Britt Lower faces an exacting challenge in Severance season two. Unlike her co-stars, who play their innies and outies separately, Lower has to mesh Helena Eagan and Helly R. together as confusingly as possible. At least she did until the end of episode four, when the MDR team discovers that their company’s higher-up is pretending to be their friend. In one of the show’s finest hours, Helena’s joyride as her severed version ends with a bang.This arc allows Lower to deliver an intricate performance, leaving clues along the way for fans to figure out if it’s Helena or Helly R. taking walks with Mark S. (Adam Scott) and comforting Irving B. (John Turturro) with an awkward hand touch. In fact, Lower believes everyone should rewatch season two before episode five arrives to revisit it with a fresh lens.
The A.V. Club spoke to Lower about preparing for this wild twist, what she thinks Helena Eagan might really be like, and why—like all of us—she’s relieved to have Helly R. back.
The A.V. Club: How did you prepare for Helena pretending to be Helly R. for multiple episodes?
Britt Lower: Speaking to season two, I knew the arc of the whole season in advance, so I was aware of what was happening in the first four episodes, as were the rest of the cast. It was something we worked really closely with Dan Erickson and Ben Stiller, too, to figure out the levels to which it was apparent or not what was going on with her. It’s hard to put it into words, but I saw Helena’s goal as blending in [at MDR], so that was our goal, too. And Helena succeeds to a certain extent because Helly R. is part of her, a more pure and unmediated part of her.
It begs the question: Are the times when we’re seeing Helena on the outside, is that the true her? So I tried to think about what the two share. Helena on the outside is having to compose herself; she’s done it her whole life as part of this high-control company and high-control family. Her inner rebel or inner child has been really stamped down. So something affects her about seeing Helly R. in those videos and seeing how her MDR team responds to her, connects with her, or looks at her. She’s getting a front-row seat to that in these first four episodes.
AVC: Is that why Helena erupts in laughter when Milchick narrates the Kier and Dieter mythology from the book?
BL: Yeah, with Helly R. as her lens through which she’s seeingthe world, she has permission to act out and she’s enjoying it. Maybe she’s been wanting to laugh at these mythological scriptures her whole life, and here’s her chance.
AVC: Is it a relief to have Helena’s identity revealed as early as episode four? How does it play out in the rest of season two?
BL: To me, the placement made a lot of sense. I also think outie Irving’s training and experience just lends itself well to his innie picking up clues about Helena. Hopefully, when Helly R. comes back properly now, it will be to a sense of having missed her. I certainly felt that as an actor. It felt really good to be back in her perspective in a clearer sense after episode four. There’s a rollercoaster ahead that I feel like no one is ready for. I think what’s cool now is that you can and should go back and rewatch the first four episodes to pick up on new things before you dive into five.
AVC: Yes, it’s fascinating to revisit why Helena does certain things as Helly, like helping Mark with the goats and in his search for his wife.
BL: That’s interesting you brought that part up. Iwould say Helly R. would help Mark either way. I’ve heard other people debate whether or not she would, but I think Helly R. would help find Miss Casey because she is one of them. In the case [of episode three], I think it was Helena doing what she thought Helly would do.
AVC: What do you think are the implications of Helena lying to Mark and not telling him who she is before having sex with him?
BL: It’s less important what I think about it and more about what the audience receives from that. One of the big questions of the series is who has autonomy over their bodies. Is it the outie, the innie, or both? And questions of free will and consent are cracked open here very delicately. But I will say that Helena’s never experienced that kind of interaction before with anyone. There’s a kind of humanity and a warmth to what she experiences in those episodes, especially and obviously with Mark. There’s something unspoken and there’s some kind of connection between those two people.
AVC: You also share some big moments with John Turturro, ranging from sneering silence at the campsite to him trying to drown you. What was it like to collaborate with him and get the stunt choreography in that final scene?
BL: It was a real gift. We have a real friendship and trust with one another. When you’re filming in literal dangerous elements, with freezing cold water and slippery ice in the wilderness, it’s important to work closely with one another to come up with the choreography and feel really safe so that we can go to where we need to go emotionally. John is a true pro and just a role model of mine. It’s like that with Patricia Arquette, too, especially in season two as we’re both on a tightrope together, balancing and listening and creating tension between Helena and Cobel.
AVC: Speaking of filming in the wilderness, did you all spend a lot of time outdoors while making this episode? What was it like to have this change of pace?
BL: We were in Minnewaska State Park in upstate New York for almost a month—actually over a month, in the elements from sunrise to sundown. So we were filming more swiftly than we typically do and with a smaller crew because we had to take all-terrain vehicles up this mountain every day to get to our location. It was a true team-building experience for us, actually, as actors. But also it was really beautiful to be in these expansive natural environments as a contrast to the fluorescent low ceilings of MDR.
AVC: As a performer, how do you distinguish Helena and Helly R. in your head as you approach playing them?
BL: Just the way Helly R. moves through the world is quite different than Helena. Even [with] Helena posing as Helly R., there’s a difference in the way they move. It’s pretty fascinating to be inside of all that. These two parts of the same person share an inner life, an inner landscape, but they have a different set of circumstances. Some of that overlap is that they’re both trapped in different ways. But again, Helly R. isn’t bogged down by all of the conditioning, ego, and obligation of her family structure. I use the analogy that they sound like different music in my head, maybe by the same musician, but different albums or different songs within that album.Another analogy I think of is Adobe Photoshop. It’s the same image, but you’re manipulating the saturation or the intensity in a variety of ways.
AVC: Did you look at any other pieces of media or performances of actors playing twins or multiple roles for inspiration as you approached playing Helena and Helly?
BL: Early on I was researching how people who experience amnesia move through the world. There’s a 2019 documentary called Tell Me Who I Am about a set of identical twins. One of them is in—I think it’s a motorcycle accident, and he loses his memories. So the documentary is really about these two brothers, and you see how having one’s memories erased affects this one. I thought about how similar that is to the severance procedure. You’re still carrying sort of the same memories in your body somewhere, but you’re not aware of them consciously.
