The rejected Severance script, which would go on to become one of Apple TV+’s most respected and talked-about series, nearly ended up buried in a drawer.

Originally, the script was written only as a sample. The creator’s goal was to use it to get into writers’ rooms. However, the pilot felt too intriguing, too dense — and too strange for the standards of television at the time.

As a result, multiple studios turned it down. For a while, the story of employees who split their memories between work and personal life seemed doomed to silence.

But then, someone saw what no one else did.

A Script That Impressed — and Intimidated

Dan Erickson wrote Severance just to showcase his skills as a writer, with no actual plans to get it produced.

Even so, his script made the 2016 Blood List — an annual selection of the best unproduced genre screenplays. While the idea of a surgery that separates the mind into “work versions” and “personal versions” certainly stood out, the dark tone and unconventional concept felt too hard to sell.

Consequently, most studios didn’t want to take the risk.

Until, at one point, an actor and director known for creative risks decided to read it all the way through.

Ben Stiller’s Leap of Faith

When the script landed in Ben Stiller’s hands, something clicked.

According to Erickson, the director said something unusual:

“This is the type of pilot that most people would be impressed by, but then pass on, but let’s just do it. Like, fuck it, let’s make the show.”
— Ben Stiller, as quoted by Dan Erickson in an interview with Thrillist

That was the moment the rejected Severance script got its second chance.

Stiller’s production company, Red Hour Productions, pushed the project forward. Apple TV+ embraced the pitch. And what once seemed bizarre became one of the most compelling experiences on modern television.

When Risk Becomes Art

Severance premiered in 2022 and quickly turned into a phenomenon.

Its sharp aesthetics, use of silence as language, and fragmented characters — all elements that once felt like barriers — became its trademarks.

The series earned Emmy nominations, built a devoted fan base, and sparked a wave of theories, interpretations, and philosophical debates. All this, thanks to a pilot that almost no one wanted to produce.

How Many Stories Never Reach Us?

This story says more about the creative world than it seems.

How many projects are rejected not for lack of quality, but because they’re misunderstood in their own time?

If Severance had been forgotten like so many other brilliant ideas, we would have never seen the impact it could have.

Greatness doesn’t always scream — it just needs one person willing to listen.

Explore More About Severance

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• Helena Eagan in Severance: The Heiress Who Lost Everything