Jeremy Strong is subtly weighing in on his former Succession costars poking fun at his method acting.
The actor, 46, elaborated on his process while discussing his role as Roy Cohn in The Apprentice film, telling Deadline on Tuesday, January 7, “When I look at the kind of transformational work based on historical characters that I feel inspired by, from Ben Kingsley in Gandhi, or Phil Hoffman in Capote or what I witnessed Daniel Day-Lewis do in Lincoln, it’s about transcending impersonation and finding the essence in a deep, serious way.”
Strong said his approach to depicting real people is by trying to “absorb and learn everything and study them endlessly.”
“Lately, people have felt a need to take shots at me or say disparaging things, which I don’t really think there’s any need for,” he continued. “The way I approach things, my process. I feel we’re storytellers. I think about those performances I just mentioned. Those are actors telling a story through character, which to me is the highest bar.”
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Strong had no regrets about his decision to immerse himself in his work, adding, “That’s the holy grail for me, creating a character, which is sort of creating an instrument that’s never existed before. That’s the kind of acting that I love. It does require a devil-may-care attitude towards what anybody might think of what you’re doing.”
He continued: “It’s anti-art and not worthy of the dignity of what we’re all trying to do. I think about Roy, how delighted he would be with the muckraking and the stone throwing going on in our country right now.”
Strong, who played Kendall on Succession, previously made headlines when he revealed he sustained injuries including hurting his tibia, femur and fracturing his foot.
“If I have any method at all, it is simply this: to clear away anything — anything — that is not the character and the circumstances of the scene,” Strong explained to The New Yorker in December 2021. “And usually that means clearing away almost everything around and inside you, so that you can be a more complete vessel for the work at hand.”
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Strong’s costars Kieran Culkin and Brian Cox have since shared how they weren’t as thrilled by his behavior. Strong acknowledged that his method may come off as “difficult” to others, adding, “Sometimes there must even be room for necessary roughness.”
Culkin, 42, was quoted in the article when discussing how Strong’s work ethic is “something that helps” him. “I can tell you that it doesn’t help me,” he noted.
Cox, 78, meanwhile, expressed concerns about how Strong would be affected in the long run.
“The thing about Jeremy’s approach is it works in terms of what comes out the other end,” he detailed during an appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers in 2021. “I don’t have a problem with Jeremy because he’s delightful. … He’s an extraordinary dad. He’s a pretty unique individual. But he does get obsessed with the work. And I worry about what it does to him, because if you can’t separate yourself — because you’re dealing with all of this material every day. You can’t live in it. Eventually, you get worn out.”
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Cox continued: “Like, to me, Daniel Day Lewis got worn out at 55 and decided to retire because [he] couldn’t go on doing that every day. It’s too consuming. And I do worry about it. But the result — what everyone says about Jeremy — the result is always extraordinary and excellent.”
Strong later called the New Yorker profile a “pretty profound betrayal” of his trust.
“It was painful. I felt foolish. As an actor, one of the most vital secret weapons that you can have is the ability to tolerate feeling foolish,” he told Vanity Fair in September 2022 before elaborating in a separate interview, “A lot of that is just things that are presented out of context or with a certain agenda. I know what everybody said, and there was an angle and a narrative that was being presented. Which is not to say that there was never friction between my costars. We’re a family in every sense of the word. But foundationally, there’s deep respect and even love.”
