Ready to head back to work at Lumon Industries?
You won’t have to go far … the office is in Jersey.
Yes, the Apple TV+ series “Severance” is back for its long-awaited second season Friday. And if the sights look a little familiar, there’s a good reason for that.
The acclaimed “workplace thriller” known for its stark white office look spent $24,227,793 filming its new season in New Jersey over the course of three years, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority tells NJ Advance Media.
Adam Scott stars in the series as Mark Scout, the head of a group of employees at Lumon Industries. When Mark and his co-workers finish work for the day and leave the building, they have no memory of what transpired at the office.
That’s because they’ve all been through a procedure called “severance,” which installs a split between their work lives and their non-work lives. Intrigue ensues when Mark and his colleagues venture through the looking glass in search of answers about their other selves.
The employees of Lumon Industries are back for more drama. From left: Actors Sarah Bock, Adam Scott, John Turturro, Zach Cherry and Britt Lower in the second season of “Severance.”Apple TV+
Ben Stiller directs and produces the twisted take on work-life balance from series creator Dan Erickson.
Joining Scott (”Parks and Recreation”) in the cast are Britt Lower (as Helly Riggs), Zach Cherry (Dylan George), Tramell Tillman (Seth Milchick), Jen Tullock (Devon Scout-Hale), Dichen Lachman (Ms. Casey), Michael Chernus (Ricken Hale), Emmy winners John Turturro (Irving Bailiff) and Patricia Arquette (Harmoney Cobel) and Oscar winner Christopher Walken (Burt Goodman). Scott and Arquette are also producers of the series.
It’s been nearly three years since the first season of “Severance,” which was nominated for the Emmy for best drama series, was released on Apple TV+ in February 2022.
The 10-episode second season, which premieres Friday, Jan. 17, started filming in Jersey that same year. Production continued in 2023, then shut down for the WGA and SAG strikes and resumed with one more day of filming in 2024.
Patricia Arquette in the coming season of “Severance.”Jon Pack | Apple TV+
Bell Works in Holmdel is a key location easily spotted in the series, in both the first and second seasons.
The imposing former home of Bell Labs is a huge modernist building that spans 2 million square feet, lending a tangible emotional heft to the heavy concept of severance in the show. The Bell complex, which served as the home base for thousands of engineers and researchers, including Nobel Prize winners, was used for both exterior shots and scenes where Mark Scout walks through the lobby of Lumon Industries.
Architect Eero Saarinen designed the building, which has a large atrium and opened in 1962. The redevloped office complex, once home to groundbreaking research, is now the Bell Works mixed-use space with stores, restaurants and offices that started opening in 2015.
The former home of Bell Labs in 2008, before it became Bell Works. The huge office complex, located in Holmdel, is key to the setting of the Apple TV+ show.Star-Ledger file photo
The distinctive long tree-lined drive leading to the complex, home to a water tower, can also be seen in the show (watch trailer below).
In the second season, the show also filmed at the Kings Landing condominium complex on Oxford Lane in Middletown.
“Severance” also filmed in Bergen County, on Old Route 9W in Alpine, which is part of Palisades Interstate Park.
The show is expected to receive an estimated $8.1 million tax credit. The second season’s Jersey spending was more than four times greater than the first season. At that time, the series spent $5.1 million filming in the state in March 2021, a year into the COVID-19 pandemic.
New cast regulars in the second season of “Severance” are Sarah Bock (”Bruiser”) and Ólafur Darri Ólafsson (”Somebody Somewhere”).
Director and producer Ben Stiller on the set of “Severance.” The second season was filmed over the course of three years. Jon Pack | Apple TV+
Other actors in the mix include Emmy nominee Gwendoline Christie (”Game of Thrones”), Emmy winner Merritt Wever, Alia Shawkat (”The Old Man”), Oscar nominee Bob Balaban (”Gosford Park”), Stefano Carannante (”Hey Joe”), Robby Benson (”Beauty and the Beast”) and John Noble (”Fringe”).
Apple TV+ released the first eight minutes of the season premiere in December.
To promote the new season, series stars Scott, Cherry and Lower made an appearance in a glass office at New York’s Grand Central Station Jan. 14 during the evening rush hour.
They stayed in character throughout the promotion, fussing with computer equipment, sweeping the carpet and generally doing office activities. Stiller was there to document the excursion, along with a sizable crowd. The director and producer co-hosts a new podcast, “The Severance Podcast,” with Scott.
The second season premiere of “Severance” will be released Friday, Jan. 17 on Apple TV+. New episodes premiere every Friday through March 21.
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Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at [email protected] and followed at @AmyKup on Twitter/X, @amykup.bsky.social on Bluesky and @kupamy on Instagram and Threads.
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