"I didn’t see myself in that space"— When Dichen Lachman opened up about leaving the Australian film industry

In an interview with The Guardian on April 29, 2022, Australian actor Dichen Lachman, who is best known for her starring roles in Dollhouse, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, The 100, and Severance, opened up about leaving the Australian film and TV.

‘I didn’t see myself in that space,’ Lachman said

The interview was done right after the arrival of Apple TV's Severence, where Lachman played a wellness counselor, Ms Casey, who left her impact on viewers with her equal parts soothing and skin-crawling voice, which often spoke in riddles to assure her patients.

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Why did Dichen Lachman leave the Australian film industry?

In the 2022 interview with Guardian, Lachman revealed that she did not see herself in the Australian film industry anymore. Elaborating on it, she said:

“At that time in Australia, we were only filming Home and Away and maybe a couple of other ABC [period dramas].”

Lachman made her first breakthrough role in this industry with Neighbours. Born in Nepal and with a Tibetan and German heritage, the actor also added:

“It was important for representation in terms of Australian television...I’m so grateful they even gave it to me to begin with. What had come before that was very homogenous [and] it was nice to be part of that wave of reflecting the community a bit more.”

When her contract was up in 2007, Lachman left and moved to Los Angeles, where lived out of a suitcase for three months before eventually landing a role in a made-for-TV movie as an Aztec princess escaping a dinosaur. The movie was titled Aztec Rex, and she said that she had little idea of what the visuals would be like.

“I was like, ‘is that the dinosaur? Is that how it’s gonna look?’ But it actually worked out because I think if you try to make a funny B-movie, the actors do need to take it seriously. It makes it funnier,” Dichen Lachman recalled.

She made her breakthrough in Hollywood with Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse, a sci-fi series, which opened up a lot of doors for her career. Following this role, Dichen Lachman was cast in The 100, Agents of SHIELD, and Altered Carbon, and found the success she had been looking for.

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Dichen Lachman's role in Severence

Apple TV's Severance marks the continuation of Dichen Lachman's long-held fascination with the sci-fi genre, which she keeps returning to.

“I keep finding myself in these stories where… there’s some kind of technology that makes you reflect on our humanity and our relationship to it. Technology is so wonderful in so many ways: it saves lives, it has definitely brought people out of poverty, [but] we need to moderate our relationship… We have to be cautious,” she said.

As aforementioned, Lachman played the role of a “wellness counsellor”, Ms Casey, in the Ben Stiller-directed Severence, a dystopian workplace thriller series on Apple TV. Although it was a small role, it was extremely tricky. The character spoke in riddles, giving cryptic affirmations with an unwavering, impassive whisper— both calming and terrifying.

Dichen Lachman revealed that hours of preparation went into the role. From watching meditation guides to online sleep stories, she had to put in hours of work for the voice. Talking about the role, she said:

“She’s very special and unique [in her] stillness, but also that sort of childlike state... Underneath, [you see] this naivety, this curiosity, because her life has been so short.”

As the series progresses, Ms Casey evolves from a fembot doing the bidding of her overlords to a pivotal character who disrupts the safeguarded secrets of Lumon Industries.

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Severence is back with a second season on Apple TV+.