Britt Lower Explains Her Emmys Speech Easter Egg and What She Took From The Severance Set
Fresh off her first Emmy win for Severance, Britt Lower feels an incredible “privilege” to be in the position she’s in. She plays the dual characters of Helly R. and Helena: a rebellious innie who is fighting for her independence, and her cold and controlled Lumon heiress of an outie. Lower spoke with Pop Culture Planet’s Kristen Maldonado about her recognition in this role and what she took from the Severance set.
Lower calls it “a huge honor to be recognized by my peers” when it comes to her Emmy win. “I'm pinching myself,” she told me. “I keep inviting this imaginary 9-year-old version of myself and 90-year-old version of myself to tap on my shoulder every once in a while and be like, ‘Whoa, this is happening.’”
Fans loved the nod to the show she included in her acceptance speech, which had the words “Let me out” written on the back of it. On Severance, Helly R. writes the words on her arms in Sharpie during one of her many attempts to tell her outie she doesn’t want to be at Lumon. “The morning of the Emmys, my brother told me to make sure I wrote a speech just in case. So I wrote it and I had a pocket in my dress, so I was like, I'll put in my pocket. And then at the last minute, I was thinking of Dan Erickson, the writer of Severance,” Lower shared. “He had done it for a Producer’s Guild speech that he gave. He had written ‘Let me out’ on it and I was like, ‘Oh, this will be a nice little Easter egg for people and an homage to Helly R.’ I wasn't sure that people would be able to read it, but I guess they could.”
Severance has become a show that allows for a unique form of connection thanks to its eagle-eyed fans. “It's been really incredible to see how smart our fans are and how dedicated they are. A lot of people were tuned in to the switch around that happened in the middle of the season,” said Lower. '“That's so exciting that people are paying attention and having those water cooler conversations and also the kitchen conversations. It sounds to me like a lot of people watch the show with their family, intergenerationally. The idea that people are talking about their little clues like while they're having their coffee in the morning is awesome.”
With such amazing details on the show, Lower shared what she took from the set. “I'm kind of a rule follower in some ways. Like I don't want to steal anything. So I did ask before I took it, but I have some of the Lumon Sharpies that Helly writes ‘Let me out” on the little post-it note and then she tries to swallow the pen cap,” she shared. “I have a couple of those Sharpies.”
Helly R. and Helena's struggle really allows Lower to tap into these bigger questions about identity and autonomy. “I could like journal about this, I think, for a long time. There's just the wonderful challenge as an actor this season of Helena being an actor, like pretending to be Helly. I got some insights of what it was like to be her seeing the world through someone else's eyes. It was this like Russian doll effect of me aware of Helena's experience, aware of Helly's experience, and how all of these individuals in MDR love Helly. Helena's getting to experience that firsthand. She has a front row seat. I guess the insight is how you can grow to have empathy for someone when you walk in their shoes.”
The first two seasons of the hit show Severance are steaming on Apple TV+.
