Spoilers below for any prospective Lumon employees who have not yet watched the Season 2 premiere with an Apple TV+ subscription, so be warned!
With its long-awaited Season 2 premiere, Severance put viewers right back into the secret-filled Lumon building, with Adam Scott’s Mark running maniacally through its endless hallways for the opening scene. The episode delivers several other instantly memorable sequences to theorize about, including the introduction and apparent dismissal of a new cubicle crew, but I was particularly obsessed with Lumon’s stop-motion video chronicling the “Microdat Uprising.” And that was before I learned the animated administrative building was voiced by KEANU REEVES.
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After the initial instinct to smack myself for not immediately recognizing his dulcet tones, despite any obvious attempts to hide it, I quickly shifted to reflecting on just how brilliant a move it was to bring the Bill & Ted star in to portray a seemingly playful and informative mascot whose carefully selected words aren’t necessarily the most honest and beneficial for the MDR team. So let’s dive into all of it after rewatching the scene below.
Keanu Reeves’ Voice And Zen-ergy Make It Easy To Believe Anything He Says
With limited exceptions such as The Gift, Evil Ted and Sonic the Hedgehog 3‘s anti-hero Shadow, Keanu Reeves is very often cast in protagonist roles that viewers are happy to believe in and root for. From Speed‘s Jack Traven to Point Break‘s Johnny Utah to the franchise-leading John Wick — to say nothing of Toy Story 4‘s Duke Caboom — Reeves’ most iconic characters also exude coolness and badassery, making it even easier to take their sides.
So who better to relay Lumon’s placating message to Adam Scott’s Mark, Britt Lower’s Helly, Zach Cherry’s Dylan and John Turturro’s Irving? Whether or not one is aware of the actor’s involvement, the Lumon Administrative Building is still inarguably calming and reassuring the entire time, even while stating “facts” that viewers already know are false.
You sorta want to believe in all of it, because why would such a soothing voice be saying it otherwise? I can imagine similar feelings arising if Morgan Freeman, Daniel Craig, or Denzel Washington were cast. Maybe they’ll show up to vocalize Lumon videos in the future.
Creator Dan Erickson Explains Ideas Behind Casting The ‘Lumon Administrative Building’
Having brought up other actors whose on-screen roles connote similar trustworthy traits, it’s worth noting that Keanu Reeves wasn’t necessarily the first and only choice that creator Dan Erickson had in mind to give a Cliffs Notes version of Season 1’s events. He didn’t namecheck any of the other actors that were contacted, but did talk to Collider about the thought process behind casting this animated building, saying:
All I can say is that we talked about a couple of different people for that role. We always wanted it to be somebody that people have certain associations with, but also, it had to be a very warm presence. The Lumon building is very friendly in the context of this video, and there’s a friendliness to that particular voice and a heart to that particular voice.
Erickson brings up a point here that is key to Keanu Reeves being such a perfect choice: the building itself is actually nice and helpful to an extent, as opposed to harboring the nefarious motivations of the Lumon employees who created it. Granted, I think Reeves could portray a real-life Lumon board member, and I’d still buy into everything he says even knowing his character is implicitly evil in some way.
Casting Keanu Reeves In This Role Is Even More Brilliant For Thematic Reasons
In the annals of cinema and TV history, few projects and actors represent the concepts workplace profundity and duality of self like Keanu Reeves and The Matrix. Are those movies about mild-mannered Thomas Anderson as an initially clueless Innie, as it were, or are they about the all-knowing Neo who has the ability to affect both versions of reality?
Obviously the Wachowskis’ seminal 1999 film and its sequels (including the equally uneven Matrix Resurrections) aren’t perfectly analogous when set alongside the mysterious and important journey these characters are embarking on, their paths do cross in certain respects. Particularly when it comes to the idea of Mark taking Petey’s advice and combining his memories through reintegration.
If the Severed Floor’s vending machines now provided Red Pills and Blue Pills among such debuting offerings as cut beans and salsa, that might have seemed a bit TOO on the nose. But having Keanu Reeves handle the damage control for MDR gets the same undertones across in a far more clandestine manner. And one that is truly non-non-non-henious.
I can’t imagine Bill & Ted‘s Alex Winter will show up next, but we do know that Game of Thrones vet Gwendoline Christie will arrive soon to shine more light on the goat mysteries. Be sure to stay current with new episodes hitting Apple TV+ every Friday.
