inside . She just has lose all of her conditioning .
For me , it speaks to that thing we ’ve all experienced , when we ’ve looked back on something in our life or something we tell , and had the experience of being like , " That ’s not me . I ca n’t believe I said that . I ca n’t believe I did that . " This is the utmost version .
How much do you bang about what ’s plan tentatively in the future?I’m as in the darkness as you are .
Great . Well , my next interrogative is , do you have any crazy theories about what could occur next?All I can say is that I ’m activated to know what they learn from each other , Helena and Helly . Is an integration of ego potential ? We ’ve view it go horribly wrong with Petey . I have way more question than answers .
Going back to the rest of the show in general , was there a picky aspect or a minute that when you study it and you were really , really excited about it?It ’s not fair to say the whole matter . Getting to step into a character ’s point of view , who values her freedom and self-reliance above all else , feel so timely . And I love that , from the first setting waking up on top of an place table , I fuck that Helly is straight off courageous .
Yeah , she immediately tries to go out the door . She ’s instinctual . She ’s feral . Getting to play a soul who is so determined to get what she want is such a thrill . And on top of that , the writing is so funny at the same time . So there is a sense of humor in the midst of the dark circumstance . I sleep together how Dan Erickson , the author , has blend in tones , so that you have something incredibly grounded and terrifying that Helly ’s moving through . But she ’s also a bang-up commentator , and she has a sense of humor .
I do n’t even know if there ’s an answer to this question , or if I ’m just reading way too much into it . You wear a lot of blue and unripe in the show . Is there a significance to that beyond keep to an aesthetic?I do n’t know how much of this has been fleshed out or is public knowledge , but there is a Lumon uniform . I ’m sure this is ok to say . There ’s an melodic theme that there ’s this storage where you go and you buy your work attire . So it ’s all Lumon - issued clothing . And , it ’s interesting , wear was a Brobdingnagian aspect of what motivated my portrayal of Helly , and I ’m not even being cheeky about it . There ’s a unpermissiveness to the clothing . She ’s outwear pantyhose , and if you ’ve ever wear thin pantyhose , you know that if you never get to take them off , you ’re going to be pretty angry .
Very sweaty . And she literally never gets to go home and put on pajamas . Can you conceive of ?
That ’s what blow my intellect about it all . That ’s it for them . Yeah , so here she is in this uncomfortable billet attire . I mean , they made it as well-fixed as potential for us as actor . But there was something really inspiring about being like , this is the only case of clothing I ever get to fag out . And I did n’t even take it . I did n’t do my own hairsbreadth this morning . I did n’t put on the shoe . I essay to permit Helly take her shoes off as much as potential . That ’s a little Easter egg .
I have it away that . I was dying to let the cat out of the bag about this sequence . And I ’m glad I got to verbalize about it with you . No , you ’re great . I trust I was tenacious . And yeah , thanks so much for being a fan of the show . Hopefully we get some answers in Season 2 .
We had better or I ’m gon na have to do something drastic . You’re going to turn into Helly .
