Every Severance fan has Ben Stiller to thank for saving Apple from themselves by preventing them from ruining our favorite show. In the second episode of The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott, the co-hosts reveal the story of how Apple didn’t want Scott to play the lead role of Mark Scout, in part because they didn’t see him as a big enough star.
The world found out that Apple had given a series order to Severance, with Scott attached as the lead, in early November 2019, a week after Apple TV+ officially debuted. In the podcast episode, Stiller implies they were working on Severance before the streamer’s existence was publicly announced, as he described the early experience as “developing this show for a platform that didn’t exist yet.” What we didn’t know at the time the series order made news is that Apple wasn’t convinced Scott should be Mark, and a year went by with no new developments on the show because they were trying to figure out how to get Apple on board with Scott starring.
“There was a long process of talking about other ideas. But, really, I was not going to do the show if [Scott] wasn’t going to do it. I kept saying that to them, and they were like, ‘Okay, maybe you’ll think of this actor. Maybe you’ll think of that actor,’” Stiller recalls.
Stiller was confused as to why the bigwigs at Apple were dragging their feet on accepting Scott, but changed their minds once they saw Scott read for the part. Taking it all in stride, Scott humbly admits his star power might not have been enough for the Apple head honchos. “I understood why they were feeling this way because, the first time I read this script, my first instinct was: ‘There’s no way I’m going to end up doing this. This is too good,’” Scott explains. “If I was Apple, I would likely be wanting a giant star to play this role.”
Since Apple came to their senses, Scott has gone on to garner an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series and a Golden Globe nomination for Beat Actor in a Television Series — Drama for his impeccable portrayal of Mark on Severance. Apple were saved from themselves, and we all have Stiller and his year-long persistence to thank for it.
