Jeremy Strong swears he’s done talking about that New Yorker article
The Succession star became the center of the Method acting discourse last year after a profile of him went viral
Aux News Jeremy Strong
In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Jeremy Strong relitigates the New Yorker profile about him that went viral last December, following his assertion to Vanity Fair earlier this month that the article “felt like a pretty profound betrayal of trust.” Michael Schulman’s in-depth report on the actor and his on-set eccentricities propelled the Succession star to the center of the Method acting discourse, despite the fact that he doesn’t consider himself to be a Method actor and has never put a dead rat in the mail.
“I kind of want to put this whole thing to rest and just get on with the work,” Strong tells THR. “I don’t want to throw any kindling on a fire. [Schulman’s] perspective was valid. I’m sure he felt that it was a well-balanced and objective forensic examination.”
Strong is specifically asked to weigh in on the anecdote from the New Yorker profile in which he disagrees with co-star Kieran Culkin about the level of humor in Succession; series creator Jesse Armstrong is a veteran of projects like In The Loop and Veep, and he certainly hasn’t lost his touch for profanity-laden, over-the-top insults.
“Sometimes when I read it, I can’t stop laughing,” he says. “Of course it’s a comedy. It’s a comedy, it’s a satire, it’s a tragedy. What I meant more was that I don’t treat it as a comedy in my lane. We’re all co-existing in the piece. I’m never trying to make a joke. I’m not on a sitcom. I’m investing in the reality of those given circumstances and treating it the way I would treat a drama.”
Strong also addresses his Succession co-stars’ concerns about his intense approach to getting into character, which involves refraining from socializing with the rest of the cast in order to mimic Kendall Roy’s isolation. While hurt by the comments, he gets the criticism.
“We’re a family in every sense of the word,” he says. “But foundationally, there’s deep respect and even love.”
Of course, the new interview still opens up more details about his process, such as asking his Armageddon Time writer/director James Gray to fill out the Proust Questionnaire as Strong’s character. His habit of staying in costume off-set comes up again, as THR notes that he’ll keep Kendall’s baseball cap on hand until filming concludes on the fourth season of Succession.
“Jeremy has such a tremendous intellect without being pretentious,” Gray says. “He’s a genuine artist, someone really interested in digesting, absorbing and diving into the work. He’s my kind of actor, which is that on the set, there are no rules. On the set, we go as deep as we possibly can. On the set, it’s our time to explore. I think people who make fun of, ‘Oh, so-and-so is a method actor. Ha-ha-ha!’ — I think that’s an excuse to be lazy.”
While some people may disagree about the pretentiousness thing, there’s no denying that Strong’s efforts have paid off. Succession has become one of HBO’s most beloved shows, and he scored an Emmy for his role as the Waystar Royco heir in 2020 before being nominated again this year.
Armageddon Time co-star Anne Hathaway, who rushed to defend him after the New Yorker profile was published last year, says that the actor helped her “not to apologize for being uncompromising, specific and detailed.” The two previously worked together on 2019's Serenity.
Strong says that this is the last time he’ll talk about the New Yorker piece, but his conversation with THR took place before Brian Cox slammed Method acting again at TIFF, so who knows! Armageddon Time hits theaters on November 11.
20 Comments
Actors really have no sense of humor about their “craft.”
A lot of people wouldn’t have a sense of humor about an outsider coming in, gathering negative quotes about them while pretending to be interested in what they were doing, and painting their working style in a negative fashion. People spend a good portion of their lives in their careers and many want that time to be meaningful.
Brian Cox and Kieran Culkin aren’t outsiders.
No they’re the coworkers that were providing negative quotes to the outsider.
It was an interview done by an interviewer because that’s how that’s done. Like that’s how that works. He isn’t the first to come across as self-indulgent about their process and he won’t be the last. No one is questioning his talent but he sounds like a lot.And honestly if Strong was interested in puff piece he shouldn’t have gone with Michael Schulman, who has done other long form interviews with actors including Robert DeNiro and other profiles. This has always been his style with public figures.
I would think an interviewer would try to take a balanced approach to producing their piece. Like making sure Aaron Sorkin wouldn’t feel misinterpreted when quoted. Or balancing the critical quotes with positive ones. And yea, Schulman doesn’t have to do that stuff and can write whatever he wants – his job is to write the best story. But let’s stop acting like the interviewee should be happy about how that all went down.I also assume Schulman had as much to do with setting up the interview with Strong as Strong did. But not knowing what happened there, just going to leave that out as a factor entirely as it’s just speculation on our parts on who came to who and what was said to make the interview happened.
They are referring to the author of the original article as the “outsider”, clearly.
Ponyboy and Sodapop are.
Exactly.Also, this guy did the same thing with Elisabeth Moss. Came in with a narrative he was intent on adhering to no matter what.
I bet the ones who do, uh… do.
Fair, I am sure there are some who do they just don’t spend a lot of time talking about being an actor or the process in the same way. Mostly because they sort of get that acting is a weird job.
“While some people may disagree about the pretentiousness thing”
Yeah, I’m lining up to wait on all these opinions from people who know him from a character he plays and ONE interview he did.
That New Yorker profile is a hack job. Strong’s performance as Kendall is brilliant, one of the most layered performances on TV, a case study in making the audience sympathize with an unlikeable character. Comedy is drama in disguise. Succession would collapse if Strong played Kendall as an SNL impersonation of Donald Trump Jr., and the idea that he somehow doesn’t “understand” the show or character is ridiculous. If wearing Kendall’s baseball cap off-set aids the performance, what’s the harm? He’s not abusive to his coworkers or anything.
Sure, but the profile really hoisted him by his own petard. The quotes are insufferable.
He was giving the public insight into his process, which is a successful one, because it produces a great performance. Is he supposed to pretend like he just shows up on set and recites the lines and clocks out? It’s one thing when “method acting” is used as an excuse for bratty and abusive behavior on set, or when it feels like the grueling off-set preparation is comically out of place because the final product is bad (both things that apply to Leto’s Joker performance), but nobody has a problem with Strong’s performance as Kendall.
Hey, you can’t discount the miniature economy of takes, counter-takes, out-of-context quotes, and demands to stop talking about it which has kept sites like this a-chugging for nearly a year now. Between the Jeremy Strong interview, Marvel movies, and Don’t Worry Darling, this site’s a ding-dang perpetual motion machine.
Yeah, there was a real tone—I guess you could call it subtle snark—to the article. If you look at the actual facts it lays out, Strong’s a guy from a modest background who’s been impassioned about acting forever, managed to endear himself to famous actors, kept working and trying until he finally made it, and even as a Method actor, knows how to snap out of it and be present as a partner and father. All that’s warranted here is respect and admiration.
The author of the profile also mentions up front that they attended the same school. I read a lot of jealousy seeping into the narrative, a “look how silly and crazy my incredibly successful former peer is!” slant to everything.
Oh no! He likes to be alone *and* he kept a baseball cap? He uses big words when he talks? *pulls out pitchfork* Get him!
My theory is that to be a “great” actor all you need is an interesting head and a great voice. Jeremy Strong has neither of those, so maybe his process really does help him, because he is amazing in that role. Brian Cox on the other hand could read out his shopping list and it would be an Oscar worthy performance.