Succession actor Jeremy Strong has admitted that playing Kendall Roy in the highly successful TV drama has had a severe impact on his personal life and mental health.
The 45-year-old actor, who played Roy, the tormented would-be heir to his father’s media empire from 2018 until 2023, won a Golden Globe and an Emmy for his committed performance.
Such dedication to a role came with consequences for Strong, who recently revealed that he doesn’t miss playing the character, adding that Kendall’s fractured life and confused psyche “f***ed me up”.
“That show was an incalculable gift. The material a banquet. So I miss that. But Kendall’s struggle was difficult to carry for seven years. And there’s just so much more I want to do,” Strong told The Sunday Times.
When asked whether he would consider playing the role again for a Succession spin-off, he replied: “It’s not something I have any wish to do any longer. I’m aware it is one of the main chapters of my life, but I don’t miss it.”
In the aftermath of playing Roy, Strong said that he had to “rediscover play,” also claiming that he “sometimes lost touch with joy”.
Strong, who is a Method actor, was known for some eyebrow raising decisions during his time on Succession, including him actually drinking a cocktail containing raw eggs, Tabasco sauce, milk, bread crusts, cocoa powder, out-of-date pickles, and his the spit of his co-star Sarah Snook.
His next project sees him play controversial lawyer Roy Cohn in the Donald Trump biopic, The Apprentice.
Cohn was an attorney who supported Trump in his early days as a young real estate entrepreneur. Sebastian Stan takes on the formidable role of playing the ex-president, recently revealing that he ate ramen with “a bunch of soy sauce” to prepare for the part.
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Cohn was a closeted gay man who died from AIDS in 1986, without ever publically admitting that he was homosexual or HIV-positive. Al Pacino previously portrayed Cohn in the 2003 miniseries Angels in America with Will Brill also playing him in the recent political thriller Fellow Travelers.
There has been some pushback to Strong, a hetrosexual man, playing an LGBTQ+ role, which could see him nominated for major awards.
In response to this, Strong told The Los Angeles Times that the backlash is “absolutely valid.”
The 45-year-old went on to add: “I’m sort of old fashioned, maybe, in the belief that, fundamentally, it’s [about] a person’s artistry, and that great artists, historically, have been able to, as it were, change the stamp of their nature. That’s your job as an actor.”
