Jeremy Strong addresses ‘Succession’ co-star’s criticisms, defends method acting

Kendall Roy, the failson who spawned a thousand TikTok edits, has reached the end of the line. Succession, the show that detailed his desperate attempt to control his father’s company, recently aired its final episode, and the results were predictably excellent.

Part of what made Kendall so appealing was the performance by Jeremy Strong. The actor took home an Emmy for his work in 2020, but he also developed a reputation for being hard to work with due to his Method approach. He addressed this dubious reputation, and more, during a recent interview with Deadline.

Succession was always posed as a battle between Kendall and his father, Logan Roy (Brian Cox). The tension between the characters was so intense that it seemingly bled over into real life. During his own Deadline interview in 2022, Cox derided Strong for taking the Method approach too far, and tiring out the rest of the cast and crew in the process. 

“He does what he does and he does it brilliantly, but it’s also exhausting,” the actor noted. “Particularly exhausting for him, but it’s also exhausting for the rest of us from time to time.” The sentiment was echoed by Succession co-star Keiran Culkin, who told the New Yorker that Strong tended to isolate himself. “That might be something that helps him,” he added. “I can tell you that it doesn’t help me.”

So what does Strong have to say to these criticisms? Well, for one, he doesn’t let it deter him. He considers the attention paid to his Method approach to be “white noise,” and feels that results should matter more than the process of getting them. He’s also very complementive of Cox, who won a Golden Globe for his work in 2019 and will be competing in the Outstanding Lead Actor category next to Strong (and Culkin) at the upcoming Emmys. 

“I’m probably not that different from Brian, he’s probably not that different from me,” Strong opined. “We’re all trying to get at the truth, and however anybody comes out of it is valid. I mean, you can’t argue with the work that he does, and I don’t think he can argue with the work that I do.”

Strong’s point is pretty ironclad, especially when looking at what he and the rest of the Succession cast were able to achieve. Rolling Stone praised the finale as a “masterful, feel-bad ending” that’s punctuated by Strong’s “nuance and power.” Entertainment Weekly was similarly high in its praise, singling out the actor’s depiction of the “devastated eldest boy” in an episode that was both “remorseless” and “rewarding.”

Strong may have closed the book on his most famous character, but given his talent and unwavering commitment, we get the impression that he will be a standout presence in film and television for years to come. He will next appear in the Broadway revival of An Enemy of the People.