Venture to online “severance” Rabbit holes and you will find that fans love Irving, the steady employee of the mysterious Lumon Corporation played by John Turturro. They love the character of his properties and gripping romance with Officemate Burt (Christopher Walken) – and for his charm, sophistication and beauty.
“I’m a little embarrassed to hear it, to be honest,” Turturro said with a hearty laugh. The Brooklyn-based actor, acclaimed for four decades thanks to his roles in films such as “do the right thing”, “Barton Finc,” Quiz Show “ And “The Big Lebowski”, has received a new generation of fans from “Severance”, Apple TV+ series about Lumon workers whose consciousness is split between the “Innie” office’s identity and “outie” real personality. His season 1 performance got him his fourth Emmy nomination, to support actors in a drama, and he seems to completely land a second for season 2. If he wins, it will be the first time since 2004, when he took home the best guest comedy actor for “Monk.”
“Sometimes people have put me in a certain category,” said Turturro, 68. “And I am happy with it. I have a beautiful wife and a good life and I have done very really interesting work. But I think people like Irving because he is a very narrow guy, he is well composed, and there are certainly many obstacles with the character, which really appeals to him.
He pointed his finger in the air and said with a smile, “Listen, it’s better than having people who don’t like you.”
Irving’s dramatic bow during the second season of “Severrance” Coming to a Crescendo in the “Woe’s Hollow” section, which was put during an employee’s excursion in the snowy forest and filmed at Minnewask State Park Preserve in New York. Suspicious that his colleague Helly (Britt Lower) has spied on them all when her Lumon Luminary Outie Helena Eagan, Irving keeps her head under freezing Creek water, almost drowns her. The intensity of the scene, explained Turturro, was possible because he and Lower had built a close band during season 1, when they had adjacent dressing rooms.
“When you really care about the other person, as I do with British, you can go further, far, when it comes to the opposite behavior,” he said. “We had to rough houses pretty bad in that scene, but she trusted it would be done right … and I’m a father, so I think I was a little fatherly against Britt. I will always check in with her.”
Irving’s attempt at murder of Helena results in him shooting from Lumon. Towards the end of Season 2, Hans Outie stands at a train station and tells me shortly before boarding unknown destinations, that he has never experienced anything like the love that the two men share. When he struggles to speak and holds back a sob, it is perhaps the most influential moment of turturros in the entire series.
“When you make scenes at the end of the season, it’s always hard to find the sweet place,” Turturro said. “One of the attractive things about being on the show was this love story we have in the middle of a very bizarre story. And I have a genuine love for Chris. We are like an old jazz band together, and it will always be interesting when it is the two of us.”
It is this hunger after human connection, believes turturro, that makes “departure” reason with the audience. “It is an essential and eternal thing. You can be a successful person and still starve for it. When it comes to Irving, he has this discovery of a deep human connection, and he is not 21 and he is not 31. He is older and he is like,” this will rock my remaining existence. “
This story First ran in the Drama edition of Thewrap’s Awards Magazine. Read more from the question here.
