Severance star Britt Lower talked about the new Helly Season 2

Severance wrapped up its second season on 21st March 2025, and one of the most memorable performances of the season was by Britt Lower, who plays Helly R. Given that Severance's main focus is on workers at Lumon having two distinct consciousnesses, one for the office and one for outside, Lower also plays Helaena, Helly's outie.

In season one of Severance, Helly and Halaena acted like they were supposed to: two different people sharing the same body. But in season two, most of the season showed us Halaena pretending to be Helly.

Having to play a character that is playing another character must be tricky, and Britt Lower opened up about this season in an interview with Variety.

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Britt Lower on Severance Season two's Helly

Severance is science fiction on the surface, but it explores deeper themes of psychology, power, and control. It is a thriller wrapped neatly in a drama, and you never know when the next shoe will drop.

Severance has the official logline of

Ben Stiller, Mark leads a team of office workers whose memories have been surgically divided between their work and personal lives.They begin a journey to discover tne truth about their jobs-and themselves.

While season one followed Mark, Helly, Dylan, and Irving as they discovered Lumon's reality, it ended with Helly discovering something devastating. She discovered that her outie is Helena Eagan, who is the daughter of James Eagan, Lumon's present CEO, and not someone you can be proud of.

Playing these two distinct personalities in Severance season two at the same time can be quite challenging, and Britt Lower spoke about that in an interview with Variety. When asked how it felt to play Halaena pretending to be Helly, Lower said,

"It’s tricky when the characters that I play share the same anatomy and physiology, and even some of the same psychology, but they have a very separate consciousness,”

She continued,

“That’s not something that’s necessarily visual, but it’s something that is felt."

Later on in the same Variety interview, she was also asked if Helly's hopeless fate (as her outie will never set her free) affects how the actress plays the character. Lower responded,

I’ve loved getting to know how Helly’s mind works and what she’s driven by. In Season 1, it was an emotional journey that was very physical: “Get me out of here at all costs.” She had a very clear understanding that something was ethically off about this place that she woke up in. “What is this work that we’re doing? It doesn’t have any meaning for me, whatsoever.”

Lower's understanding of the character is what made us connect with Helly so deeply in season one. It also made us feel equally shocked and unhappy to find out who Helly's outie is. Lower further explained herself.

She came to discover at the end of the season that her outie is very deeply connected to the company, very deeply connected to the family that is keeping her trapped there. Her whole consciousness is shifted. “Now, my duty has shifted. I have a purpose, and I know that this is wrong, and I have this internal compass where I want to make things right.”

As Lower said, when she realizes who her outie is, Helly's priorities change. The character changes as well, rightfully so, and we see a slightly different Helly (even when it's actually Helly and not Halaena).

Lower continued,

Meanwhile, she’s learning the meaning of family. She gets her chosen family, and she really comes to love Irving and Dylan and Mark. Season 1 was, “Who am I and what is this work?” Season 2 becomes, “Who am I in relationship to how I show up for the people who I love?” That gives her a great deal of meaning for me. She’s on this journey of, “Who am I, really? What makes me human? This other part of me, this inner saboteur of Helena, told me I wasn’t a person in Season 1, in front of my friends. Well, am I a person? Do I have the right to make choices about my body?” That’s some of some of what’s driving her.

It seems like understanding season one Helly was crucial for Britt Lower in playing Halaena pretending to be Helly in Severance season two. The second season saw Halaena managing to keep her disguise almost quite well, except for the times she slipped and failed to react like Helly would have.

While we don't know what awaits them in the next season, Mark and Helly choose to stay on the Severed floor instead of leaving Lumon. Severance is streaming on AppleTV+.

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