Warning! Spoilers ahead for Succession season 3.
Succession star Jeremy Strong was worried people would think the show was a comedy. Since the show premiered on HBO in 2018, it has built up critical acclaim and a growing fanbase. This is largely due to its ability to combine levity with some of the most serious, heartbreaking acting on television. While audiences and even some viewers initially disregarded Succession as merely a peek into the lives of an ultra-wealthy family that controls a media conglomerate, series creator Jesse Armstrong and his team of writers have shown over the course of Succession seasons 1 and 2 that they’re more interested in examining the flaws of the central Roy family than celebrating their competence.
This has come through loud and clear as Succession season 2 approaches its finish line. In episode 8, which takes place at a lavish family home, the blend of comedy and drama is on full display. After achieving some professional success, Roman (Kieran Culkin) accidentally sends a naked photo to his father Logan (Brian Cox) during a board meeting. This moment, bizzarely hilarious and uncomfortable, comes just a few minutes before the episode’s closing shot. Evoking a different kind of discomfort altogether, viewers see that Kendall (Strong) is floating in the pool. As his face becomes submerged in water, it’s unclear whether the character is alive or dead.
In a profile for The New Yorker, Strong shared his view that Succession is far from a comedy. When asked about Kendall’s infamous rap song in Succession season 2, the actor compares the scene to Raskolnikov, the pained protagonist of the novel Crime and Punishment. And, in particular, Culkin recalls a conversation with Strong in which they decided how they each viewed the HBO hit. Read the actor's full quote about his co-star Strong below.
“He said something to me like, ‘I’m worried that people might think that the show is a comedy.’ And I said, ‘I think the show is a comedy.’ He thought I was kidding.”
At other times during the interview, Strong said that Succession often carries “life and death” stakes. And, when referring to Kendall, the actor admitted that “I take him as seriously as I take my own life.” He says that, overall, he does not find the character to be funny. This opinion seems to extend to Succession as a whole. While some online, and even Culkin himself, when asked, expressed light skepticism of Strong’s approach, it has clearly worked in terms of turning Kendall into a compellingly tragic figure.
It would be interesting to see what might’ve been different if Strong played Roman, as he’d initially hoped to do. Logan’s youngest son is less obviously broken than Kendall, and he’s notable for using crude humor to diffuse tensions. It’s worth asking if Stong’s mindset would have changed with the character. Or if, ultimately, he would have made the character of Roman markedly different. As it stands though, even though it may sound somewhat odd and insular, Strong’s Succession performance certainly does pack a punch.
Source: The New Yorker