Jeremy Strong’s ‘Succession’ method acting transcends the set all the way to the bathroom

A lot has been made of Jeremy Strong‘s method acting in Succession, with even his onscreen dad publicly and unabashedly slamming his approach. The whole thing has become such a hot topic that stories are now surfacing of times on the set of the HBO show where Strong proved just how serious he is about his craft.

Nora from Queens and Fire Island actor Bowen Yang revealed in an episode of his podcast Las Culturistas that when he was filming near the Succession set, Strong came in to ask where the bathroom was. Not long after, a production assistant comes looking around for him, and the funniest thing possible happens.

“10 minutes pass, and a [production assistant] from Succession comes into the office and goes, ‘Hi, was Jeremy just in here?’ and they were like, ‘Yeah he was — he went to the bathroom’ and then this PA goes, ‘Did he ask where it was? Did he come here to ask you where the bathroom was?’ They were like, ‘Yeah, why?’ and the PA says, ‘He has a scene today where he has to ask someone where the bathroom is.’”

Yang also shared that the bizarre anecdote dates back to the time when he was filming Nora From Queens‘ third season, which is currently airing. By that time, Strong’s method persona was already the talk of the town, with a little help from Cox and that damning The New Yorker profile, curiously titled “Jeremy Strong doesn’t get the joke.” Could that bathroom incident be the actor’s attempt to prove that he can be unserious and self-mocking?

Yang seems to think so. “I think that is method to such a ridiculous degree that he must be in on the joke,” he said in the podcast, and we can’t help but agree. After all, actually having to practice asking for the bathroom to know what it feels like to do it, so you can then produce a genuine performance, seems a bit excessive. Surely, a thespian of Strong’s caliber could nail that line without all that fussing.