Brian Cox: ‘Succession’ Son Jeremy Strong ‘Begged Me to Stop Talking About Him’

“What’s the name of that Irish bar with all the shit in the walls?”

I would like a liter of cola.

My dad was 87 from the west riding. That man gave 0.0 fucks at the end lol. If he had a problem even slight he’d just unload with no fucks

Cox is a great actor but seems like a real jerk. He's probably like that because his last name is Cox and he got tormented in school

I don't see it as an insult of Jeremy but of his chosen acting method and to be fair he's not the only one who thinks it's annoying. The rest of the cast also think it was annoying they are just trained in PR. Brian couldn't give a f***. Brian is a stage actor. He was royal shakespearan trained. Method acting is just not the done thing. He is used to collaborating with his costars, discussing scenes and hanging about between scenes. He got none of that with Jeremy and I can understand him thinking it's shit when he and his contemporaries had full careers without needing to rely on method acting.

Honestly he seems like he'd be fun to drink with (and I don't even drink)

So... an a******?

Yeah, great actor. So is Strong. Just seems like an a-hole move to go on and on about how you don't like your co-worker, Scottish, old or not.

Most people have to do this as part of their daily work life, so yes I can imagine it.

I was lucky enough to see Daniel Day Lewis as Lincoln on the set several times. My father worked at a food truck and was there for the majority of the production and his trailer was literally 100 ft from our food truck so we’d see him walk in and out very silently and emotionless lol. I also got to meet Walton Goggins and we actually had several talks over the course of a couple weeks. One of my fondest memories for sure…

I always think about Tatiana Maslany in Orphan Black. Maslany is notoriously a sweetheart on set, and she was playing half a dozen characters. She did it well enough that it was easy to forget that they weren’t separate actresses. And she did a sort of “method” acting that sounds like a slightly lessened version of what Strong did. I saw an interview where she said she had to keep the accents and mannerisms of whatever character she was playing that day so she could keep the characters distinct. I’ve seen it on shows like Critical Role as well, where some of the players hang onto the character accents a little when out of character (not all of the time, but I remember it happening a few times). This all makes sense to me. It also makes sense that, for some people, jt’s easier to act if you feel what the character is feeling. Crying on cue is a coveted actor technique, but people are going to achieve that stuff different ways. If you have to get into someone’s head to cry, maybe you’re a worse actor? But if the outcome is a better performance, maybe worse or better acting is just impossible to define? It starts to feel like how some writers take longer or need more edits than others. To a point, the output is what is important. My favourite authors aren’t my favourite authors because of their process. And then the limits to how acceptable this behaviour is is probably more about practicality in a workplace. It’s not likely some existential, artistic line. Cox says that it hurt the ensemble. You can’t tell. That show has a rep for incredible performances, and the actors play off each other expertly. So Strong’s performance seems like it is mostly fine, while slightly edging towards too much to bother with. Strong does seem self-serious, and iirc, he didn’t understand the humour about his character. But as far as we know, this produced something great and was simultaneously pretty annoying. As someone who is pretty annoying no matter how hard I try to not be, idk I just can’t get angry about that. And I do think his performance was so immersive. I always think about how his character swears. He swears all the time, but does it like a man who is uncomfortable with swearing. It’s so specific and nuanced that it’s hard to put my finger on why. I feel like he achieves that because he is so self-serious and method. I’ve never seen it in another performance. Everything about Kendall is so specific and real and nuanced. I feel like it’s worth it! But also like everyone else may have to roll their eyes on occasion, because how else do you deal with something so socially strange? Most people can’t meet that level of seriousness and also produce a good performance and enjoy their lives. None of the other actors are exactly slouches. They all belong in some actor hall of fame for their performances. But also, Kendall was something unique. Genuinely, it sounds like everyone is kinda valid. Unless we learn that Strong was abusive. Which is a whole other discussion about art.

man have you seen him as jack langrishe??

Ah yes, because Hannibal Lecktor, Major Hogan, Logan Roy, Sydney Newman, Trotsky, Nye Bevan and Goring are all three characters...

This is nonsense. The man has played some incredibly definitive roles in the theatre and on film. I think you’re just showing your lack of information on him, nothing else.

Especially versus advice from Day-Lewis.

Have you heard his McD’s vocal solo though

Does it turn purple and smell like rainbow sherbet?

hahahahah classic

Ron Swanson was a gentle giant at heart. Big difference

True but I’ve seen it happen to plenty of people without dementia

It’s funny because when I see him in interviews it’s hard for me to separate Jeremy from Kendall because of his voice. All time performance playing Kendall

No love for Sarah or Matthew? I can't believe an Aussie and a Brit play two of the most believably obnoxious Americans on the show. The whole f****** show is an ensemble of rockstars.

Watch those K’s, boy…

His boy Squiggle cooked up this beat for him!

Nope, just seen enough interviews & discussions basically amount to "Brian Cox is a phenomenal actor who's also a grump & short-fused" and "Jeremy Strong is way too method for most people's tastes & can grate against regular actors after awhile." Succession was just a non-stop article-churner of this.