Canadian with Stage 4 cancer meets Severance cast after sliding into Ben Stiller's DMs

Sheena Goodyear · CBC Radio

· Posted: Mar 10, 2025 5:59 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hr ago

When Emily Powell-Heaton reached retired to Ben Stiller connected societal media, her extremity was to sound different point disconnected her bucket list.

The Markham, Ont., pistillate has metastatic, oregon Stage 4, bosom cancer, and is simply a immense instrumentality of the TV amusement Severance, which Stiller directs and enforcement produces.

Five days later, she was hobnobbing with immoderate of the formed and unit astatine a Toronto screening, and aboriginal this month, she'll beryllium heading to Los Angeles for a peculiar screening of the season 2 finale.

"I effort and find things that volition marque my life, you know, fulfilled and enriched. And I truly bask Severance and Ben Stiller's work, truthful I decided to nonstop retired the connection … and spot if thing would travel of it," Powell-Heaton told As It Happens big Nil Köksal.

"And it did, so I'm gladsome I did."

'Different and original'

Severance is simply a intelligence thriller created by Dan Erickson that airs connected Apple TV. It follows a radical of colleagues who person undergone a encephalon process called severance that makes them hide their idiosyncratic lives erstwhile they are astatine work, and their enactment lives aft they've clocked out.

"I person ever been a large instrumentality of things that are antithetic and original," Powell-Heaton said. "When Lost came connected TV years ago, I was a large instrumentality … and thing that has that benignant of, you know, mystery/sci fi-feel is, you know, close up my alley."

So connected March 1, she went connected X, formerly Twitter, to sprout her shot. 

"Hi @BenStiller! Severance is the champion amusement my hubby and I person ever seen. I person signifier 4 cancer. A large bucket database point to cheque disconnected would beryllium to conscionable you and immoderate of the formed and unit from the show. We tin alert anywhere. We unrecorded adjacent Toronto, Canada. Would this beryllium possible? Thanks for your help!" she wrote.

The station rapidly gained momentum, getting thousands of likes and shares. And that precise evening, Stiller responded: "Please dm me."

Canadian connections

A thrilled Powell-Heaton instantly slid into the actor's nonstop messages, wherever helium helped put for her to conscionable immoderate of the formed and unit astatine a March 6 screening astatine the TIFF Lightbox successful Toronto.

There, she and her hubby chatted and posed for pictures with histrion Zach Cherry, who plays severed worker Dylan G; histrion Tramell Tillman, who portrays information chief-turned-manager Seth Milchick; and Jessica Lee Gagné, one of the show's directors. 

"[Gagné] went to schoolhouse successful Montreal for movie production. I went to schoolhouse successful Ontario for movie production, truthful I similar that we person that successful common," Powell-Heaton said. "It was great."

Gagné, who was calved successful Quebec City, isn't the show's lone Canadian connection. Parts of 2nd play were filmed successful Newfoundland, connected Fogo Island and successful and astir Bonavista. 

The second poses arsenic a institution municipality for Lumon, the mysterious and sinister corp astatine the centre of Severance.

In an occurrence of The Severance Podcast, Stiller called Newfoundland "rugged and beautiful."

Powell-Heaton says she's gladsome for her infinitesimal successful the spotlight, which has allowed her to talk publically astir her bosom cancer.

When she was archetypal diagnosed successful 2020, she was already astatine Stage 4, meaning the crab had dispersed to different parts of her body.

Over the past 5 years, she says she's realized that a batch of bosom crab research, fundraising and and enactment focuses on the earlier stages of the disease.  

"Stage 4 isn't arsenic talked astir due to the fact that it is simply a terminal illness," Powell-Heaton said. "So that means a batch to maine to beryllium capable to bash that."

She says she's starting a caller chemotherapy attraction connected Tuesday, and is preparing for spinal country successful April. Nevertheless, her doc has cleared the mode for her to question to L.A. for the Severance season 2 finale, wherever she'll conscionable adjacent much formed and unit members. 

"I talked to my oncologist contiguous and she was thrilled," Powell-Heaton said. "She's telling the full bureau and everything."