Severance<\/a>,\u201d the soft-spoken actor, 40, has scored a historic Emmy nomination: He\u2019s the first openly gay Black man to be recognized in the supporting actor drama category \u2014 the only Emmy acting category that has yet to crown a Black winner. Just in the last few months, the Maryland native shared the screen with Tom Cruise in the summer blockbuster \u201cMission: Impossible \u2014 The Final Reckoning\u201d and has become a breakout star of television\u2019s most nominated series.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\tMilchick, the workplace liaison whose saccharine smile conceals something sinister, was conceived as a Black character. But Tillman\u2019s casting transformed everything \u2014 not only the role, but how audiences experience the unsettling world of \u201cSeverance.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cPlaying Milchick is like putting on a suit of armor,\u201d Tillman says. \u201cThis man has layers upon layers upon layers, and every movement of Milchick is 100% intentional.\u201d And yet, the performance never feels mechanical. It\u2019s balletic. Almost too smooth. As if charisma itself has become a surveillance tool. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tNoah Greenshner, executive VP of development and production at Fifth Season, the production company that makes \u201cSeverance,\u201d calls it one of the show\u2019s most masterful performances, saying, \u201cTramell brings so much subtle humor and menace. He\u2019s able to play the depth of this character and make you laugh while making you afraid.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tSeason 1 of \u201cSeverance\u201d emerged in 2022 from the pandemic, made with masks and mandates, a kind of forced isolation that mirrored the show\u2019s core themes. Season 2 was rocked by the twin Hollywood strikes. Still, an alliance formed between the show\u2019s three then-unknown main players \u2014 Tillman, Britt Lower (Helly R.) and Zach Cherry (Dylan) \u2014 who dubbed themselves \u201cthe freshman class.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWe were surrounded by giants,\u201d says Lower, naming co-stars like Adam Scott, Patricia Arquette, John Turturro and Christopher Walken. And yet she compares Tillman to an orchestra conductor. \u201cIt\u2019s like he could play any instrument. And then he\u2019d pull out another one. You\u2019d think \u2014 how is he good at this too? He can do anything.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tCherry, reflecting on their shared time on the SAG-AFTRA picket lines, added, \u201cIt solidified our bond outside of work, just knowing that this is someone who\u2019s going to show up when you do.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tThe audience showed up too. Online, due to his character\u2019s vast vocabulary (\u201cdevour feculence,\u201d anyone?), Tillman became something of a fan magnet \u2014 dubbed \u201cDictionary Daddy.\u201d He smiles at the nickname but doesn\u2019t take it too seriously.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tToday he leans forward, not delivering lines or navigating the surreal landscape of viral fame. He\u2019s just himself: a Black man, a gay man, a man who told his mother the truth on a quiet road trip years ago and is on the cusp of making history.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/variety.com\/wp-content\/themes\/pmc-variety-2020\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\")
<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRichard Phibbs for Variety<\/p>\n
\t\tYou\u2019re the youngest of six children. How did being the baby of the family shape you?\u00a0\t<\/p>\n
\n\tI\u2019m going to get into trouble because the older siblings have their own perspective on what the younger siblings got. My sister, who\u2019s four years my senior, swears my upbringing was so much better and I got away with more. I don\u2019t know if I got away with more, but I was savvy in the sense that I could watch everyone else\u2019s mistakes and not do that and pivot. But I was also very responsible \u2014 oftentimes I was responsible for my older siblings.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tThere were conversations with my parents like, \u201cWhy don\u2019t you tell your sister to do this? Look out for your sister.\u201d And I\u2019m like, \u201cShe\u2019s not going to listen to me. I\u2019m 8.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\tWhat did Sundays look like in your household growing up?\u00a0\t<\/p>\n
\n\tFirst Baptist Church of Highland Park. Every Sunday, we were in church and dressed for church. We weren\u2019t allowed in the living room \u2014 that was for fancy moments. We had this beautiful crushed-velvet blue couch with gold accents. Music always played in our household, but on Sundays, church music. So we would go from Temptations, Aretha Franklin, Tupac, Biggie, Janet on weekdays to Sunday morning: Shirley Caesar, Kirk Franklin, Mississippi Mass Choir. That was our way of making sure that we kept the Sabbath holy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\tThe family room, or in some households we call it the \u201cliving room\u201d or \u201cfront room,\u201d can be off-limits for the kids. Were you allowed in there?\u00a0\t<\/p>\n
\n\tI had not heard \u201cfront room\u201d until I went to the South. We weren\u2019t allowed in the living room, or on the china in the dining room. The living room was for fancy moments. We had this gorgeous grandfather clock there, so you had to be careful how you walked. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\tWhat was the sound of your childhood home?\u00a0\t<\/p>\n
\n\tIt was a mixed bag. We were a very passionate family. So there were arguments, there were fights, but there was also laughter and love sprinkled in as well. There was a lot of music. We were a very active family who were always running around, so a lot of footsteps. Every Saturday, my father would go to Blockbuster Video and rent movies, and we would order Domino\u2019s Pizza. Films like \u201cDie Hard,\u201d \u201cCrooklyn,\u201d \u201cDo the Right Thing,\u201d \u201cMalcolm X\u201d \u2014 we watched a lot of Black films. I was watching movies I had no business watching as a kid. My parents felt it was important that I be educated about what\u2019s going on in the world. I learned about sex when I was in the second grade.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\tIs \u201cDie Hard\u201d a Christmas movie?\u00a0\t<\/p>\n
\n\tYes. It\u2019s an action Christmas movie.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\tWas structure a big thing in your household?\u00a0\t<\/p>\n
\n\tAbsolutely. There were rules, there was corporal punishment, and then when we got too old for that, we would be punished with book reports \u2014 academic punishment. This curtailed my love for reading, because at that time I started to associate punishment with reading. Anytime I didn\u2019t take out the trash, I broke a vase, I lied, I had to write book reports.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\tFor breaking a vase?\u00a0\t<\/p>\n
\n\tYes. I tried to glue it back together. It didn\u2019t work.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\tWhat kind of student were you?\u00a0\t<\/p>\n
\n\tI was very studious. It was very important for us to be excellent in everything we did, including academics \u2014 especially academics. Give you an example: When I got my report card, I got all A\u2019s and a B, and the first thing my father said to me was \u201cWhat\u2019s going on with this B?\u201d The B was in math \u2014 I just didn\u2019t like it. Nothing was acceptable in our house but excellence. I had to be studious.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRichard Phibbs for Variety<\/p>\n
\t\tWhat was your comfort item as a child?\u00a0\t<\/p>\n
\n\tMy go-to was my My Buddy doll. Do you remember those? I remember having that doll as my best friend. I also had imaginary friends. Being shy and growing up in a tough home, I needed coping mechanisms. My wall was painted blue; when things got hard, I\u2019d go to my room and just stare at it to dissociate. That shade of blue would call me. Even now, blue is my favorite color.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\tIs it safe to assume you had a lot of family game nights?\u00a0\t<\/p>\n
\n\tSpades \u2014 you lose your life! [Laughs] If you asked me to play Spades, I\u2019d break out in a sweat, because it tested the strength of our family relationships. In high school, it got so bad, they would ban us from playing spades. Uno was another one that would cause people\u2019s feelings to be hurt.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\tDo you play with \u201cstacking\u201d rules?\u00a0\t<\/p>\n
\n\tWe stack in this house. [Laughs] If someone says \u201cUno\u201d and another makes them draw four, you\u2019d watch their whole disposition collapse.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\tFaith was complex in your household. Can you explain that dynamic?\u00a0\t<\/p>\n
\n\tMy mom used church as a coping mechanism, but my dad rejected it. He\u2019d say, \u201cI\u2019m not anti-white; I\u2019m pro-Black, and I don\u2019t see why I need to worship a white Jesus.\u201d He hated hymns that talked about being \u201cwashed white as snow.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tThere was this stark dichotomy when it came to faith in the home, because my mom really believed in the teachings of Jesus Christ, and my father believed more in community and self-reliance. He stopped going to church with us. When we would go to early-morning service, he would say, \u201cOh, y\u2019all going to get God out the way early.\u201d Even as a kid, something about that made me bristle.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tI felt that God and the art saved my life. I\u2019m a person who still prays and believes. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\tWhat did you want to be when you grew up?\u00a0\t<\/p>\n
\n\tI wanted to be a storm chaser. \u201cTwister,\u201d \u201cDante\u2019s Peak,\u201d earthquake movies, apocalyptic films. I was fascinated by natural disasters. I did not want to be in one and never wished anyone to endure a natural disaster. But there was something about the science behind it that was so mysterious, how these storms can have a dynamic effect and just move on.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\tWas there a moment in childhood when you felt truly seen for who you were?\u00a0\t<\/p>\n
\n\tHonestly, no. There were moments that I felt release or freedom through the art form, because I could get away from the negativity. For me, acting was a vessel to escape, to avoid, to run away. Dancing was a way for me to allow my body to be free and express itself. Singing was a way to be heard in a different way, to allow myself to be loud.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tA lot of my childhood was about survival. I had to learn how to survive, produce and be excellent. I think with all those pressures, there weren\u2019t moments where I felt seen, because I didn\u2019t know who I was. I was hiding behind singing, acting, dancing, writing, performing. I\u2019m always a little jealous when people talk about their first crush or first kiss \u2014 I don\u2019t remember those.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\tDo you remember your first acting performance?\u00a0\t<\/p>\n
\n\tMy first live performance was a Christmas play I did at First Baptist Church in 1995. I played my mother\u2019s son \u2014 she was also in the play \u2014 and I had one direction: to say hello and sit on the couch. I cried and didn\u2019t want to go onstage because I was very shy as a kid. But my mom strongly encouraged me, and I did it, and it just clicked. From there, I became more involved in church performances, singing in the choir and even choreographing dances with my sister. But I was not a part of the liturgical dance ministry because, you know, I\u2019m a boy \u2014 dance was for girls.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\tWhen you were 10, you told your family you wanted to be an actor. What was the response?\u00a0\t<\/p>\n
\n\tMy father\u2019s response was devastating. He said I\u2019d never make it and I\u2019d be a waiter for the rest of my life. My father had rarely seen me perform and wouldn\u2019t come to my plays. So I carried that with me and thought, \u201cMaybe I just won\u2019t make it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\tIn 2014, you became the first Black man to finish the University of Tennessee\u2019s MFA program \u2014 top of the class. What was that experience like?\u00a0\t<\/p>\n
\n\tThe head of acting warned it might be a deal breaker \u2014 I\u2019d be the only Black person in that program, and nearly the only Black male among faculty, staff and students. I thought, \u201cHey, free education; I\u2019ll learn.\u201d But I didn\u2019t grasp what I was signing up for until I moved there. It was never intimidating \u2014 more frustrating, overwhelming and isolating. I endured being called the N-word, followed and taunted with \u201cWhite power!\u201d There were countless microaggressions. When I reported incidents, some in the community would say, \u201cWell, I didn\u2019t see it,\u201d or \u201cI didn\u2019t think it was racist.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tTramell Tillman in the Season 2 finale of \u201cSeverance\u201d
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRichard Phibbs for Variety<\/p>\n
\t\tWhat scares you about Milchick? There\u2019s a theory that he\u2019s a prisoner too. Do you think that as well?\u00a0\t<\/p>\n
\n\tI can understand that theory. It\u2019s hard for me to answer because there are so many questions that I have about the character myself. What scares me is his potential. How he moves his eyes, how he moves his head. Everything is methodical.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\tIf you could explore the human side of Milchick, what would it be?\u00a0\t<\/p>\n
\n\tI\u2019m always intrigued by people\u2019s histories. If I could go back to any time period, it would be the 1950s, because I want to watch my parents grow up. With Milchick, it\u2019s understanding where this man came from. I\u2019m fascinated by history and how people get to certain points.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\tThe drum scene in Season 2 became iconic. Tell me about bringing your HBCU culture to that moment.\u00a0\t<\/p>\n
\n\tWhen I learned there\u2019d be a celebration with a band, I didn\u2019t want to reinforce a stereotype of \u201cEvery season the Black man dances.\u201d They understood. I wanted Milchick\u2019s movements to feel intentional, not random; this wasn\u2019t a co-worker who just showed up to kickline for no reason \u2014 it followed his being policed over vocabulary, terrible paintings and boardroom disrespect. Yes, it celebrates Mark, but this is also a moment for Milchick: Just like Tramell needed to be seen, Milchick needed to be seen.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u00a0It was very important for me that this character did not shy away from his Blackness. I asked if we could infuse HBCU energy \u2014 that\u2019s how we got that style. That celebration was for him. That was him reclaiming joy. I knew it would feel authentic.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\tWere you nervous about the long hiatus between seasons?\u00a0\t<\/p>\n
\n\tI was a little nervous if the fans were going to come back. There\u2019s no telling, and there\u2019s so much quality programming out there. But I knew that we had to finish. I knew that there was too much invested in this show for it not to finish. It was just a matter of when and whether the fans would stay with us. I\u2019m grateful that they did.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\tWhat caused the delays?\u00a0\t<\/p>\n
\n\tThe delay was outside of our hands. The first season, it was a pandemic. Second, we had two strikes. We\u2019re a show that doesn\u2019t rush. We want to take our time. This show needs that. I think the more we do it, we find our groove. We know who these characters are to a certain extent. We know how they move. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\tWhat was it like working with Tom Cruise on \u201cMission: Impossible \u2014 The Final Reckoning\u201d?\u00a0\t<\/p>\n
\n\tOn my first day, I filmed the doughnut-garage scene. I had gotten the script only the day before, and I was shaking in my boots. I was taken by his strength, grace, humility and passion. Definitely passion.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\tWhat was the morning of the Emmy nominations like?\u00a0\t<\/p>\n
\n\tI was shaking all morning, and I kept telling myself, \u201cI just want it to be over. I want 11:30 to come and go so I can just know and move on with my life.\u201d I kept telling myself, \u201cTramell, no matter what happens, it\u2019s OK. It\u2019s all right. It\u2019s not the end of the world.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tMy manager had set up a Zoom link for the team \u2014 if it went our way, everyone could hop on and celebrate, and if it didn\u2019t, there was no pressure. So when the list came out, my manager says, \u201cOutstanding supporting actor in a drama series: Tramell Tillman from \u2018Severance!\u2019\u201d and I was jumping up and down. That\u2019s when my team revealed their screens, and they all had \u201cTram-Emmy\u201d shirts on.<\/p>\n
\t\tYou\u2019re potentially making history as the first Black winner for supporting actor in drama. Does that feel weighty?\u00a0\t<\/p>\n
\n\tDo I feel a weight? No. I feel honored to join the legacy of these incredible storytellers. I\u2019m ambitious and would love an Emmy, but I\u2019ve learned it\u2019s not up to me. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\tIf you could get something greenlit to write and direct today, what would it be?\u00a0\t<\/p>\n
\n\tI\u2019d adapt African folktales and fairy tales, casting Colman Domingo, Mahershala Ali, Lupita Nyong\u2019o, Sterling K. Brown, Jeffrey Wright, David Oyelowo, Michael B. Jordan and Nicole Beharie.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\tYou\u2019re assembling the Black Avengers.\u00a0\t<\/p>\n
\n\tYes! Black Avengers but rooted in our ancestral stories.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\tAs someone who\u2019s navigated predominantly white spaces, what advice do you have for actors of color?\u00a0\t<\/p>\n
\n\tI\u2019m not playing small for nobody. I\u2019m not dimming my light for anybody. I have spent years doing that, and those days are done. Myself, stepping into that level of thinking and embodying, that is my own form of revolution.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\tStyling:\u00a0Chaise Dennis; Grooming: Ruth Fernendez; Look 1 (Orange Turtleneck): Saint Laurent; Look 2 (cover): Full Look Ferragamo; Look 3 (Cream Silk Shirt): Dolce & Gabbana\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The drive to Petersburg, Virginia, pours out of him: a memory in slow motion.\u00a0 Green fields blurring past…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":80148,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[88,13021,56318],"class_list":["post-80147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-severance","tag-tramell-tillman"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80147"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80147\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}