"Severance' star Tramell Tillman's major career gamble ends with Emmy glory

Tramell Tillman, who has secured an Emmy nomination for his breakout role in Severance, has revealed he once dreamt of becoming an orthopaedic surgeon.

While conversing with PEOPLE magazine, the 40-year-old American actor opened up about his acting career, admitting that he never thought cementing his place in the acting world was possible for him.

Articulating his thoughts, Tillman, who rose to fame for depicting Seth Milchick in the Apple TV+ show Severance, explained, “When I decided I wanted to be an actor, I had the courage to utter that and was told I'd never make it.”

“And in order to make it in life, I needed to go in science, technology, engineering, math. So, I looked at the sciences. I said, ‘I'm really fascinated with the bone structure. Why don't I become an orthopedic surgeon?’”

“So, I was studying that even in high school — still performing on the side — but my main focus was the sciences. And then I went to Xavier University, which was number one, and may still be number one, for sending African-Americans to med school,” he recalled.

One day the Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning star had a realization that altered his life when he was attending a chemistry lab class.

He shared, “I was bored to tears. I was like, ‘I don't want to do this.’ There were so many people around me who were so enthralled with this and enjoyed it, and I'm like, ‘This is boring.’ And I was really inspired by those that had that zeal for this thing, and looking at my family and the choices that they made and other people around me, and if I had the opportunity to go pursue my dreams, I wanted to do it.”

Tillman took a while to decide to switch his career and try his luck in acting, “but I eventually got there. But I had to go from job to career, to career to job, in order to find out that it was always there.”

Now, the Sweethearts actor credits his unwavering dedication and the right “timing” that played a pivotal role in stamping his position in Hollywood for which he “had to be ready.”