Brian Cox wants us to keep talking about that New Yorker profile of Jeremy Strong, apparently
The Succession star says he's too British for method acting while promoting his new film Prisoner's Daughter at the Toronto International Film Festival
Aux News Cox
It’s been nearly a full calendar year since The New Yorker published an in-depth profile of Succession actor Jeremy Strong that described his intense process—he sometimes actually imbibes before filming scenes when his character is drunk!—and people still just can’t stop talking about Method acting. Now that’s the power of journalism!
Meanwhile, Brian Cox, who plays the Roy family patriarch on the HBO favorite, is currently promoting his new film Prisoner’s Daughter at the Toronto International Film Festival. A man of choice words even when Jesse Armstrong isn’t writing them for him, the Scottish-born actor’s thoughts on process certainly differ from his onscreen son’s.
“I don’t hold a lot of the American shit, having to have a religious experience every time you play a part,” he says, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s crap.”
In fairness, Strong does not consider himself to be a Method actor and instead refers to what he does as “identity diffusion,” but things like staying in costume off-camera and learning how to fix a refrigerator before playing a plumber obviously have certain connotations. He was also once famous Method-acting adherent Daniel Day-Lewis’ assistant.
“I don’t hang onto the characters I play,” Cox adds. “I let them go through me. The thing is to be ready to accept, as an actor. You stand there, you’re ready to accept whatever is thrown at you.”
While there’s no doubt that Strong’s efforts pay off, it’s probably a lot easier to go to work with Cox’s more fluid approach. Dude be the OG, after all.
“We’re British. We come from a ‘great tradition,’” Cox jokes. “You just let it come through you. And you don’t get in the fucking way.”
Of course, the two actors’ techniques almost certainly inform their onscreen dynamic, which frequently finds them at odds. It’s a central part of what has made Succession so compelling.
“The result that Jeremy gets is always pretty tremendous,” Cox told The New Yorker last year. “I just worry about what he does to himself. I worry about the crises he puts himself through in order to prepare.”
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Curious what “identity difussion” Strong used for his dogshit performance in Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen.
(…I actually liked that movie OK tbh.)
The thing that stood out to me about that profile was how just over Strong’s bullshit all the rest of the actors seemed over his bullshit. Like, not that he’s a bad guy or anything, but they all just seemed over how annoyingly intense he was. I’d distill it as: *sigh* “Yeah, that’s how Jeremy does it” *eyeroll* “Anything else?”Which was hilarious because the defense for these types is always something along the lines of “That’s how you get genius.” Maybe, but all the performances on Succession are top notch, and the other actors don’t seem to need that level of intensity to get to those performances, so maybe guys like Strong are just a little less talented?
Yeah, people accused the profile of being mean-spirited, and it probably was a bit, but it seemed like the writer went to write a normal profile, talked to all Strong’s friends and coworkers, and just ended up taken aback at what an intense weirdo he turned out to be.
““We’re British. We come from a ‘great tradition,’” Cox jokes. “You just let it come through you. And you don’t get in the fucking way.””
Daniel Day-Lewis and Christian Bale sure agree.
I mean I don’t blame him, he has to work with this guy. I thought he was very diplomatic about it all in the profile.
Agreed. It kind of sounds like Strong forces some of the Oedipal stuff to play out offscreen in order to fully inhabit the part, so it’s understandable Cox would have something to say about it. (But also, I found Strong appealing in the New Yorker profile. He doesn’t come from a fancy background and I found his level of passion and dedication quite inspiring.)
Who cares about the off screen stuff. We don’t have to work with them. They do. And trying to figure who is right or wrong is not our job, it’s HRs. There’s no abuse going on. Our job is to enjoy the good results.
I dunno, I find contrasting creative approaches interesting. But I agree the results are great.
I mean, if you’re an actual giant asshole who always plays giant assholes, I suppose that’s technically not Method. Works for Brian Cox, though.
Real talk! I would tell people what my process is without taking a dump on a co-worker. Everything I’ve seen Cox in is good but familiar. Jeremy’s work pulls different things out of him.