'Severance' director Ben Stiller on work-life balance — and why he stopped acting
Imagine if you could undergo a procedure that separated memories of your personal life from your work life. You would no longer be able to recall anything about your job while not physically there, and vice versa.
That’s the central conceit of Severance, Apple TV+’s acclaimed new darkly comedic thriller series produced and directed by Ben Stiller and starring Adam Scott as a mind-altered employee at the presumably nefarious Lumon Industries.
The show’s satirical stabs at corporate America (imagine Office Space filtered through Joel and Ethan Coen) challenge the notion of “work-life balance,” which both Stiller and Scott, admittedly entertainers and not desk jockeys, still found relatable.
“It’s tricky being in entertainment because it's sort of always with you. You're always thinking about it,” Scott (Parks and Recreation, Big Little Lies) told us during a virtual interview alongside Stiller (watch above). “And if you're an actor and somewhat recognizable, you're always being reminded of who you are and what you do. And it's not like you can just take the briefcase with work in it and put it down and walk away. … Sometimes wanting to just kind of shut one part down and be able to focus on the other is I think something everyone can relate to.”
“Especially when you're in a business where there aren't set work hours and a movie or a role can take you on location or away, you have to figure all this stuff out in your life,” Stiller says. “I think, for me, over the years, I've gotten better at it and really understanding how to prioritize what's important in my life, on both sides. But it's definitely been a challenge for me, for a long time.”
One thing Stiller hasn’t prioritized recently is acting. The star of There’s Something About Mary and Dodgeball hasn’t headlined a film since the well-received 2017 dramedy Brad’s Status. (He did make a surprise cameo as Happy Gilmore’s malicious orderly Hal L in the 2020 Adam Sandler comedy Hubie Halloween and also reprised his role of rival magician Tony Wonder in two episodes of Arrested Development’s return in 2018 and 2019).
But Stiller has shifted his focused to directing and producing, with much success. He was nominated for an Emmy for directing the 2018 limited series Escape at Dannemora, and his Red Hour Productions company has produced films like The Polka King (2017) and Plus One (2019), as well as the CW series In the Dark.
“It’s been a few years [since I acted],” he notes. “It hasn't been totally intentional except I really do enjoy directing and producing. I am getting to the point now where I am kind of missing acting a little bit and would like to figure out how to do something again.”
Speaking of work/life balance, Stiller points to the various projects he directed and starred in, films like Reality Bites (1994), The Cable Guy (1996), Zoolander (2001), Tropic Thunder (2008) and Zoolander 2 (2016).
“And I really decided recently, or probably about five years ago, that I didn't wanna do that anymore and just do one thing at a time. And lately I've been exploring projects [and] making things as a director and producer, and I’ve been very happy with that. But I really do look forward to acting again one of these days.”
Severance is now streaming on Apple TV+.
— Video produced by Anne Lilburn and edited by John Santo
Watch the trailer:
