INDIANAPOLIS — Patricia Arquette has an Oscar ("Boyhood"), two Emmys ("Medium," "The Act"), three Golden Globes ("Boyhood," "Escape at Dannemora," "The Act") and is now nominated for her ninth Screen Actors Guild Award.
She stars as boss Harmony Cobel in the Apple TV+ sci-fi thriller, "Severance," which has already been renewed for a second season.
In the series, a biotech corporation uses a mindwipe technology — known as "severance" — so employees can completely separate work and non-work memories, only recalling those related to where they are at the moment.
"Our writer, Dan Erickson, came up with this idea when he was working a door factory, so I think for him, he was definitely playing around with that idea," Arquette said. "I think there's a lot of people working in jobs that they don't love, and maybe it's not that crazy to think the world that we're living in today, all the new things that are happening ... this may be something in the future, for all we know."
"Severance" reunites Arquette with actor Ben Stiller ("Zoolander," "Meet the Parents"), who serves as an executive producer and directed six of the freshman season's nine episodes. The two previously worked together on SHOWTIME's "Escape at Dannemora" and the 1996 comedy "Flirting with Disaster."
"I really love him as a director. I think he's really smart, funny," Arquette said. "He goes for big shots, beautiful composition, the set design's beautiful, the wardrobe is meticulous. We'd have conversations like, 'OK, these are the roles for upper management. This is how high your heels can be. These are the kind of undergarments you can wear in this kind of position.'"
And when asked about the upcoming second season, Arquette's lips are sealed.
"Are you kidding me? I cannot give you a sneak preview. I have signed every document they've given me. Mum's the word," Arquette said.
The first season of "Severance" is now available to stream on Apple TV+.