Ben Stiller Removed Chairs From ‘Walter Mitty’ Set, Has a ‘No Phones’ Rule on ‘Severance’ Because ‘It Drives Me Crazy’

https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/ben-stiller-banned-phones-severance-set-1236287613/

36 comments

  1. > “Crew have to use phones sometimes to communicate, but, for me, I like no phones anywhere near the eyeshot of the actors,” Stiller said. “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.”

  4. No phones seem reasonable if it’s near the acting. I think he is right that if you are trying to get into character and cry and somebody is just sitting there scrolling seems very distracting.

  5. I get the rule. The example is silly though. A dolly grip’s job is to run the dolly. If the dolly is being used, they’re not on their phone. If the dolly isn’t being used… then what?

  6. I think we would benefit a lot by having more no-phone areas.

  8. Why no chairs? Just 12+ hours of standing staring at the actors in between actual work? Seems kind of unnecessarily strict

  10. I like that he has standards. Society needs more of this.

  11. The actors are not acting for the grip. They are acting for the director.

  12. No one is talking about the chairs? Thats the weirdest one

  13. All sets have a no phones rule. If you’re anywhere near a real movie set and you haven’t picked up this rule, you’ll be culled from the herd.

  14. Maybe if someone had a phone on the set of Severance they could have googled “what is pacing” or “does a TV show need a narrative”…

  15. He sounds like an asshole to work for. No one is gonna tell other adults they can’t sit.

  17. The more I learn about him, the less I like him.

    He’s like that manager w/ the over the top restrictions/policies that he thinks are helping, but really he’s just annoying everyone else with pointless stuff.

  18. We need to have a no Ben Stiller rule. Has this guy ever been funny?

  19. How is he going to make fun of assholes when he is one?

    The no chairs thing comes from the syphilitic mind of John Bolton. If you’re standing, you’re working. If you’re sitting, you’re a lazy good for nothing.

    It’s about control and treating your employees as lesser people. And it’s puritanical BULLSHIT.

  20. He’s a whiney princess so no real surprise at these statements.

  21. Some of y’all should read the article before commenting.

  22. No phones, I support. No chairs? Nah man my knees hurt

  24. Marilyn Monroe didn’t have access to a chair on the set of Some Like it Hot, and she had to do retakes of a scene running on a dock in high heels, and it caused her to miscarry. Not providing chairs for actors and crews on set is downright cruel. But I have never heard anything good about this man.

  27. I once asked an AD from a Stiller directed movie if they wanted to go see Tropic Thunder. They said, “No way. He is a massive asshole.”

    I heard, on one gig, his dad had to step in and tell him to cut his bullshit as he was yelling and throwing a tantrum.

  28. Owen Wilson was with him on Graham Norton and commented that Stiller is like dictator on set and there was this awkward laughter and you could tell Wilson wasn’t joking lol

  29. the ‘no phones on set’ is a unwritten rule of every shoot anyway

    don’t understand the no chairs tho, that seems insane to me especially with how much dead time there is on a set during a day. lots and lots and lots of waiting around

  31. It hasn’t been reported on yet but I remember back in 2022 seeing tweets from people who had worked on the Severance set saying that it was an absolute nightmare of a production due to Stiller’s lack of directing experience, especially in TV.

    Hopefully things have improved for season 2, but I expect this sort of scuttlebutt will eventually get reported on in-depth.

  32. He’s slowly turning into his dad’s character on Seinfeld

  33. Honestly it’s a weird thing but I say all the time “I don’t sit on set” when people offer me chairs. I’ve worked in film for like 8 years now and for me when I sit down the ADHD tends to kick in and I check out a bit.

    I’m in costumes so when filming long format if I’m not needed directly with my talent I mosey over to see my cousin running crafty or chat w other friends in different depts. I tbh get the no chairs thing, it keeps you locked in.

  34. One of my best friends was his PA almost 20 years ago, and he PA’d for several celebrities over the years but the Ben Stiller stories were actually fucking chilling. I love many of his movies and quote them to this day but he is… not a nice guy.

  35. The phone rule is pretty commonplace among directors these days. The chair thing is inhumane and pointless on set. I’ve seen it a few times and it rarely gets enforced because it’s silly.

  36. Attention actors. Chairs have been cancelled due to a lack of hustle. Deal with it.

Comments are closed.