Ben Stiller Has A Strict Rule On The Set Of Severance

Though primarily known as a comedy actor, Ben Stiller has maintained a steady behind-the-scenes presence as a director and a producer for decades, and he puts these talents to great use on TV’s trippiest mind-bender, “Severance.” But that’s not all he brings to the table. 

Stiller has been known to complement his comedic roles with artsier fare, including Wes Anderson’s 2001 comedy-drama “The Royal Tenenbaums” and Noah Baumbach’s 2010 romantic comedy “Greenberg.” He also seems to have kept his eyes open when it came to working methods, taking influences from acclaimed filmmakers that he could later use on his own sets. During an appearance on Mike Birbiglia’s podcast “Working It Out,” Stiller revealed that a certain restriction Baumbach used on set inspired him to forbid certain things while filming. In the case of “Severance,” the thing he doesn’t allow on the set is phones:  

“Crew have to use phones sometimes to communicate, but, for me, I like no phones anywhere near the eyeshot of the actors at all. My least favorite thing is to see like a dolly grip guy hunched down while an actor is acting their brains out, and he’s scrolling or whatever.”

Stiller’s initial inspiration from banning objects on his sets comes from Noah Baumbach’s penchant for making sure that his “Greenberg” set had no chairs whatsoever, which Stiller says helped people keep their eye on the ball. Having experienced this approach firsthand, he liked the idea so much that he used it himself while directing the 2013 adventure comedy “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.” 

Stiller’s “Severance” phone ban received immediate support on “Working It Out.” The show’s star Adam Scott, who also appeared on the podcast, confirmed that he can indeed normally spot phones from the corner of his eye while working on other projects, and Birbiglia agreed that a phone-free policy is great. The “Severance” set isn’t the only one to impose such limitations, either — phones happen to be the one object director Denis Villeneuve has banned from his movie sets, and they’re also one of the two things Christopher Nolan bans from his. That being said, Stiller wanted to make clear that phone bans or not, he respects and recognizes the work the crew puts in, and it’s his duty to sell his methods to everyone: 

“These people are actually working really hard, and you have to figure out how to motivate them to want to be on the team. They haven’t been with the script that you’ve been writing for five years. They just came on last week. So, it’s on you as a director to figure out a way to get everybody on board. Like, ‘Hey, we want to try do something here that might be a little different, and these are the things we’re going for.”

New episodes of “Severance” season 2 hit AppleTV+ on Fridays.