Severance’s Zach Cherry Talks This Week’s “Bizarre Moment” For Dylan G.

How did you think about playing outie Dylan’s reaction to Gretchen’s confession that she and innie Dylan kissed?

It is tough because we also didn’t spend as much time with my outie this season. We definitely got to learn a lot more about him, but he is still the other guy in terms of amount of time spent. And I think I was definitely cognizant of not wanting to make him just a total drip or whatever, especially given that one of the primary distinctions between them is their confidence. But also, it’s just such a bizarre moment for him because he has been totally unaware that any of this was going on. We see a few moments throughout the season where he’s asking, “Hey, how’d it go?” And she’s being a little evasive in her answers. So it’s this moment of, “Oh, that’s what was going on.”

Also, I think it’s pretty clear that they’re maybe not in the best place in their relationship prior to this. There’s clearly been distancing and coming apart. So, I think it’s a wake-up call to him, and he’s a little shocked and confused and probably overreacts a little bit, given that in some ways it is still him. It’s complicated. But yeah, I do think it’s an understandable reaction to just having that information dropped on you right before you’re about to go to work.

When you’re reading the scripts do you personally try to figure out the mindfuck that is Severance like the viewers are doing?

It’s a lot to keep track of when you’re trying to remember, what does the innie know? What does the outie know? What has the innie just experienced? Because sometimes, not for me as much this season, but Britt [Lower] had so much happening this season where the last thing that happened to her innie was seven episodes ago because her innie wasn’t with us. We definitely do a lot of tracking [of] that kind of math—of what just happened, [and] what’s coming.

Has there been a little bit of heartbreak for you, given that the core four group of characters aren’t working as closely together as they were in season one?

That was actually genuinely a bummer this season. On season one, so much of my stuff was with all four of us and Tramell [Tillman], and Patricia [Arquette] would often be there. But it was very much me, John [Turturro], Britt, and Adam [Scott]. Almost all my scenes were the four of us. And then this season, in the first couple episodes, you have some of that, but then various things start pulling us apart. And Dylan gets really isolated by this carrot of his family visitation, and then you have that moment where they reveal the new desk setup, and it’s only three desks. That stuff genuinely was a bummer, because we do really like working with each other. We would be like, “Man, it sucks that John isn’t around for this scene.” When we were shooting his little in-office funeral, genuinely, it was like, “Ah, man—wish he was here.” So yeah, that stuff, we definitely felt that.

How did you feel when you found out that Dylan’s innie wanted to resign?

Like I said, I think he hasn’t had these life experiences before, so he has very big emotions and he’s lashing out. That’s someone who he feels safe with, and so this is his opportunity to express his frustration or whatever. I think it’s understandable.

Did you have fun playing outie Dylan or was it just strange?

Definitely both. Because I spent so much time with innie early on, I certainly had an initial, not preference exactly, but affinity for the innie, because that’s who I got used to. But it was fun playing the outie and it was fun figuring out what they share and what they don’t share. And then it was really fun seeing the gap between them get a little closer together over the course of the season.