Watch Dichen Lachman's never-before-seen Severance audition as a wildly different Ms. Casey
You've never seen Ms. Casey like this before.
When Lumon's soft-spoken wellness counselor — played by Dichen Lachman — first appeared on Severance in season 1, she was simultaneously soothing and eerie as she delivered random pieces of information to severed employees about their Outies. She was calm, graceful, but concerningly innocent, and it was clear there was much more to her story. The season 1 finale finally confirmed that theory when it was revealed that Ms. Casey is actually Gemma, the presumed-dead wife of Mark (Adam Scott), shockingly alive but trapped inside Lumon for reasons that are still unclear after season 2.
But Ms. Casey wasn't always a serene, impassive employee. Entertainment Weekly has an exclusive look at Lachman's original audition for Severance in which she played a very different version of the character, as much more aggressive, direct, and fierce during her wellness session with Irving (John Turturro).
"This video shows my very first audition," Lachman tells EW. "As you can imagine, the secrets of Ms. Casey and Gemma at this point were closely guarded, so I had very little context for the characters when I began reading."
Lachman worked closely with the show’s casting director, Rachel Tenner, during the audition to figure out how to portray this mysterious character.
"Rachel was so helpful and so generous with her time, talking me through as much as she could, so I’d be able to find even the tiniest window into the world and approximate what this character might sound like," Lachman says.
Tenner says she had been given scripts in advance, so she knew more about the story than others during the audition process. That said, casting Ms. Casey was "really difficult."
"We were trying to navigate this odd, complicated character without giving away too much of the story that was about to unfold," the casting director tells EW. "When I saw Dichen audition, it was undeniable that she had exactly what we needed. She had beauty, mystery, complexity, and her instincts were on point from the very beginning. She felt different from everyone else and tonally was a wonderful match."
It wasn't until Lachman landed the role that she finally started to understand who Ms. Casey was.
"Once I got the job, I finally read all of the scripts and had conversations with [creator] Dan [Erickson]," Lachman says. "And that’s when everything began to change for me in terms of where Ms. Casey, and by extension Gemma, was coming from internally."
It took a long time and a lot of work, but Lachman ultimately found the final version of the character when it was time to begin filming.
"Ms. Casey’s voice especially started to take shape once we got on set," Lachman says. "It’s not Gemma's voice, but there are aspects of her that had to trickle through Ms. Casey. [Executive producer] Ben [Stiller] was key to dialing into what was needed in terms of tone. John Turturro was an incredible first scene partner, and after that day, I think we all knew how she would fit into the world of Lumon."
Watching Lachman make Ms. Casey (and Gemma!) her own throughout filming the first two seasons has impressed the casting director, especially knowing where it all started in the audition process.
"I loved watching how much warmth, vulnerability, and naiveté Dichen brought to Ms. Casey over the course of filming," Tenner says. "I think in her initial read, she was much more austere and almost practical in her efficiency, but she ultimately brought something truly unique and open and lovely to the role. I loved watching the cast react to this strange bird in their midst."
It all culminated in the explosive season 2 finale, in which Mark finally reunited with Gemma (and, for a moment, Ms. Casey, while they made their way through the severed floor) but refused to leave Lumon with her. Lachman recalls the episode's intense ending as some of the most difficult scenes she's ever filmed.
"The entire final sequence — from Mark extracting Gemma from the Cold Harbor room, to their presumed escape from Lumon, to those excruciating moments at the hallway door — is one of the most technically and emotionally challenging things I’ve ever had to execute in front of a camera," Lachman says. "The pressure of nailing something like that can be daunting for any actor, but with a scene partner like Adam and a director like Ben, I felt truly empowered and prepared to seize this enormous moment, and this life-changing character."
janainaart
jacobvanloon
germansingergirl
origamiaround
dailybridgerton