Marching bands, goats, and more: Mr. Milchick actor Tramell Tillman breaks down the ‘Severance' season 2 finale

Boston Globe

21-03-2025

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But first, he has to get away from Tillman's Milchick, who supervises the so-called 'severed' employees. Milchick has had a tough season. Though he rose to a new supervisory role following Cobel's departure, he's faced burgeoning rebellion from the severed innies, as well as constant critiques from Lumon management about his use of multisyllabic words. Once Mark finishes the Cold Harbor file, Milchick performs an eerie, vaudevillian-style show alongside a mannequin of Lumon founder Kier as a celebration, before getting trapped in a bathroom by Mark's fellow innies. Tillman reveals that, while the voice of the Kier mannequin is Marc Geller (who has played the founder in previous episodes), 'Severance' executive producer and director Ben Stiller was the person physically operating the statue on set.
Tramell Tillman in "Severance."
Apple TV+
'This was my first opportunity to act with Ben Stiller,' Tillman told the Globe in a recent Zoom interview. 'There are many moments where Ben and I were kind of figuring out how to make this as vaudeville as possible.'
'I just really appreciate how big this moment was, not only for Milchick, because this is a legacy that he will be tied to now because of what Mark achieved, but the fact that he creates this massive reward for Mark, this celebratory moment,' he added. 'And of course it blows up in his face because he ends up locked away in a bathroom.'
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That last part is where we find Milchick for the majority of the episode, but not before he gets a meme-worthy musical moment. The celebration for Mark includes an appearance by Lumon's Choreography and Merriment department, as Milchick leads a marching band in a show-stopping number reminiscent of the dance performance he gave in a memorable
'I was living out my fantasy of being in a marching band, specifically the Sonic Boom of the South,' Tillman said. 'I graduated from Jackson State University, and the Sonic Boom of the South is the premier marching band, [in] all of the world, and I'm probably biased, but that's OK.'
Tillman praised the band members who performed on set, some of whom had never seen the show. Apparently one drum line member got curious and decided to check out the show, which ended up shattering his image of Tillman.
'The fifth day of working with each other, he came up to me, he said, 'You know, when you first introduced yourself to us, I liked you, but I went and I saw the show. I don't like you anymore. You a bad man,'' Tillman recalled with a laugh. 'It's like, well, sorry, thanks.'
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Tramell Tillman in "Severance."
Apple TV+
That performer is likely not the only person to hold that opinion of Tillman's character, who continues to serve the shady desires of Lumon. This season saw Milchick beginning to butt heads with his superiors at the organization, and his frustrations start to boil over. Even still, Milchick remains a company man, with Tillman noting that it's 'probably too soon to say that he's breaking away' from Lumon, despite his issues with the powers that be.
'This man has spent a lot of time, so much of his time, on this company,' Tillman said. 'And with anyone that has invested so much time into something that you believe in, you're not going to walk away just because you had a couple of bad days at work.'
The finale would definitely fall under one of those 'bad days.' Once he's trapped in the bathroom, viewers see a massive change in Milchick's demeanor, as he goes from his usual smiling, mild-mannered self to showcasing the full force of his rage as he tries to break free. Milchick is taller and broader than the innies, and his muscular physique is never more apparent than when he suddenly needs to physically overpower them. Tillman notes that, with Milchick, 'physicality is everything,' but he didn't want to use his body in a way that diminished the character's intelligence.
'It was important for me to showcase a character who is intelligent, who is crafty, who can manipulate people in a non-traditional way that we see Black men,' Tillman said. 'Oftentimes we see them use their physical prowess to get what is desired. But for me, it was really about tapping into his wiles, his psychological manipulation. And when it's necessary to show his physical strength, then we see it.'
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Tillman called the finale 'rewarding' because he got to unleash Milchick, particularly when he bursts out of the bathroom, knocking over a vending machine blockade and facing off with the band and innie employee Dylan (Zach Cherry). The actor said the intense scene didn't use any kind of camera trickery.
'I really did knock down that vending machine,' Tillman said. 'That was important to see, because we needed to know that this man cannot be trifled with.'
While he enjoyed unleashing Milchick's physical side, Tillman is also a 'lover of words' and appreciates the ways in which his character uses his impressive vocabulary, even when his big words ruffle feathers. This season, multiple Lumon staffers criticized his locution, which Tillman said Milchick 'internalizes' and 'affects his humanity.'
From left: Tramell Tillman and Ólafur Darri Ólafsson in "Severance."
Apple TV+
'There's an identity that he has, this connective tissue towards these words,' Tillman said. 'These words are his power, in a way.'
Overall, Tillman would describe Milchick's emotional journey this season as an 'awakening' where he starts to see the cracks in Lumon's armor, especially in the wake of receiving a Kier painting for his good work. The painting unexpectedly depicts Kier, a white man, as a Black man, and Milchick is deeply troubled by it. He tries to speak to Natalie (Sydney Cole Alexander), one of the only other Black employees at the company, about it, since he knows she's also received a painting. But she rebuffs his efforts to connect about it, and Milchick is left feeling even more alone. Tillman finds it interesting that the scene dropped amid the ongoing backlash against diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, calling it 'so timely.'
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'The reactions from people who have watched that scene really speak to what is so necessary in our country when it comes to diversity and inclusion and corporate responsibility,' Tillman said, praising the moment with Natalie for sparking 'more conversations and dialogue amongst people of color and people not of color around what is existing in that moment.'
As for what happens after Milchick breaks free from the bathroom, Tillman explains that while 'we're kind of unsure of where we are in the last moments of the final episode,' he believes that the severed floor manager is finally 'starting to learn more' about what the company is really about.
From left: Gwendoline Christie, Britt Lower, and Adam Scott in "Severance."
Apple TV+
'There is a 'what now' moment that we see once he bursts out of the bathroom and does the superhero hop onto the vending machine,' said Tillman, who notes that, although season 3 hasn't been confirmed yet, he's excited 'to see what happens next.'
And while the finale doesn't answer every burning fan question, at least we get to find out the truth about Lumon's mysterious goat department, which didn't surprise Tillman, but did break his heart when he learned that the goats' purpose is to be sacrificed to guide the dead to an afterlife with Kier.
'It did not surprise me, but seeing those cute goats, and the idea of them being sacrificed, it broke me,' Tillman said. 'They were so adorable and innocent, and knowing that they're sacrificing the goats, I'm like, 'OK, this is rough.''
'Severance' season 2 is now streaming on Apple TV+.
Matt Juul can be reached at