Undoubtedly, the HBO drama series Succession has been a fan favorite for a while now. On 28th May, the final episode of the show’s fourth season, With Open Eyes, aired on Max. The episode left the fans in awe as the creators, as well as stars of the show, didn’t leave any stone unturned.
One character that has been liked by the majority of fans is Kendall Roy, played by Jeremy Strong. Strong has shown intense dedication in playing the character and we got to see that throughout the show. The creator of the show, Jesse Armstrong, recently explained that he was “terrified” of Jeremy Strong’s method acting while filming the final episode.
The following article contains spoilers from HBO drama series Succession‘s finale episode, With Open Eyes.
Jeremy Strong’s acting went too far
During the filming of the final episode of Succession‘s fourth season, actor Jeremy Strong took things to the next level in order to accurately portray his character of Kendall Roy. It was revealed by the creator of the show, Jesse Armstrong, that Strong tried to jump into The Battery Park’s lake. Armstrong said,
“I was terrified. I was terrified that he might fall in and be injured. He didn’t look like he was going to jump in. But once he climbed over that barrier, when you film, there are generally a lot of health and safety assessments made, and that was not our plan that day. If we’d even been thinking of that happening, we would have had boats and frogmen and all kinds of safety measures, which we didn’t have. So my first thought was for his physical safety as a human being, not anything about the character. That’s what I felt on the day. Good Lord, above.”
In the last scene of the last episode, fans get to see Roy staring blankly at the river sitting at a bench in The Battery Park, it then cuts to a black screen and that’s when Strong took things to the next level.
Jeremy Strong talked about the scene
Strong himself explained what actually happened in an interview with Vanity Fair. The actor is deeply connected to his character, Kendall Roy. He said,
“I tried to go into the water after we cut — I got up from that bench and went as fast as I could over the barrier and onto the pilings, and the actor playing Colin raced over. I didn’t know I was gonna do that, and he didn’t know, but he raced over and stopped me. I don’t know whether in that moment I felt that Kendall just wanted to die — I think he did — or if he wanted to be saved by essentially a proxy of his father.”
Thankfully, the situation was handled. Strong once explained that he takes his character of Kendall Roy as “seriously as he takes his own life.” Many celebrities, including his co-star Brian Cox, have raised concerns over his method acting.
Brian Cox criticized Jeremy Strong’s method acting
There is no doubt that Jeremy Strong is an outstanding actor. Even his co-star Brian Cox has admitted it, however, he wants Strong to take it easy. During an interview with Town & Country magazine in February, Cox said,
“Oh, it’s f**king annoying. Don’t get me going on it. He’s a very good actor and the rest of the ensemble is all okay with this. But knowing a character and what the character does is only part of the skill set. He’s still that guy, because he feels if he went somewhere else he’d lose it but he won’t! Strong is talented. He’s f**king gifted. When you’ve got the gift, celebrate the gift. Go back to your trailer and have a hit of marijuana, you know?”
Cox plays the role of Logan Roy in the show, Kendall Roy’s father. Strong, however, has made it clear that he has never and will never consider changing his approach.
Source: NPR
