Jake from State Farm is an industry icon — and that’s something Severance star Adam Scott and producer-director Ben Stiller know all too well.
Pegged to the Apple TV+ hit’s buzzy second season, the Severance team has teamed up with State Farm to help young adults who are separating — or, rather, severing — from a parent’s auto insurance policy. The all-new ad spot was directed by Stiller, 59, and sees Jake from State Farm (a.k.a. Kevin Miles) hitting Lumon Industries’ severed floor alongside Scott’s character Mark S.
Now, the Parks and Recreation alum tells PEOPLE exclusively about getting to work on the ad with Miles’ beloved persona — and, he admits just how starstruck he was.
“It was funny because when we got there, Ben and I were both so excited,” Scott, 51, recalls. “I got there and we were both like, ‘Have you seen Jake yet? Have you met him?’ Ben was like, ‘I’ve seen him. I was kind of nervous, so I haven’t met him yet.'”
Scott notes that his and Stiller’s shared nerves were “because he’s a part of everyone’s life, in a way.”
“He’s like a staple,” the Emmy nominee continues. “Once we actually got to meet Jake and work with him, he was lovely and so funny and super game, too, to try a bunch of different stuff. He’s really, really good.”
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Like the ad’s target audience, the concept of severing, so to say, oneself from their parents’ auto insurance is something Scott is very familiar with.
“Starting out on your own is always scary,” he says. “I certainly was lucky enough to have my parents to fall back on for several years as far as, like I didn’t even understand insurance until I was like 25 years old. I was really lucky, so actually making that leap was a big deal.”
“Now, seeing my kids starting to get older and almost to the age of moving out of the house, it’s a big milestone in anyone’s life,” he adds.
Scott, additionally, hopes that audiences like the ad’s end result, which he deems a “clever” way to blend the two seemingly opposite matters together.
“It was really clever, the way they tied auto insurance and State Farm into the Severance world. It really felt like a natural fit,” he concludes. “I think it’ll be really fun for fans of the show to see it pop up and see a new angle on this world.”
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New episodes of Severance drop Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on Apple TV+.
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