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Apple TV+‘s acclaimed workplace thriller, Severance, was renewed for a highly-anticipated third season, but things might look a bit different this time around. Why? Well, for starters, Ben Stiller won’t be directing any Season 3 episodes.
Since Severance premiered back in February 2022, Stiller — who also serves as an executive producer — directed 11 of its 19 episodes, including Season 1 and Season 2’s premieres and finales, along with standout episodes such as Season 2’s “Woe’s Hollow” and the Patricia Arquette-centric “Sweet Vitriol.” Two Stiller-directed episodes even snagged Outstanding Directing For A Drama Series Emmy nominations, with Season 2’s finale, “Cold Harbor,” currently up for a 2025 award.
So why is Stiller taking a step back in Severance Season 3? In a recent LA Times interview, the director revealed that while he’s still very involved with Severance Season 3, he’s also incredibly busy bringing other projects to life.
Stiller recently created a documentary about his parents, Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost, set to premiere on October 17, 2025. Plus, he’s got a World War II survival feature film, along with a fourth Meet the Parents movie, Focker-in-Law, on deck. Per the publication, Stiller is also interested in adapting Rachel Maddow’s podcast, Bag Man, into a film.
“I’m at the point in my life where I’m like, ‘The clock is ticking,’” Stiller told the LA Times, which noted he’ll be turning 60 on November 30. “Sixty sounds old. It’s hard to get around it… Time is valuable.“
Stiller tried to assured the publication and fans that he, Severance showrunner Dan Erickson, and the writing team already spent a significant chunk of the year planning Season 3 so he could turn his attention to other mysterious and important work, like his World War II film, which reportedly “tells the true story of a downed airman in occupied France and how he got involved with the French Resistance.”
“These things take time to come together,” Stiller explained, “and the older you get, the more you realize that you only have so much time.”
Though it still sounds like Stiller will still serve as EP and has a desire to be deeply involved with the one-of-a-kind Apple TV+ series — even if he’s not directing — fans can’t help but worry and wonder what Severance will look like without Stiller’s directorial prowess.
Some fans wondered if Stiller’s absence meant that cast members like Adam Scott could take a stab at directing in Season 3, while others hoped the departure could mean more episodes directed by Season 2’s Uta Briesewitz and Sam Donovan, or cinematographer Jessica Lee Gagné, who made her Emmy-nominated directorial debut with the fan-favorite Season 2, Episode 7.
When asked about Season 3 directing in a recent interview with Deadline, however, Gagné said, “I don’t know what’s going on with Season 3. I’m kind of like everyone in that department. Severance is really mysterious, so I’m focusing currently on movies. I’m looking for films that I want to direct, and those, you never know where they’re going. Movies are very fragile, but I have an erotic thriller that I’m trying to push through. I just don’t know when it’ll get made.”
Ultimately, we’ll have to wait to see what Erickson, Stiller, and team have planned for Severance Season 3. Here’s hoping that whatever it is won’t take another three years to arrive!
Severance Season 1 and Season 2 are now streaming on Apple TV+.
