“Neither of us peed for 3 hours”

Although Lumon Industries’ pop-up at New York’s Grand Central Terminal may have inadvertently recreated the obscure conglomerate’s unethical working conditions at the center of Apple TV+ Breakupstar Adam Scott was delighted with the effort – in stark contrast to his innie Mark S.

“It was super fun,” the actor said on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert while reflecting on the viral marketing stunt that took place on January 15th.

The long-awaited Apple TV+ mystery drama has broken out in the lead-up to Season 2, which has been nearly three years in the making since the nail-biting, twisty finale of its inaugural season. Scott — along with co-stars Patricia Arquette, Britt Lower, Zach Cherry and Tramell Tillman — took the stark, green office space from the small screen to real life, all under the watchful eye of director Ben Stiller. As onlookers gaped, taking photos and videos of the stunt, much could be said about the meta-recreation and the series’ commentary on surveillance, the nature of the work, and the interplay of the two in the modern world.

“We were there for 3 hours…” Scott said, before Colbert interjected with a knowing joke: “Doing macro data refinement?

“Yes, we were just there to work, and neither of us peed – at all – for 3 hours,” said the Parks and Recreation » continued the former student. “I didn’t leave a glass cube in for 3 hours and it was fun. People would gather around and watch us do boring, monotonous office work. (It’s not mentioned here that Scott’s computer crashes in the middle of recess, forcing the actor to stay in character while he tries to resolve the problem.)

Elsewhere during the interview, Scott admitted to being hounded for information about the series during its hiatus, including by his two teenage children who were previously uninterested in any of his other projects. While viewing the opening shot of Season 2, which shows his character rushing through the eerie white corridors of Lumon, Scott said he naturally channeled Tom Cruise’s iconic run.

“He’s the best runner in the world,” Scott said. “You have to have your hands on the blade, you have to raise your knees, and he’s always running in uncomfortable clothes, so I had a suit and dress shoes and had to do a lot of running. It took almost five months to shoot this sequence – on and off, for five months. It’s all Ben Stiller and we had our own little wrap party when we finally finished the racing sequence.

Season 2, which debuted on the streamer on January 17 to rave reviews, follows the subset of Lumon workers who have opted for surgery that separates their work from their home lives.

Watch the full late night interview below: