The Late Show with Stephen Colbert found humor in the dark workplace drama series, Severance, on Thursday night’s airing. According to Deadline, Late Show host Stephen Colbert (The Daily Show) revealed to his studio audience that he was originally set to star in the Apple TV+ series, but for some reason, none of his scenes made the final cut. You can view the lost footage in the video below.
Severance is a psychological thriller created by Dan Erickson (League of Wonder) and stars Adam Scott (Big Little Lies) as a melancholy man who elects to work at the mysterious local tech corporation, Lumon Industries. Per one’s hiring at Lumon, an individual agrees to have a chip implanted in their brain that mentally splits one’s conscious into two: an “innie” who only knows the world inside the Lumon walls; and, an “outie” who lives life in the outside world. When Scott’s Mark begins to question Lumon’s ultimate goals, the madness behind the method unfurls a larger conspiracy.
In the eight-minute segment, Colbert appears as the latest employee at Lumon, luckily named “Stephen C.” as employees have a sense of anonymity among colleagues. Deadline reports the edited video sees Stephen joyfully interact with Scott and costars Tramell Tillman (Dietland), who plays the stoic manager Milchick; and, John Turturro’s (The Plot Against America) neurotically Lumon loyalist, Irving.
“Look, I am so excited to be with you guys here and working at Lululemon,” Colbert quips in the clip via Deadline. As Milchick speaks to correct him, he responds with a serene “namaste.” Stephen even comically purports that his “outie” must be The Office’s Steve Carrell simply because they both work in an office and share the same initials.
Colbert explained how the Emmy-nominated series was “easily one of the top dystopian workplace sci-fi mystery black comedy psychological thrillers” he’d ever seen. Per Deadline, his only critique was that they opted not to use his scenes.
Severance earned multiple nominations at this year’s Emmy Awards set to air on Monday, September 12 on NBC. The series is up for Outstanding Drama Series with Scott receiving a nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. Turturro and Patricia Arquette (Medium) both received nominations for their supporting roles.
Season one of Severance is available to stream on Apple TV+.