Christopher Walken is old school when it comes to technology.
The Severance star, 81, revealed during an interview with The Wall Street Journal published on Monday, Jan. 27 that he doesn’t have any modern gadgets to contact others or even to watch his television.
“I don’t have technology. I only have a satellite dish on my house. So I’ve seen Severance on DVDs that they’re good enough to send me,” Walken told the outlet. “I don’t have a cell phone. I’ve never emailed or, what do you call it, Twittered.”
His lack of technology helps him fall in line with Severance co-executive producer and director Ben Stiller’s “no phones” rule on set. The actor and comedian, 59, shared on Mike Birbiglia’s Working It Out podcast that he enacted the rule to help “protect that environment for the actors,” per Variety.
“Crew have to use phones sometimes to communicate, but, for me, I like no phones anywhere near the eyeshot of the actors,” Stiller said, per the outlet. “My least favorite thing is to see a dolly grip guy hunched down while an actor is acting their brains out, and he’s scrolling or whatever. It drives me crazy.”
“You also have to be respectful of the crew,” he added. “… These people are actually working really hard, and you have to figure out how to motivate them to want to be on the team. They haven’t been with the script that you’ve been writing for five years. They just came on last week. So, it’s on you as a director to figure out a way to get everybody on board.”
Walken previously shared his lack of modern technology to watch the popular Apple TV+ series during an appearance on SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live on Jan. 17, alongside Stiller and castmates including Adam Scott and Patricia Arquette.
Patricia Arquette, Dan Erickson, Christopher Walken, John Turturro, Britt Lower, Adam Scott, Tramell Tillman, Zach Cherry and Ben Stiller attend SiriusXM’s Town Hall with the cast of “Severance’ hosted by Andy Cohen at SiriusXM Studios on January 16, 2025 in New York City.
Cindy Ord/Getty
When asked if he has watched the episodes he’s in, he responded, “Not all of them. I can’t. I don’t have the equipment. So, they’re good enough to send me DVDs.”
Host Andy Cohen followed up with, “Oh, they do? Okay. Do you have an Apple TV+ subscription?” — to which Walken replied, “I don’t have anything.” Cohen then noted, “Right. You don’t. Okay. I love you for that.”
In Severance, Walken portrays Burt Goodman, a severed employee who is forced to retire after striking up a relationship with Lumon Industries colleague (and eventual love interest) Irving Bailiff (John Turturro). Walken’s efforts earned him an Emmy nomination in 2022. Meanwhile, the show, itself, has won two Emmys after being nominated in 14 categories for its first season in 2022.
Of the role, Walken told WSJ, “It was a very special job. It was mysterious, but funny and scary, which I’ve always felt was a good combination.”
New episodes of Severance drop Fridays on Apple TV+.
