Jen Tullock — The Bare Magazine

We feel truly blessed to have the inimitable, multi hyphenate, Jen Tullock, for a chat on her starring role as Devon in Severence on Apple TV+ and her many other passions. After the suspenseful hit’s first season it was nominated for 14 Emmy’s. All of its avid followers (and us!) are on the edge of their seat in anticipation of season two. We had a blast taking photos of her at her lovely upstate farm during some rare down time as she is in the midst of moving to NYC to begin Severence production, and attending Emmy events. Among her many fine attributes she is a writer — so we asked her to share a few words on some of her favorite topics such as Streisand, Björk, Perry Mason and her bare essentials. Tune in below and get to know this super star beauty better.

The Bare Magazine: What potent ingredients do you think make Severance such a hit with 14 Emmy nominations for season one?

Jen Tullock: I think we crave time inside worlds that don’t look and feel like our own. And while the world of the show is a heightened, and at times surrealist one, it’s inhabited by characters that feel like people we know. The excitement of their circumstance exists alongside the hubris of their human experience, and that’s a mesmerizing combo to watch.

Bare: Can you share a few memorable moments/feelings that come to mind about filming season one?

JT: The scene in the finale when Devon thinks her baby has been taken was not only a technical bear (we shot it as oner so it felt a bit like shooting a short play about 12 times in a row) but was such a cathartic moment for me personally. So much of Devon’s experience through season one is about containing - and often muzzling - her own discomfort out concern for her husband and brother, so when all of that tension comes to a boil and she breaks down, I could feel that release in my physical body. Doing so with Adam and Michael and Ben, three people I love and trust, was a real boon.

Bare: What are you looking forward to most about getting back to work soon on season two?

JT: I can’t wait to see everyone again. We shot season one at the height of the pandemic so there was absolutely no socializing to be done. As actors, we rely so much on the trust we build with one another, and when you’re trying to talk between takes with a mask and a shield on like a couple of stormtroopers screaming about how their lunch was, it’s tough. We’ve gotten close as a cast now that the show is out and we’re able to do press together sans shields and I’m really excited to step back into our characters as an even tighter unit.

Bare: You are a great writer so we would love a few words on a few topics/people that are near and dear to you.....

~ Barbra Streisand

JT: My feelings one this topic cannot be described by or contained in written form. They are but a feeling; an ethereal mist that swirls the solemn moors of my heart. And for christsake people, STOP SLEEPING ON “For Pete’s Sake!” It’s a comedy BIJOU.

~ Fashion

JT: What an exciting moment we’re in. So many new voices challenging the boundaries of identity and the physical form. I could geek all day on the work of people like Magda Butrym, Pierre Davis’s No Sesso, the late Virgil Abdoh, and of course Batsheva, whose beautiful pieces I’m wearing today.

~ Björk

JT: My friends have a joke that the only thing that makes me cry, without fail, is asking me to talk about Björk. No other living artist has challenged me to disarm the ramparts of my own imagination the way she has. I listen to her music when I need to remember what I value. In a way, her work touches and orients me home the way the experience of prayer did in my Christian childhood.

~ Hedy Lamarr

JT: Come for the hot costumes in Samson and Delilah, stay for the audacity of her scientist mind - I mean, the woman created the technology that led to bluetooth! Every time we airdrop a photo of our brunch we should bow our heads for Hedy! A complete and total force.

~ Perry Mason

JT: I can’t wait for you to see this new season. Just unconscionably good actors, led by the wonderful Matthew Rhys and Juliet Rylance, both of whom somehow make being American look better than any American I know? Can you believe the gall? A Welshman and an Englishwoman just mopping the floor with us all. I adore them both and can’t believe they let me follow them around for seven months.