Spoilers below.
This season, one of Severance’s biggest plot twists wears knee-high socks and penny loafers. Her name is Ms. Huang, the new deputy manager of the severed floor at Lumon Industries. Like the other workers at Lumon, including her boss, Mr. Milchick (Tramell Tillman), she’s a bit odd, politely passive-aggressive, and devout to the company’s rules. The main difference is: She’s a child. Ms. Huang’s arrival has sparked many questions and theories since the Apple TV+ series returned on Friday. Can any kid undergo severance, the titular procedure that can separate a person’s work and personal memories? Who is Ms. Huang on the outside? Is she in any way related to protagonist Mark Scout (Adam Scott) or his missing wife?
Sarah Bock, the 18-year-old who plays Ms. Huang, has already seen some of the online speculation about her character. Her friend sends her memes from Twitter and Reddit. Some viewers claim Ms. Huang is a clone. Some feel for the child, while others think she’s a menace. A stranger even sent her a DM saying, “I know you’re a robot.”
“My hope is that people have kind of mixed, complex feelings about her,” Bock tells ELLE.com. “I mean, she’s put there to make things interesting for the Innies and make them have mixed feelings about this person who’s in a position of power, who maybe we’re supposed to not like, but also she’s a kid, so we should protect her.” Bock wishes viewers consider both sides of this argument, and confront “the devastating reality [that] there’s a child at Lumon.”
While Ms. Huang remains a mystery, we can get familiar with Bock, a freshman at Northwestern University studying drama and psychology. She calls in on Zoom from her “shoebox-tiny” dorm, which she shares with one roommate. In the background, there’s a lofted bed above a desk and hints of Northwestern purple. Her wavy brown hair has grown out a little longer than Ms. Huang’s pristine lob. Bock was mostly resting the week of the season 2 premiere after getting sick, but she did watch the first episode with her family on FaceTime.
The young actress grew up in North Carolina and fell in love with acting as a kid by way of community theater and the movie musicals she watched with her grandma, from The Sound of Music to The Wizard of Oz. (She has watched the Wicked movie four times.) And though she didn’t watch the first season of Severance when it came out, her parents were “super fans”—she even remembers their reactions to the finale. “They just screamed, and I thought something had gone terribly wrong,” she says. “But then when I got the audition, I ended up binging the whole season, and I fell in love with it.”
Bock auditioned for Severance when she was 15 and filmed her performance in New York when she was 16, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if she became a star overnight nearly two years later, given the show’s high profile and the growing intrigue around her role. She, however, is just taking it one step at a time. “I’m not really sure what to expect, so I’m just along for the ride,” she says.
Below, Bock tells us about her audition, who Ms. Huang really is, and how she relates to her strange Lumon character.
Tell me a little bit about the audition process. Did you know what the role was when you were auditioning for it?
I knew [Ms. Huang] was the deputy manager, and I knew that she was stepping into Milchick’s position, but other than that, I didn’t really know much about where she was coming from or where she was going. The character and her personality became more clear to me as the audition process went on, but it took a few months. It was a self-tape. And then I met with Ben [Stiller] over Zoom a month later, and a month after that, they flew me to New York, and I got to meet Tramell [Tillman, who plays Milchick] and read with Ben and Tramell in-person, which was already a pinch-me moment. I couldn’t believe I was getting to read with them. Then I found out I got the role.
What was it like building this character? Who is Ms. Huang to you?
When I first read how young she was and the position she was in, I played it more [like] how I would’ve reacted in that situation. I was more reserved and timid and just scared. Then, as I got to talking to Ben and Dan [Erickson, the show’s creator], she formed into the more powerful and strong-willed and mysterious character that she ended up being on the show. To me, she’s definitely very guarded and ambitious. I think her lack of showing emotions is a method for maintaining any sort of power or authority she has, and she’s already at a disadvantage for being taken seriously because of her age. But I think, more than anything, she wants to progress in the ranks of the company and make a name for herself.
I love the dynamic that you and Tramell have as Ms. Huang and Mr. Milchick. What was it like having him as a scene partner?
It’s incredible. He’s the best scene partner ever. He gives you so much to play with and work off of because he has that intense stare and very emotive eyes. Ms. Huang and Milchick have such an interesting dynamic, which made any scene between the two of us just like a super fun tennis match. She’s his subordinate, but also she’s a little bit disrespectful at times, but also he’s closed off. So there’s this constant battle between the two of them and this passive-aggressiveness, which is really fun.
Ms. Huang and Mr. Milchick are powerful and poised, but they’re also holding back a little. How did you tailor the physicality of the role?
In watching season 1, I got to analyze the physicality of both Tramell and Patricia Arquette’s character [Ms. Cobel]. They both have this element of stillness to them and almost like a tension in their faces, in their eyes, that I definitely wanted to have in Ms. Huang. I think for all of upper management, they have this stillness to them, which gives them that power. And she always has a certain posture; she’s standing up straight, she has her arms in front of her. I definitely wanted that to be very specific for her.
Is it weird being on a project of this size that’s surrounded by a lot of secrecy? What is that like for you on the inside?
I’m scared that I’m going to give away something I’m not supposed to say. But it’s also really exciting, because it means there are people out there who are really excited to see the show and figure out what happens. I’m excited for the people who worked on season 1, because they didn’t know what the show was going to become. So the fact that they have to be so secretive now is really exciting.
I was reading an interview the other day where somebody was asked about their own project that was very top secret, and they were like, “I don’t want to Tom Holland it,” like, accidentally spoil it.
My friends and I have talked about this. They’re like, “Are you going to be the Tom Holland in Severance?” And I’m like, “I hope not.” I mean, he’s iconic for that.
It just became his thing, so I guess it’s OK. What was it like for you on set, being directed by Ben Stiller?
It was so cool. I’m such a fan of his. I didn’t know what to expect when I first met him, but he’s just so grounded and down to earth and just a really chill person. So it was incredible to get to work with him, and he was very patient with me.
I remember on my first day, I was so nervous, and he probably got that vibe from me. So when he was giving me notes, he was very patient and calm, and he would get down on my level and be like, “What are you thinking about this scene, and what do you think we should try?” Which, as a young person and a young girl, meant the world to me.
You’re at Northwestern studying drama, and you’re also studying psychology?
I am, yes. I’m hoping to double major in psych and then hopefully get a minor in film and media studies.
At Northwestern, the unofficial slogan is “‘And’ is in our DNA.” I know people who are trying to get three majors and minors and a certificate. We’ll see where I end up at the end of the four years, but that’s the hope.
Has studying psych informed your work on Severance? It was probably after you filmed, but I’m wondering if there’s an interesting connection between the two.
A large reason why I wanted to study psych is because I wanted to do something that would be applicable to acting and give me more insight into human beings and the way they think and the way they behave. I think it’s really important for actors to have as much knowledge as possible, but especially about things like sociology and psychology. I just took a class called Psychology of Personality, which gave me a lot of insight to the character elements of psychology. I’m excited for next time I take on a role; I think I’ll have a new scientific lens to look at it with.
Was there a moment you can remember when you realized you wanted to become an actor?
When I was 5, I remember my mom found a flyer for this musical, Winnie the Pooh, which was at a children’s theater. I was obsessed with Winnie the Pooh at the time, so she thought it would be perfect for me. She signed me up for that, and that’s kind of when my love for acting developed. But I’ve always kind of been surrounded by theater. Although I’m the first person in my family to be involved in the industry in any way, both of my parents are big theater lovers, so we always had soundtracks playing in the house. I remember Wicked playing when I was a toddler.
I love that, because I am a theater kid at heart as well. How many times have you seen Wicked?
Oh, gosh. I saw the stage version for the first time when I was five, I think. And then I went to my kindergarten teacher [and gave] an excruciatingly detailed summary where I reenacted it. I would love to see it again, though. But I’ve seen the movie, I think, four times already.
I think I’m at four as well. I was talking to a few friends about how important community theater is, and it seems like it was where you got your roots, your performance education.
Definitely. There was this children’s theater that I did upwards of 20 shows at, and I did that from age five to 13. That was so important, and just growing my love for theater and being on stage and the community I built with the other kids in the cast was a huge reason why I kept coming back.
Do you have an all-time favorite musical?
Probably Les Mis. Or Hadestown is incredible.
Who are some dream collaborators you’d love to work with?
I really love the movie Aftersun. Charlotte Wells directed and wrote that, so I would love to work with her. Paul Mescal is one of my favorite actors as well. I’m a huge fan of Emma Stone. I would love to work with her. There are just so many incredible artists that I would love to work with.
I read that you love Next to Normal, and I just have to say that I was also a huge fan of that soundtrack.
They’re doing Next to Normal here at Northwestern, I think. So I’m excited to see that.
Are you going to audition?
We’ll see. I don’t know. I think auditions are soon, and I’m a little bit sick.
Does this mean you’re a singer as well, or do you focus more on acting?
I feel like I primarily lean towards acting, but I do sing and dance. For a while, I feel like singing was probably my strongest thing and acting was my weakest link, just because I hadn’t focused on it at all. But then during the pandemic, I took my first acting classes, and that’s when I really realized that was the element of performing that I love the most. That’s when I started focusing on it more.
It seems like you might be open to doing both if a movie musical were to come across your desk.
That would be incredible. I would love that.
Back to Ms. Huang. Is there anything you personally resonated to in her character or her story?
We were both the only children or teenagers in our workplace, so I definitely understood what that felt like and [how] that might be a bit isolating. But my situation was definitely a lot more positive than hers, because I was surrounded by some really amazing, kind people. I could definitely sympathize with her trying to prove herself, or just collaborating with her older peers.
Did any of your castmates give you advice that you’ve taken to heart?
They pretty much taught me everything, because I was completely new to all of this when I first stepped on that set. They taught me about professionalism and about the logistical things that involve cameras and getting to your mark. Just by doing scenes with such incredible actors, I learned a lot about acting—watching them get ready for an emotional scene or seeing the questions that they asked the directors. All of that was super educational, but they also gave me really great life advice about the industry.
I was applying to colleges during the second half of filming, so Tramell gave me great advice about that. And Britt, who’s a Northwestern alum, she pushed me towards Northwestern, and once I got in, helped set up some meetings with me and people who teach here. They were all so incredibly helpful.
It’s like Severance is part of your college experience now, too.
Definitely. Britt was here over the fall last year, because she was teaching a workshop, I think. So I got to meet up with her, and we walked around campus together, which was so fun.
How would you feel if Ms. Huang was your boss? Would you survive?
I’d probably be a little bit scared of her. I’d probably listen to whatever she told me to do and just be obedient. I don’t think I’d like her that much. She’s not the most friendly. Or maybe... I feel like she needs a friend. She needs someone her own age to work with, so maybe that could be the start of a new journey for her. I think she’s younger than me, so I don’t know how I would feel about a younger person being my boss, which I guess is how the Innies feel.
How young is she supposed to be in the show?
I think I know, but I don’t know if it’s changed or been confirmed yet. So I’ll leave it sealed for now.
This interview was edited and condensed for clarity.
