Jamie Chung took that Succession cameo to keep health insurance
We can thank a lack of single-payer healthcare for one of Succession’s most surprising cameos
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Humanity’s evidence-finding mission to prove that stars really are just like us has made some impressive strides in the last few years. From finding out Tom Cruise likes popcorn and movies to Ben Affleck trying to wrangle an unwieldy Dunkin’ order in a single trip, celebrities have expressed greater willingness to show off their more down-to-earth qualities in front of their adoring public. Even Taylor Swift is getting in the action by attending football games, just like a real person might.
But the realities of our current dystopia, which in these beautiful United States of America means only the gainfully employed have the privilege of health care, has its drawbacks regardless of how many Instagram followers one has. To wit, Jamie Chung, the former Real World contestant turned Junction actor, auditioned for that surprising Succession cameo because she needed health insurance.
Speaking to The A.V. Club, ironically promoting Junction, a healthcare drama about the opioid crisis and the abysmal state of the American healthcare system that fostered it, Chung revealed that she only auditioned because she, like most people in the world’s richest nation, really needed health insurance. Chung says the offer to audition came when she hadn’t “really worked” in a year and “turned a lot of things down.” Despite not working, Chung still needs her health insurance because health continues to need care whether one is employed or not. Thankfully, unlike almost everybody, the question of when and where to get said insurance doesn’t come with the opportunity to appear in one of the best episodes of television ever made. But they did for her. So there you go.
That’s not to say auditioning for Succession is easy. If it were, every A.V. Club writer would’ve enlisted to get canned by Kendall in the Vaulter offices. Chung describes a secretive process where “they won’t give you a script,” and they won’t say “how many scenes you’re in.” Succession producers, in Chung’s experience, just hand her some lines and tell her to go. Normally, that wouldn’t be ideal, but “knowing that this is the last season and knowing that I need health insurance, I was like, ‘Yes. Absolutely.’”
Chung, of course, appeared as Beth, Connor Roy’s wedding coordinator, for none other than “Connor’s Wedding.” An unrivaled cultural moment for a fractured media ecosystem, the episode was quite a feat of technical prowess for the whole production. “It was the scariest experience,” in Chung’s estimation, because “it’s all really long takes” done on film. “There’s no room for screwing up.”
Fortunately for Chung, Succession’s cast is one of the more decorated ensembles of the last few years. “Everyone is so tight,” she said. “They’re so prepared, but there’s so much ad-libbing, and I don’t like to ad-lib. I did not come prepared to ad-lib.”
“So that was a real big learning experience, but having no idea what the episode was about until, you know, I’m supposed to come in and interrupt and tell them that the room is ready, and yet everyone’s crying. I was in the moment of the discovery like ‘Oh, he dies.’”
Being one of the first to learn of Logan Roy’s demise isn’t all sunshine and daisies. She even broke an NDA to tell her husband, Junction director Bryan Greenberg, which she thought “was okay.” Greenberg, also present for the interview, refuted her claim, saying “it wasn’t okay” to spoil that significant Succession plot point. Unfortunately, that means Greenberg was among the first to feel the great Succession spoiling of 2023. But at least Chung got her health insurance.
45 Comments
I don’t watch the show, know little about Jamie Chung but…why would that be surprising? She doesn’t seem particularly famous, it’s a popular show, why would she be above appearing in a cameo?
I mean, I know who she IS, vaguely remembering some of her roles (most recently in the Dexter revival), but yeah, it’s not like she was a giant A-Lister brought down to slumming for health care. In fact, I’m not even sure how she ended up on my radar, given I was one of those families that didn’t get cable TV. The earliest roles I’d know her from were like C&C3 and Dragonball Evolution and I’m pretty sure I’d already recognized her at that point.
For some reason I associate her with The Hangover Part II and I think she’s in Part III as well.Weird reference.
it’s not like a fun cameo.And seeing her fucking crush it in Lovecraft Country as of late, you kind of assumed that she would have more than in one line in Succession.
Lovecraft Country was great and Chung was a highlight.The US needs to join civilization. Medicare for all !!!!
The whole tone of this article is really weird. I had no clue who Jamie Chung was before I read this, and I have no memory of her appearance in the show. This is written like it was some huge event, instead of an utterly forgettable role played by a d-lister.
The article is so deeply incurious. Chun’s health care comes from SAG, not from the show Succession or from its parent company. As in all the trade guilds, if which I am a member of two, you do have to earn above certain minimums for coverage. You can bank points during years that you do work to extend coverage during years that you don’t. It is, overall, an excellent system that manages to take into account the unique needs of the freelance life. It’s literally as good as it gets within an admittedly bad overall picture. Should everyone everywhere be covered? Of course. This is still a dull and obvious essay.
I legit confused her with that Smallville actress who was in that MLM cult.
Translation: Jamie Chung paid for press.
SheShe see she seems to think she’s above a lot of things considering she’s turned on a lot of work and her and opinion
When I saw Jamie Chung appear in Succession I got excited since I’ve been following her career since The Real World. It was a bummer to have her not reappear after that short cameo, especially after doing an excellent job on Lovecraft Country.
One weird part of Lovecraft Country, which didn’t bode well for its future, was that the show got better the less it focused on the main characters and central plot. The episodes that put Wunmi Mosaku and Jamie Chung front and center were both highlights.
I thought it was pretty awesome overall but the story wrapped up nicely and it really didn’t need a second season with the same characters. An anthology type deal would have been cool though.
If you haven’t worked in a year, not because you can’t, but because you “turned a lot of things down,” then you don’t get job benefits. This is not evidence that we’re living in a dystopia.
Very strange this is being promoted like some kind of criticism of the healthcare industry, god forbid an actor work to keep their status in the Screen Actors Guild, which comes with health insurance coverage.It’s not perfect, but having union-provided health insurance is way better than most people get. If I could read a line on a TV show to keep health insurance, it’s a lot better than having to work a thankless job 8 hours a day 5 days a week forever for the privilege.
Stockholm is calling. They want their syndrome back.
Any individual in the U.S. can buy an Obamacare policy. I have a number of friends who are self-employed and that’s how they handle it. If she was choosing not to work and apparently didn’t buy an individual policy then it’s hard to see how those decisions aren’t on her.
Obamacare is not universal health care. Far from it.
This is not an issue in the civilized world.
That access to basic health care in the USA is dependent on whether or not you’re working is stupid. Dystopic might be stretching it, stupid certainly isn’t.
I imagine it’s pretty dystopic if you have to declare bankruptcy and can’t afford to continue cancer treatments or some other health related nightmare.
To be clear, there are other ways to get health insurance in America, including Obamacare. I don’t think the system is perfect, but it’s crazy to say that we live in a dystopia because Jamie Chung had to work a single day in a year on Succession to keep health insurance through her union.
America’s healthcare system is garbage.Attacking the choices people make within a bullshit rather than focusing on the bullshit system is at best a weird choice, at worst a bootlicking one.The people benefitting from our garbage system LOVE people like you. Because whether you’re doing so intentionally or not… You distract people from the garbage system and make people think the system is fine it’s just dumb actresses making bad decisions than make it seem bad.
it’s crazy to say that we live in a dystopia because Jamie Chung had to work a single day in a year on Succession to keep health insurance through her union I thought it was pretty clear that I do not think it’s crazy to say it’s fucking stupid that anybody has to do anything to have access to health care that doesn’t have the capacity to bankrupt them.
Lazy dilettante has to actually work for a living to get health care. Let’s BURN THE SYSTEM DOWN!Fuck her.
There are plenty of legitimate reasons an actor may turn down roles. I’m guessing that her particular reason would be that she has pre-K twins, and some of the shoots had time/travel requirements that would have taken her away from her kids too much. So she’s actually engaged in quite a bit of labor, just not the kind that our country deems worthy of affordable health care. I believe SAG/AFTRA insurance costs less than through the ACA market, so it makes sense that someone trying to balance her work and motherhood would book enough roles to keep her insurance.
I don’t think Chung is lazy or in any way worthy of criticism. If she wants to stay home to care for young kids, or just for the hell of it, and she has the financial ability to do so, more power to her. But I think the writers at this site tend to be pretty overwrought. And the fact that Chung had to do a one-day part on Succession after year of not working, so that she could get new insurance through her union, as opposed to getting other insurance that was maybe less desirable, does not indicate we’re living in a hellscape.
Well, healthcare isn’t a ‘job benefit’ where I live (Australia), you just get public healthcare ED (ER)/admission/ICU/surgery through the public system for no charge whether you’re employed, unemployed or even never worked in your life. So, to paraphrase David Tennant fThe Day of the Doctor, “Maybe a little bit dystopic.”
The US needs to join civilization. Medicare for all !!!!
DO IT FOR THE LAZY!
In the first few hours of my work, I treated an approximately one-year-old boy. His right arm and right leg had been blown off by a bomb, and flesh was still hanging off the foot. He had a bloodstained diaper, which remained, but there was no leg below. I treated the baby while he lay on the ground. There were no stretchers available because all the beds had already been taken, considering that many people were also trying to use the hospital as a shelter or safe space for their families. Next to him there was a man who was on his last breaths. He had been actively dying for the last twenty-four hours, and flies were already on him. All the while, a woman was brought in and was declared dead on arrival. This one-year-old had blood pouring into his chest cavity. He needed a chest tube so he wouldn’t asphyxiate on his own blood. But there were neither chest tubes nor blood-pressure cuffs that were available in pediatric sizes. No morphine had been given in the chaos, and it wasn’t even available.
In the first few hours of my work, I treated an approximately one-year-old boy. His right arm and right leg had been blown off by a bomb, and flesh was still hanging off the foot. He had a bloodstained diaper, which remained, but there was no leg below. I treated the baby while he lay on the ground. There were no stretchers available because all the beds had already been taken, considering that many people were also trying to use the hospital as a shelter or safe space for their families. Next to him there was a man who was on his last breaths. He had been actively dying for the last twenty-four hours, and flies were already on him. All the while, a woman was brought in and was declared dead on arrival. This one-year-old had blood pouring into his chest cavity. He needed a chest tube so he wouldn’t asphyxiate on his own blood. But there were neither chest tubes nor blood-pressure cuffs that were available in pediatric sizes. No morphine had been given in the chaos, and it wasn’t even available.
In the first few hours of my work, I treated an approximately one-year-old boy. His right arm and right leg had been blown off by a bomb, and flesh was still hanging off the foot. He had a bloodstained diaper, which remained, but there was no leg below. I treated the baby while he lay on the ground. There were no stretchers available because all the beds had already been taken, considering that many people were also trying to use the hospital as a shelter or safe space for their families. Next to him there was a man who was on his last breaths. He had been actively dying for the last twenty-four hours, and flies were already on him. All the while, a woman was brought in and was declared dead on arrival. This one-year-old had blood pouring into his chest cavity. He needed a chest tube so he wouldn’t asphyxiate on his own blood. But there were neither chest tubes nor blood-pressure cuffs that were available in pediatric sizes. No morphine had been given in the chaos, and it wasn’t even available.
In the first few hours of my work, I treated an approximately one-year-old boy. His right arm and right leg had been blown off by a bomb, and flesh was still hanging off the foot. He had a bloodstained diaper, which remained, but there was no leg below. I treated the baby while he lay on the ground. There were no stretchers available because all the beds had already been taken, considering that many people were also trying to use the hospital as a shelter or safe space for their families. Next to him there was a man who was on his last breaths. He had been actively dying for the last twenty-four hours, and flies were already on him. All the while, a woman was brought in and was declared dead on arrival. This one-year-old had blood pouring into his chest cavity. He needed a chest tube so he wouldn’t asphyxiate on his own blood. But there were neither chest tubes nor blood-pressure cuffs that were available in pediatric sizes. No morphine had been given in the chaos, and it wasn’t even available.
In the first few hours of my work, I treated an approximately one-year-old boy. His right arm and right leg had been blown off by a bomb, and flesh was still hanging off the foot. He had a bloodstained diaper, which remained, but there was no leg below. I treated the baby while he lay on the ground. There were no stretchers available because all the beds had already been taken, considering that many people were also trying to use the hospital as a shelter or safe space for their families. Next to him there was a man who was on his last breaths. He had been actively dying for the last twenty-four hours, and flies were already on him. All the while, a woman was brought in and was declared dead on arrival. This one-year-old had blood pouring into his chest cavity. He needed a chest tube so he wouldn’t asphyxiate on his own blood. But there were neither chest tubes nor blood-pressure cuffs that were available in pediatric sizes. No morphine had been given in the chaos, and it wasn’t even available.
In the first few hours of my work, I treated an approximately one-year-old boy. His right arm and right leg had been blown off by a bomb, and flesh was still hanging off the foot. He had a bloodstained diaper, which remained, but there was no leg below. I treated the baby while he lay on the ground. There were no stretchers available because all the beds had already been taken, considering that many people were also trying to use the hospital as a shelter or safe space for their families. Next to him there was a man who was on his last breaths. He had been actively dying for the last twenty-four hours, and flies were already on him. All the while, a woman was brought in and was declared dead on arrival. This one-year-old had blood pouring into his chest cavity. He needed a chest tube so he wouldn’t asphyxiate on his own blood. But there were neither chest tubes nor blood-pressure cuffs that were available in pediatric sizes. No morphine had been given in the chaos, and it wasn’t even available.
In the first few hours of my work, I treated an approximately one-year-old boy. His right arm and right leg had been blown off by a bomb, and flesh was still hanging off the foot. He had a bloodstained diaper, which remained, but there was no leg below. I treated the baby while he lay on the ground. There were no stretchers available because all the beds had already been taken, considering that many people were also trying to use the hospital as a shelter or safe space for their families. Next to him there was a man who was on his last breaths. He had been actively dying for the last twenty-four hours, and flies were already on him. All the while, a woman was brought in and was declared dead on arrival. This one-year-old had blood pouring into his chest cavity. He needed a chest tube so he wouldn’t asphyxiate on his own blood. But there were neither chest tubes nor blood-pressure cuffs that were available in pediatric sizes. No morphine had been given in the chaos, and it wasn’t even available.
In the first few hours of my work, I treated an approximately one-year-old boy. His right arm and right leg had been blown off by a bomb, and flesh was still hanging off the foot. He had a bloodstained diaper, which remained, but there was no leg below. I treated the baby while he lay on the ground. There were no stretchers available because all the beds had already been taken, considering that many people were also trying to use the hospital as a shelter or safe space for their families. Next to him there was a man who was on his last breaths. He had been actively dying for the last twenty-four hours, and flies were already on him. All the while, a woman was brought in and was declared dead on arrival. This one-year-old had blood pouring into his chest cavity. He needed a chest tube so he wouldn’t asphyxiate on his own blood. But there were neither chest tubes nor blood-pressure cuffs that were available in pediatric sizes. No morphine had been given in the chaos, and it wasn’t even available.
In the first few hours of my work, I treated an approximately one-year-old boy. His right arm and right leg had been blown off by a bomb, and flesh was still hanging off the foot. He had a bloodstained diaper, which remained, but there was no leg below. I treated the baby while he lay on the ground. There were no stretchers available because all the beds had already been taken, considering that many people were also trying to use the hospital as a shelter or safe space for their families. Next to him there was a man who was on his last breaths. He had been actively dying for the last twenty-four hours, and flies were already on him. All the while, a woman was brought in and was declared dead on arrival. This one-year-old had blood pouring into his chest cavity. He needed a chest tube so he wouldn’t asphyxiate on his own blood. But there were neither chest tubes nor blood-pressure cuffs that were available in pediatric sizes. No morphine had been given in the chaos, and it wasn’t even available.
In the first few hours of my work, I treated an approximately one-year-old boy. His right arm and right leg had been blown off by a bomb, and flesh was still hanging off the foot. He had a bloodstained diaper, which remained, but there was no leg below. I treated the baby while he lay on the ground. There were no stretchers available because all the beds had already been taken, considering that many people were also trying to use the hospital as a shelter or safe space for their families. Next to him there was a man who was on his last breaths. He had been actively dying for the last twenty-four hours, and flies were already on him. All the while, a woman was brought in and was declared dead on arrival. This one-year-old had blood pouring into his chest cavity. He needed a chest tube so he wouldn’t asphyxiate on his own blood. But there were neither chest tubes nor blood-pressure cuffs that were available in pediatric sizes. No morphine had been given in the chaos, and it wasn’t even available.
In the first few hours of my work, I treated an approximately one-year-old boy. His right arm and right leg had been blown off by a bomb, and flesh was still hanging off the foot. He had a bloodstained diaper, which remained, but there was no leg below. I treated the baby while he lay on the ground. There were no stretchers available because all the beds had already been taken, considering that many people were also trying to use the hospital as a shelter or safe space for their families. Next to him there was a man who was on his last breaths. He had been actively dying for the last twenty-four hours, and flies were already on him. All the while, a woman was brought in and was declared dead on arrival. This one-year-old had blood pouring into his chest cavity. He needed a chest tube so he wouldn’t asphyxiate on his own blood. But there were neither chest tubes nor blood-pressure cuffs that were available in pediatric sizes. No morphine had been given in the chaos, and it wasn’t even available.
In the first few hours of my work, I treated an approximately one-year-old boy. His right arm and right leg had been blown off by a bomb, and flesh was still hanging off the foot. He had a bloodstained diaper, which remained, but there was no leg below. I treated the baby while he lay on the ground. There were no stretchers available because all the beds had already been taken, considering that many people were also trying to use the hospital as a shelter or safe space for their families. Next to him there was a man who was on his last breaths. He had been actively dying for the last twenty-four hours, and flies were already on him. All the while, a woman was brought in and was declared dead on arrival. This one-year-old had blood pouring into his chest cavity. He needed a chest tube so he wouldn’t asphyxiate on his own blood. But there were neither chest tubes nor blood-pressure cuffs that were available in pediatric sizes. No morphine had been given in the chaos, and it wasn’t even available.
Sadly, I relate to this.
I got laid off just went I was prepping for periodontal surgery.
Luckily, I managed to bump up my appointment before my insurance got canceled, but woof.
‘Thankfully, unlike almost everybody, the question of when and where to get said insurance doesn’t come with the opportunity to appear in one of the best episodes of television ever made.’You might want to have another look at that sentence.
How in the fuck was this a “surprising cameo”? I’m not sure it even qualifies as a cameo if you’re not an A-lister. She’s just an “oh yeah she’s been in a few things” face to me.
God..Junction sounds like the 10 other shows made in the last 2 years about this opiod crisis. “Told through 3 perspectives – A CEO, A doctor, and a patient”. So…it’s Dopesick, or Painkiller, or Pain Hustlers, or…