The sex scene between Mark (Adam Scott) and Helly (Britt Lower) in Season 2, Episode 4 of Severance sparked considerable discussion, especially when it was discovered that Helly was actually Helena Eagan disguised as herself.
With Mark’s outie in the equation, along with the dynamics between Ms. Casey/Gemma (Dichen Lachman), the scene ended up involving a total of six individuals, or so it seemed initially.
In the recent episode of The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott, it was disclosed that a seventh person played an active role in Mark and Helena’s alluring yet slightly unnerving moment: Stiller himself. Apparently, he was so immersed in directing Episode 204, titled “Woe’s Hollow,” that he accidentally landed on top of Lower and Scott in the midst of filming the scene.
“I was directing the love scene in the tent in Episode 4. And Jessica [Lee Gagńe], our cinematographer, said to me, ‘I think maybe you should operate the camera for the scene, because it’s gonna be very intimate and close, and you’re gonna know what you want, and it’s gonna be handheld, so you should get in there and do it that way for the actors,’” Stiller explained.
Pre-wipeout, Scott was incredibly relieved to learn the scene was just going to include him, Lower, and Stiller — though an intimacy coordinator was also consulted. “Love scenes are always awkward, but that made it just easier and just less to worry about,” Scott said.
“At least, that’s what you thought,” Stiller joked. “Because I get in there with the camera, and it’s a tent, and we had it on the sound stage. We’re in the tent, and the tent has an air mattress that you guys are on… I don’t know if you’ve ever stepped on an air mattress, but they’re hard to get your balance. So when we are holding a camera, a heavy camera, and you’re not a professional camera operator, it is…”
“I go in there with the camera, and you guys are there on the mattress, and it’s just the light from the heater, and it’s really beautiful,” Stiller said. “The shots are beautiful. You guys are starting to do it. I’m starting to move around, trying to be motivated by what I’m seeing in the scene. And then I want to go in closer and closer, and I’m stepping forward, and I step on the air mattress, and I literally fall on top with my camera.”
“To paint the picture a little bit,” Scott interjected, “I was laying down, and Britt was on top of me at this point, and suddenly she just like falls right on top of me. And Ben is on top of her. The three of us are like, in a pile suddenly.”
“It was so ridiculous,” Stiller laughed. “And here I am trying to be like, Mr. Cool Director Guy. I’ve just become Klutzy Ben falling on top of two actors. It was so embarrassing.”
If the story sounds familiar, Scott thinks that’s because it’s something that could easily happen to one of the comedic characters Stiller has portrayed on-screen. “Honestly, it felt like something from a Ben Stiller movie,” Scott said. “I can’t escape my Ben Stillerness, even when I try,” the Severance director admitted.
When Scott suggested this particular Ben character was a cinematographer in a romantic comedy, Stiller added, “It’s not Bendo. It’s Klutzo The Cameraman.”
In conclusion? Scott thought the accident “was so funny” and Stiller “did not did not operate anymore for the rest of the shoot.”
Now that we have this knowledge, we’ll never look at that sex scene the same way again.
For more Severance Season 2 insights be sure to read Decider’s “5 Things You May Have Missed In Severance Season 2, Episode 6″ and check out the rest of our coverage of the series.
New episodes of Severance Season 2 premiere Fridays on Apple TV+.
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