Who is Mark Friedman? Ben Stiller addresses “difficult” Severance rumors
Apple TV+Ahead of the premiere of Severance Season 2, Ben Stiller has addressed rumors of “difficult” behind-the-scenes drama between Dan Erickson and Mark Friedman.
It’s been three years since Severance Season 1 aired its finale (and that jaw-dropping, agonizing cliffhanger). Why has Season 2 taken so long? Well, there are a few reasons.
Notably, the Hollywood strikes affected its shooting schedule, postponing the Apple TV+ show’s long-awaited return to the start of 2025.
However, another report suggested tension between Erickson, the show’s creator, and Friedman, its writer-producer.
Who is Mark Friedman?
Gold DerbyMark Friedman is an executive producer on Severance. In Season 2, he’s officially listed as a co-writer on one episode: Episode 7, set to air on February 28, 2025.
Friedman’s career gained a bit of momentum in the 2010s, creating two TV shows (The Forgotten and Believe), crafting the story of Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, and serving as showrunner on Dispatches from Elsewhere.
He was also listed as a “consulting producer” on Dune: Prophecy (specifically the first four episodes, but not the final two).
What happened between Mark Friedman and Dan Erickson?
Apple TV+According to a Puck News report, Friedman and Erickson “ended up hating each other” while working on Severance Season 1.
As per the report, Friedman was set to leave Severance during the development of Season 2, “but Stiller, who directed most of the first season and is returning for a big chunk of the second, interviewed potential replacements and couldn’t find anyone he liked,” it alleges.
“So he and Apple went back to Friedman and decided to replicate the toxic environment of Season 1. Shocker: That didn’t work, scripts were a problem, and Apple – disappointed and embarrassed that they’d gone down the wrong road but looking at Severance as a hit and an awards magnet – started talking about Seasons 3 and 4.”
Here’s the interesting bit: Stiller then reportedly hired Beau Willimon (the creator of House of Cards who also worked on Andor Season 2) to “beat out Season 3” before the WGA strike, suggesting that Friedman will serve in an even more limited capacity (if any capacity, at all) on the third season.
As you’d expect, none of this has been confirmed by Apple TV+, but Stiller confirmed that work on Severance Season 3 has already begun.
Ben Stiller clears the air after reports of Severance drama
Shortly before Season 2’s release, Stiller appeared on The New York Times’ The Interview podcast, where he was asked about the rumored drama between Friedman and Erickson.
“I never really believed that idea of you have to have friction or something on a set… to keep sort-of tension,” he explained.
“I think just the nature of making this show over the last five years has been a learning experience and… yeah, sometimes creatively, it’s been the questions of, ‘Which way do we go with it?’ I really believe the show comes out of the different creative perspectives of the people who work on it.
“It’s not always perfect. We went through patches when there were difficulties… it came out of everybody wanting something to be as good as it could be, and I really believe that all those different points of view ended up making the show what it is.
“There was some stuff that happened, but it wasn’t a big deal.”
Stiller also responded to the report in April 2023, assuring fans that “no one’s going to the break room.”
“We’re on the same really slow schedule we’ve always been on. Same target air date we’ve always had. Love our fans and each other and we all are just working to make the show as good as possible,” he added.
Before it premieres on January 17, 2025, check out our Severance Season 2 review, read our recap of Severance Season 1, and find out more about the O&D department and the first (completely different) script for Severance.