Bonavista Peninsula takes the spotlight in season two of Severance

People all over the world will be watching the town of Bonavista Friday night, when the much-anticipated second season of the hit thriller Severance debuts on Apple TV+.

The community features as a backdrop for some of the show, after a team from New York travelled to the town in 2023, working with local crews to film part of the second season. Scenes were also filmed in Trinity Bay North, located on  the east side of the Bonavista Peninsula.

Two years later, people like Melanie Mooney are excited to see the final product.

"It's a great show, so I can't wait to see the work that we did on screen," said Mooney, who worked as a costume supervisor on the show, helping to facilitate requirements from the show's costume designer and taking care of everything that was sent from New York. She also worked alongside key members of the show's main crew. 

The show, directed by Ben Stiller, is a science fiction psychological thriller about a group of workers who enter a strange office where they lose their memories of their normal lives while they work, and forget their memories of work when they're off. 

Many of the scenes outside of the office are in the winter, and the scenes in Bonavista were shot in April, while there was still snow on the ground. Mooney said they were able to capture the town's stunning nature and coastline, as well as its remoteness.

"I mean, it's gorgeous out there. So I think they just wanted a bit of that in the show," she said.

Mooney said Newfoundlanders should be proud to have a show like this filmed in the province. 

"The attention to detail is incredible on that show," she said. 

That attention is something Mooney enjoyed being a part of, as she also has a meticulous sense of detail.

"It was great to work with them and just work with people who understand that." she said. "[It was] really incredible to see how much work goes into it and how everything just has to be exactly right for the show."

Great collaboration between crews

Mooney said crew members from Hudson & Rex and Son of a Critch came together to support the show's New York crews. She said the collaboration between the Newfoundland team and the New York team was excellent.

"I think we have a fantastic crew here in Newfoundland …the crew's experience is very diverse," she said. "So for us to be able to work with a New York crew is really fantastic, to show that we do have the experience here."

Director Ben Stiller was also on set in Bonavista, Mooney said. 

"Ben came by and said hello to everyone. And everybody who came from New York was lovely."

Mooney said the community members were also great to work with while filming, including some local people who made it on camera.

"They were fantastic and they came out, and you'll have to keep your eyes peeled to see if you recognize any faces."

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