Jeremy Strong, now infamous for his dedication to method acting, recently admitted he doesn’t feel the “need to apologize” to those he works with who may feel he is taking the process “too seriously” on a recent episode of The New Yorker Radio Hour podcast.
The actor, who stepped into the role of tech billionaire Mark Zuckerberg for Aaron Sorkin’s “The Social Reckoning,” out Oct. 6, was asked by podcast host and New Yorker editor-in-chief David Remnick how much he feels his method approach is helpful to the director and fellow castmates when filming, or, on the opposite end of the spectrum, how much it might throw them off.
“I think I can’t really speak to that,” Strong began. “Of course, 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.” Remnick then interjects to ask whether Strong gets frustrated with others on set who may not be so committed, to which the “Succession” actor responds, “No, just meaning that I’m just there to commit utterly to serving the material.”
He continued: “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, 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’s method acting antics have long made headlines. In Sept., Sorkin told The New York Times that Strong was treating his co-stars “the way he imagines” Zuckerberg would treat them during filming. Strong’s “Succession” co-star Brian Cox has repeatedly criticized the actor’s method acting, calling it “fucking annoying,” though he also noted in a later interview that Strong “was wonderful to act with.” “I had no argument with Jeremy’s acting,” Cox said. “He would be an even better actor if he just got rid of that so there would be much more inclusiveness in what he did.”
Strong, Jeremy Allen White, Mikey Madison, Bill Burr, Betty Gilpin and Billy Magnussen star in “The Social Reckoning,” which follows whistleblower Frances Haugen, who teams up with Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz to expose the inner workings of Zuckerberg’s Facebook.
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