Jeremy Strong Says He Doesn’t “Need to Apologize” for Method Acting: “It’s in Service of the Material”

Jeremy Strong says it’s “never my intention to interfere” with the people he works with when method acting, but he doesn’t believe he “need[s] to apologize” for his approach. The Succession actor is a known method actor, which he has led to criticism from his peers in the past. When speaking with David Remnick for The New Yorker Radio Hour podcast, the host asked Strong if he feels his tendency to do research on his characters and bring that knowledge into his performance is “appreciated by the people around you.” Remnick specifically cited his Oscar-nominated turn in The Apprentice, where he added a scene to the film that wasn’t in the original script. “I think I can’t really speak to that,” the actor said. “Of course, some people seem to have been… it is never my intention to interfere with anyone else’s experience or anyone else’s way of working. First, do no harm, right? But commit to fucking what you’re doing, and utterly.” He was then asked if he gets frustrated by others who are not at the same level of commitment, to which Strong responded, “No, just meaning that I’m just there to commit utterly to serving the material.” “So, if some people feel that I’m taking it too seriously, or it changes the molecules in the room in a way that makes something uncomfortable, I guess that’s something that I don’t feel that I need to apologize for,” he said. “Because I believe, and I think the directors that I work with all believe, that it’s in service of the material, and I personally think that a lot of the reactions to it are of a personal nature.” Strong will next star in Aaron Sorkin‘s The Social Reckoning as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The director recently told The New York Times that Strong treated his co-stars “the way he imagines Mark [Zuckerberg] treats the people around him.” Sorkin explained, “Jeremy does a lot of his own work. He does a tremendous amount of work before he shows up on your set. He did not speak in his own voice on the set or walk the way Jeremy walks.” “I told all the other actors in his scenes: ‘Guys, he’s not going to be hanging out with you at craft service. He’s not going to be yucking it up with you between takes. He’s probably not going to speak to you at all. He is going to treat you the way he imagines Mark treats the people around him,’” he added. “And that’s what happened. You cannot argue with the results.” Brian Cox, Strong’s former Succession co-star, shared his criticism of his method acting in a viral New Yorker profile, where he said, “I’ve worked with intense actors before. It’s a particularly American disease, I think, this inability to separate yourself off while you’re doing the job.” The Troy actor has made many remarks about Strong’s method, saying previously, “It’s not good for the ensemble. It creates hostility. That’s the problem.” Of his reaction to the profile, Strong previously told The Hollywood Reporter, “It was painful for it to be put out to the world, maybe in a less compassionate way than I would’ve hoped.” He added, “I felt that I had a safe forum at The New Yorker. I felt that I had a safe forum to share those things — and ultimately that experience was put in doubt.” When asked if he was hurt by his co-stars coming off as being dismissive of his process, Strong said, “Yeah,” adding, “But a lot of that is just things that are presented out of context or with a certain agenda. I know what everybody said, and there was an angle and a narrative that was being presented. Which is not to say that there was never friction between my co-stars. We’re a family in every sense of the word. But foundationally, there’s deep respect and even love.”