Tramell Tillman was one of TVLine’s dream nominees for the 2025 Emmy for Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, and when the “Severance” star went on to win, his heartfelt speech honoring his mother became one of the highlights of the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards.
With Tillman reaping rightful rewards for his standout performance as Lumon’s most capable and least appreciated middle manager, Seth Milchick, it’s good to remember that the actor didn’t merely play the character — he made sure that he had the necessary background information to play Mr. Milchick as well as he possibly could. After landing the role, Tillman focused on understanding exactly what kind of man Milchick was. In a conversation with “Severance” director and executive producer Ben Stiller, he approached this mission with a very important question about the place his character grew up in.
“One thing I wanted to understand was, what is the town of Kier like?” Tillman said in an interview with The New York Times. “I presume that Milchick grew up in Kier — is it racially diverse? And if it’s not, is race a thing? I remember asking Ben [Stiller] — I said, ‘There’s nothing in the script that suggests that he is specifically Black, but you specifically wanted a Black actor to play this role.’ So my question was: ‘Milchick is Black. Does he know that he’s Black?”
Tillman’s question shaped Milchick’s Season 2 arc
Tillman’s question wasn’t just a great and insightful way for him to prepare for the role; it was also a valuable opportunity for him to learn. It also influenced Mr. Milchick’s path on the show, which helped Tillman create all those unforgettable (and Emmy-worthy) moments in Season 2. The majority of Seth Milchick’s character development takes place during the second season, after he graduates from Harmony Cobel’s (Patricia Arquette) right-hand man to personally supervising the Severed floor. While technically a promotion, this pushes Milchick far deeper in the Lumon mix than ever, and the increased pressures — not to mention some highly problematic and racially charged treatment at the hands of the company — lead to Milchick finally pushing back with his “Devour feculence” comeback speech in “Severance” Season 2, Episode 9 (“The After Hours”).
In The New York Times interview, Tillman pointed to the moment Milchick realizes that the company he is devoted to does not take him seriously — namely, the set of Kier Eagan-themed paintings he receives in the episode “Who Is Alive?” What’s more, he revealed that his question about Milchick’s background contributed to the creation of this arc.
“[The question] started a rich conversation around race, and the leadership that we see in this corporate structure that is predominantly white,” Tillman said. “Here is a young man who’s rising in ranks, or wanting to rise in the ranks, and he doesn’t have a lot of people that look like him in leadership positions. So what we see in Season 2 is how they reward Milchick with these paintings, and we start going on this journey of him being othered by the board in order to make him feel as though he is inferior.”
