Who is the ‘Severance’ child boss? Actress Sarah Bock tells everything

SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers for Season 2, Episode 1 of “Severance,” now streaming on Apple TV+.

When 15-year-old Sarah Bock first read the script for the second season premiere of “Severance” in 2022, all she knew about her character was a job title: the “newest deputy manager” of Lumon Industries – a company A position that seems way too grown up to be played by a high school student who barely looks old enough to be an office intern, let alone the boss.

Of course that was the point. “I didn’t know much about her other than her position, but I did know she was unusually young,” says Bock, now an 18-year-old freshman at Northwestern University. Variety about what creator Dan Erickson and director/executive producer Ben Stiller told her about the role. “But they said at the audition that she might have a little more control than she seems, which was kind of my first clue to her strange but definitely strong-willed personality.”

Bock’s Mrs. Huang — yes, she did get a name eventually — is one of the strangest storylines in the second season premiere, and there are a lot of them. After Harmony Cobel (Patricia Arquette) is removed from her position as manager of the severed floor, she is replaced by Seth Milchick (Tramell Tillman), who is then taken over by Mrs. Huang. Although her exact age is never revealed – “She’s definitely younger than my actual age, but I don’t know exactly how old she is,” Bock says – it’s clear that she’s a child with an uncanny sense of daring that she summons to to be the boss of her much older subordinates.

Bock says she felt imposter syndrome on her first day on set alongside older, seasoned actors like Adam Scott and John Turturro, but she had to shake the feeling to deliver a convincing performance — because Ms. Huang clearly never felt professional. fraud per day in her life.

Our beloved innies – Mark (Adam Scott), Helly (Britt Lower), Dylan (Zach Cherry) and Irving (John Turturro) – are as confused about her presence as we are. “Like, why is she 8?” Dylan Mark asks in a whisper and concern as they follow her through one of Lumon’s many endless tunnel-like corridors.

At this point, we know we will never get a straight answer from Ms. Huang herself. Earlier in the episode, when Mark W. (Bob Babalan) asks her point-blank, “Why are you a kid?” during an icebreaker game, she looks at him with a stone face: “Because of when I was born…?” Psychologists are currently using the scene as a case study for gaslighting.

Below, Bock explains the Season 2 premiere of “Severance,” how she mastered her sinister appearance and how Ms. Huang evolved after reading her first script.

Did you see the first season when it came out?

No, I hadn’t seen it before, but I had heard of it because my parents were super fans of the show. I walked into the living room a few times while they were watching Season 1, and I was like, “What is this?” But once I got the audition, I listened to the entire series that day and stayed up until 4 a.m. because I wanted to get a sense of the tone. But I didn’t expect to become so addicted to it. I just had to watch everything because I became a fan and I was obsessed and I had to know what was happening.

How has Ms. Huang changed from your original script?

She was a little more like what you would expect from a normally behaving child, maybe a little nervous or timid and out of her element. But as we were playing with it, even on my first day of filming, I didn’t know exactly what they wanted the character to be, but there was a specific moment where we were doing the ball game scene with Mark S. Ben said I had to stare at Mark for a really long time, almost like an eye contact contest. He said, “If it feels like you’re staring too long, stare for three seconds longer.” And it was in that moment that I started to understand who she was, and started to understand that maybe she’s not the typical teenager in this situation – she’s a little bit more powerful than that.

What was your audition process like and what scene did you read?

I got my first self-tape at the end of August 2022 and we started filming in October 2022 – so it’s definitely been a super long process. The first step was my self-recording, which was pretty much word for word the ball game scene in it [the first episode]. And I think a month later I had a Zoom call with Ben, and then some producers, and I think Atingley4 Than [Erickson] there might have been. And a month after that they flew me to New York and I met Tramell in person and read the ballgame scene with him, which was so much fun. I read that with Ben and Tramell and they played different characters. And then there was a scene that’s not in the show that I read with Tramell, where I think I sent someone to the break room.

How much did you know about Ms. Huang and where she was going in the story while you were filming?

I think at the beginning of season 1 they had all the scripts to go. But for Season 2, the process was a little different: I think we got the first three or four, but the rest came as the months went by, so we didn’t necessarily know where the season was going. So it was definitely a lot of theorizing, at least on my part, and when I read the scripts I didn’t know what would happen next. It was definitely super mysterious. And there were a lot of rewrites and just changes in terms of plot. So that made things a little bit confusing at times because we were shooting out of order – but it also kept me a little bit on the edge of my seat because I was really excited to see what was going to happen.

What was your experience on set with actors like Adam Scott, who I’m sure you were already familiar with?

I definitely suffered a lot from imposter syndrome, because I’m a huge fan of all of them, and they’re all incredible actors and just incredible people. But it was the first time for me that I was actually on a set. So they all taught me how to conduct myself, and how to find my purpose, without making it obvious that you’re looking at your purpose, and things like that. And I think they’re all such great role models, when they’re leaders on a set, setting the tone and keeping morale high. So yeah, I definitely learned a lot from them.

You’re a freshman at Northwestern. What were the reactions of your classmates prior to your breakout role in this new season?

They’re really excited for me, which is super sweet. When I got to school I didn’t tell anyone because I just wanted to get to know people first, and I don’t think I was even announced yet. So for the first few months, only two people knew. But once it was announced, everyone was so supportive. And I was in a show last fall with a few people here in the theater program, so they all want to do a viewing party with me, and everyone has just been really sweet about it.

Did you watch the first episode with friends when it came out Thursday night?

So I’ve actually been sick all week. Unfortunately, I was just in my dorm room, but I Facetimed my parents and my sister and we all watched the episode together.

This interview has been edited and condensed.