On the latest episode of the “Daily Variety” podcast, Clayton Davis joins co-Editor in Chief Cynthia Littleton to break down this week’s cover story that paints a vivid portrait of “Severance” star Tramell Tillman at an inflection point in his career.
Davis recalled the moment he met Tillman on a rooftop downtown in New York City. The two connected over a long interview about Tillman’s craft as an actor, his childhood, acting opposite Tom Cruise and what it means that he might make Emmy history as the first Black man to win an Emmy for supporting drama actor for his work in Apple TV+’s much-praised series “Severance.”.
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“He was a natural in front of the camera,” Davis says. “Britt Lower, his co-star from ‘Severance,’ compared him to an orchestra in my piece. It’s because he can just do anything. He’s probably one of the most multi-talented people I think I’ve met. He’s a good, kind soul, and that’s hard sometimes to find in this business.”
Tillman landed his breakout role as Seth Milchick in the AppleTV+ series, “Severance,” which he received his first Emmy nomination for outstanding supporting actor in a drama series.
Despite being fairly new to the industry, his passion for the business has garnered attention from Hollywood’s key players.
“The guy just really exudes the passion for the business,” Davis continues. ”He cares about his craft. He wants to get better. What I loved so much about him is he doesn’t quite know how great he is yet. That is one of those endearing qualities.”
The episode also features Marc Malkin, Variety’s Senior Editor of Culture and Events, detailing his conversation with Bob Odenkirk and Sharon Stone about “Nobody 2” at the premiere on Monday night.
The sequel to 2021’s “Nobody” centers on Odenkirk’s assassin character Hutch Mansell going head to head against Stone -an evil crime boss- after unexpectedly crossing paths while Hutch is on vacation at a waterpark with his family.
On the red carpet, Odenkirk told Malkin that he sent a note to Stone asking her to play the villain after they met for the first time at the Golden Globes.
“We needed a big villain, a big presence, a big personality,” Odenkirk said. “I wondered if Sharon would be willing to be that big. And she said yes. You could see what she does. She owns the third act entirely.”
Meanwhile, Stone said she was inspired by real world problems with her role. “I’m not real happy with what comes out of social media. I wanted to portray that -the cruelty, the lack of any sort of care or sense of responsibility.” she explained. “There’s no empathy.”
Stone also revealed that she starts shooting Season 3 of HBO drama series “Euphoria” in a few weeks. Stone tells Malkin she’s “grateful to be a part of” of a “really important” show. The gritty drama of teenagers and young adults grappling addiction and interpersonal struggles is hard to watch, the Oscar nominee admits,
Finally, Littleton offers a tutorial on Variety slanguage superlatives boffo, whammo and socko.
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