Jeremy Strong said he won’t apologize for making his co-stars “uncomfortable” with his method acting practices.
The “Social Awakening” star argued that he’s “just there to commit utterly to serving the material” during his Friday appearance on the “New Yorker Radio Hour” podcast.
“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 exclaimed.
“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.”
The 47-year-old did clarify, however, that it is “never [his] intention to interfere with anyone else’s experience or anyone else’s way of working.”
Strong concluded, “First, do no harm, right? But commit to f—king what you’re doing, and utterly.”
The Emmy winner previously got heat from his “Succession” co-star Brian Cox, who played patriarch Logan Roy, for the way he gets into character.
Cox, notably, thought that Strong held on to his character Kendall Roy for too long after the camera stops rolling.
“Oh, it’s f—king annoying. Don’t get me going on it,” the 80-year-old told Town & Countryin February 2023 when asked about Strong’s method acting.
“He’s a very good actor, and the rest of the ensemble is all OK with this. But knowing a character and what the character does is only part of the skill set.”
In a prior interview, Cox explained that his intense criticism of Strong came from a place of concern.
“I just worry about what he does to himself,” he admitted to The New Yorker in December 2021. “I worry about the crises he puts himself through in order to prepare.”
When asked how he feels about Cox’s critiques, Strong made it clear that he is not offended, and is not changing his ways.
“Everyone’s entitled to have their feelings,” the “Apprentice” actor told GQ in February 2023. “I also think Brian Cox, for example, he’s earned the right to say whatever the f—k he wants. There was no need to address that or do damage control.”
“I feel a lot of love for my siblings and my father on the show,” he insisted. “It is like a family in the sense that, and I’m sure they would say this, too, you don’t always like the people that you love. I do always respect them.”
Strong’s most recent role is Mark Zuckerberg in the upcoming film “Social Reckoning,” a legal thriller film written, co-produced, and directed by Aaron Sorkin and the standalone sequel to “The Social Network” (2010). It follows the 2021 Facebook leak by the whistleblower Frances Haugen and Jeff Horwitz.
During his podcast appearance, Strong explained that he prepared for that role by “learning everything about” Zuckerberg, both “intellectually and viscerally” and that he treated the process as an “investigative mission.”
“I’m not thinking about my posture, how I hold my mouth or jawline. I’m not thinking about the voice. All of that by the time you walk on to a set — and it it hasn’t you’re in trouble — has to become second skin,” he explained.
“Social Reckoning” hits theaters on Oct. 9.
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