If you’re looking for a soothing show like Parks and Recreation, Adam Scott‘s latest project Severance isn’t for you.
The Apple TV+ series is Black Mirror-esque, inspiring feelings of claustrophobia and discomfort—so it’s essentially the complete opposite of the beloved sitcom.
The Ben Stiller-directed series follows Lumon Industries employee Mark Scout (Scott), who elects to undergo the Severance procedure. It’s a controversial operation that surgically divides memories between an employee’s work life and personal life. The Lumon employees call these separate versions of themselves their “Innies” and “Outies.”
Everyone has their reasons for going under the knife, but for Mark, he chose to be Severed to escape the sadness of losing his wife. In forgetting this part of his life, Scott explained in an exclusive interview with E! News that Mark’s innie turns into a “fresh and innocent” person, while the outie remains a jaded 40-something.
Obviously, portraying these different personalities within one person was a “challenge” for the star, but a welcome one at that. “It was always just sort of a math problem to be working out every day,” he explained. “Either subtracting or adding between the two and what’s going on and how that might manifest itself physically.”