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It’s hard to imagine Seth Milchick being late for anything. The manager of the “severed” floor in Apple TV+’s darkly satirical workplace thriller “Severance,” Mr. Milchick, as he is mostly known, is the consummate company man. He is a silky-voiced, coldhearted enforcer and is punctilious to the point of menace.
Much less is known about the actor who plays him, Tramell Tillman. Before “Severance,” his résumé consisted mostly of minor TV roles and theater. So when he agreed to meet on a recent weekday afternoon at Manhattanville Coffee, near his apartment in Upper Manhattan, I couldn’t help but half expect him to be waiting for me there, hands folded on the table, wearing a mouth-only smile that barely cloaked his disappointment that I hadn’t shown up earlier.
Instead, something much more charming, less android-like, had happened: Tillman had gone to the wrong Washington Heights location of Manhattanville.
He texted: “I’ll come to you.” Ten minutes later, he blew in the door, apologetic as he unwrapped himself from a thick scarf, ski cap and tan utility jacket. “My bad,” he said. “It’s been a crazy week.”
One got the impression it had been a crazy few years for Tillman since the debut of his breakout role in “Severance,” a disturbingly allegorical sci-fi series that follows a group of workers who have had their consciousness “severed” into discrete work and home selves.
The show was an instant cultural phenomenon, and a critical darling, when it premiered in 2022 — a particularly claustrophobic time for many, when distinctions between home and office life were rapidly collapsing.
The show returned for Season 2 last month to a bigger role for Milchick — the new head of Lumon Industries’ “severed floor” — and more rave reviews: The New York Times’s chief TV critic, James Poniewozik, called it “the most ambitious, batty and all-out pleasurable show on TV,” praising Tillman in particular for his charisma as the show’s “cheerfully menacing manager.”
But with new responsibilities come new difficulties, and Milchick is showing signs of losing his grip. In Episode 5, which premiered this week, Milchick is given his first performance review as the new department chief, which doesn’t go as hoped. Not only is he criticized for his paper clip usage, he must also navigate racial microaggressions. As he grapples with his own frustrations, a more human side begins to peek through.
“You see Milchick finding his voice this season,” Tillman said.
In person, Tillman, 39, looked both older and younger than the character he plays. Gone were the Afro, sideburns and mustache; at the cafe, he wore short hair and a full beard flecked with gray. Like Milchick, Tillman has impeccable manners, though he smiles a lot more — with his full face — and he laughs easily and doesn’t seem the type to self-flagellate in the mirror.
“I’m more loose, relaxed,” said Tillman, who grew up in Largo, Md., the youngest of five, but has called New York City home for the past decade. “And Milchick is very upright, straight.”
As snow flurries began to dot the sidewalk outside, Tillman discussed his inspiration for Milchick, his character’s motivations and the odds that we might see more of his sick dance skills in Season 2.
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