Tramell Tillman Wins First Emmy for ‘Severance’ Season 2

The "Severance" star won an award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Seth Milchick.

Cue up a Music/Dance Experience: Tramell Tillman just won his first Emmy for his role as Seth Milchick in “Severance” Season 2.

Tillman has been a staple of the series since it premiered in Season 1, with Mr. Milchick’s eerily calm professionalism looming over the employees working in Macrodata Refinement (MDR). He stole the show early on with his dance moves, but Season 2 earned him his first Emmy nomination.

The winning actor started his speech by thanking his mother, who joined him for the awards ceremony on September 14 at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. “I am full, I am humbled, I am honored,” he said as he raised his award.

When “Severance” returned to Apple after a three-year hiatus, mere weeks had passed in the world of the series; Mark (Adam Scott) was the only refiner left from his beloved old team, forced to take Milchick’s word on management’s behalf for what occurred in the world outside of Lumon Industries. Milchick, now promoted to take the place of Ms. Cobel (Patricia Arquette), handles things by doing what he does best: lying — about everything from where Mark’s team really is to things that don’t need to be falsified as all (“the tallest waterfall on the planet”).

“Severance” Season 2 was nominated for many more Emmy Awards, and took home six awards at the Creative Arts Emmys the weekend prior. Those were for Production Design, Title Design, Sound Mixing, Music Composition, Cinematography, and guest actor Merritt Wever. Many of Tillman’s costars were nominated for their performances, including fellow Supporting Actor nominee Zach Cherry.

Season 2 also saw “Severance” tackle race in a way that visibly rankles Milchick, as he suspects that the conservative company that signs his checks clearly doesn’t view him the way it does other employees.

“Milchick is very aware of his Blackness,” Tillman told IndieWire in January. “He’s very aware that he is different from the corporate structure in which he works. I had extensive conversations with Dan (Erickson) and Ben (Stiller) around the topic of racism and his placement in Lumon… We’re stepping forward with care, because I don’t ever want to tell a story of such delicate nature lightly so as not to disrespect the character, and also disrespect the audiences that will be investing in this story.”