Adam Scott

28th January 2025

Adam Scott is best known for his iconic roles in comedy: Parks And Recreation. Party Down. Step Brothers. His latest is a departure from the roles traditionally associated with the actor. On Severance, he portrays the show’s protagonist Mark. While the show has some comedic elements, it’s very dark and mysterious. The second season of the show just started airing on Apple TV+. We get into Adam’s role as Mark, his first job as a taffy maker, and so much more.

Episode notes

(Photo: Courtesy of Apple Tv+)

Adam Scott is best known for his work in comedy. He played the calzone-obsessed accountant turned political consultant Ben Wyatt on Parks And Recreation. On the cult-hit Party Down he played the failed actor turned cater-waiter Henry. In Step Brothers, the scheming, evil and hilarious Derek.

If you’re one of the many people watching the sci-fi dramedy Severance, you also know him as the show’s protagonist Mark. Severance is set mostly at a company called Lumon Industries in a department where many of the workers have undergone a procedure called ‘Severance’. Upon entering Lumon, workers have no memory of their lives outside the office and, upon leaving for the day, remember nothing about what happened on the inside. Its second season just kicked off on Apple TV+. 

We’re revisiting our conversation with Adam from when he had just wrapped the first season of the show. Adam talked with us about making Severance during the pandemic, and why it’s exactly the type of role he’s been waiting for since he first became an actor. Plus, what it was like to grow up in Santa Cruz and his first job as a taffy maker at Marini’s Candies.

This interview originally aired in May 2022. 

In this episode...

Senior Producer
Producer
Maximum Fun Producer
Maximum Fun Production Fellow
Video Editor

Guests

  • Adam Scott

About the show

Bullseye is a celebration of the best of arts and culture in public radio form. Host Jesse Thorn sifts the wheat from the chaff to bring you in-depth interviews with the most revered and revolutionary minds in our culture.

Bullseye has been featured in Time, The New York Times, GQ and McSweeney’s, which called it “the kind of show people listen to in a more perfect world.” Since April 2013, the show has been distributed by NPR.

If you would like to pitch a guest for Bullseye, please CLICK HERE. You can also follow Bullseye on Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook. For more about Bullseye and to see a list of stations that carry it, please click here.

People

Senior Producer

Producer

Maximum Fun Producer

Maximum Fun Production Fellow

Video Editor

How to listen

Stream or download episodes directly from our website, or listen via your favorite podcatcher!

Share this show

New? Start here...

Liked Adam Scott? Listen to these next...