Adam Scott Says He Pulled From His Own ‘Worst Nightmare’ as a Dad of 2 in “The Whisper Man” (Exclusive)

The ‘Severance’ star is dad to son Graham, 19, and daughter Frankie, 16, whom he shares with wife Naomi

NEED TO KNOW

• Adam Scott says his role as a struggling father in The Whisper Man was informed by his own parenting experiences
• The actor shares son Graham, 19, and daughter Frankie, 16, with wife Naomi and rarely discusses them publicly
• Scott recently joked about his daughter’s acting class using his failed The Office audition as a teaching moment

Adam Scott was able to pull from his own experience when filming his latest movie.

Speaking with PEOPLE recently ahead of his Netflix film The Whisper Man, Scott, 53, said his experience as a father of two informed his performance as Tom, a struggling single dad whose son is abducted by a serial killer replicating the crimes of a currently incarcerated murderer.

“Being a father is such a big part of you. I know that the scenes I had with my son in the movie, there were points where Tom, my character, just doesn’t know what to do and is at a loss,” the Severance star said.

“And that happens a lot as a dad, I’ve found. Sometimes your worst nightmare is to come up short and you don’t often know what to do, but that’s part of parenthood too, is just figuring it out as you go,” explained Scott, who shares son Graham, 19, and daughter Frankie, 17, with wife Naomi. “But also the aspect of the movie that is every parent’s worst nightmare, which is a kid disappears.”

Although Scott doesn’t often share details about his kids’ lives, earlier in August, he told a hilarious story about his daughter’s acting class while appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

The Parks and Recreation alum was in New York City filming season 3 of Severance when Frankie, who is about to enter her senior year of high school, attended an acting program.

“My daughter, who’s about to be [a] senior in high school. She was here in an acting program in New York for the summer,” Scott said.

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Then, on the first day of one of her classes, the teacher put Scott’s career front and center. He showed the class a video of the actor’s audition for The Office, followed by John Krasinski’s audition for the same role. He then asked the students to discuss why Krasinski got the job, and Scott didn’t, the actor recalled.

“He had no idea. But I’m just happy to know that in a prestigious acting class, I’m the subject of what not to do,” Scott joked.

For Frankie, however, the moment was a little more uncomfortable. “She was mortified,” Scott said.

As Frankie was leaving the class, the teacher stopped her and asked if she knew either of the actors. “And then he kind of put two and two together with her last name, and he felt terrible,” the dad of two said.

The actor has previously joked that his children aren’t exactly his biggest TV fans. While attending the 2025 Emmy Awards in September, Scott revealed that his kids had finally started watching Severance, the Apple TV+ series in which he stars as Mark Scout.

“Finally I’m getting them to watch something I’m in. They actually watch it, and they actually enjoy it,” Scott told E! News.

“They’ve never seen Parks and Rec or Party Down or anything else. So it’s just great that I can … I can’t count them as fans, but I can at least count them as viewers,” he added.

The Whisper Man is streaming now on Netflix.

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