5 things about playing Kendall Roy, according to actor Jeremy Strong

We are headed to Season three finale of "Succession" with a lot going on.

Apart from the very WTF cliffhanger of the penultimate episode, there is also the New Yorker feature profile on Jeremy Strong, the actor who plays Kendall Roy released last week, which turned out to be the controversial read.

Controversial enough that his co-actors like Aaron Sorkin and Jessica Chastain have issued statements to support and defend the actor.  

Aaron Sorkin doesn’t have social media so asked me to post this letter on his behalf xx pic.twitter.com/3Ol1KGoJKM

— Jessica Chastain (@jes_chastain) December 10, 2021

Ive known Jeremy Strong for 20yrs & worked with him on 2 films. Hes a lovely person. Very inspiring & passionate about his work. The profile that came out on him was incredibly one sided. Don’t believe everything you read folks. Snark sells but maybe its time we move beyond it.

— Jessica Chastain (@jes_chastain) December 8, 2021

The good folks of HBO sent GMA Online an exclusive interview with Jeremy Strong, where he talked about his character Kendall Roy, his methods in playing him as well as what's it like to work along side Brian Cox, who plays Kendall's father Logan Roy.

It should be enough to tie us over until Monday morning, when Episode 10 of Season 3 of Succession drops on HBO Go. See below for the edited version of the interview:

1. Jeremy thinks Kendall Roy is a visionary and a leader in season three

According to Jeremy, Logan Roy's "heart of darkness and howling void" was revealed to Kendall after hearing his father refer to the caterer in England as an NRPI or No Real Person Involved.

"I think that at the end of season two, when my father refers to the boy in England as an NRPI – No Real Person Involved – I see the heart of darkness with painful and final clarity. And his lack of an ethical moral core, and the howling void is revealed to me," he said.

"So I guess if I were to use the descriptive terms, I would call myself in season three a visionary and a leader. There’s a sense of mission. There’s a messianic sense to the character now. Which other people might have all kinds of feelings about. But it’s very clear to Kendall what must be done, in the sense that, in both senses of the term, here comes the sun/son," he said.

2. Jeremy says this is when Kendall had a moment of enlightenment

On the way to the press conference, when he was supposed to own up to Waystar Co's misdemeanor, is when Kendall had a what he called an "under-the-bo tree moment of enlightenment on the way to the press conference."

"[Kendall] realises that what he has to do – and in a sense what his whole life has been leading up to doing – is to sort of go on a crusade. To detoxify and cleanse the corporate culture. And that that is upon him."

3. This is what informed Jeremy Story the most while playing Kendall Roy

Jeremy narrates visiting the writers room in South London a little before starting "Succession" and how director Jesse Armstrong had written in a note card: Kendall wins but loses."

"And that stayed with me, the sort of, in a sense paradox, or the tension of those two things that is ever present in this character," Jeremy said. "That no matter what, when he’s on the top, he’s on the bottom. There’s a sense of both being on top of the world at this moment, but also in the ninth rung of hell."

He continued, "I think my task as an actor is to try to contain those things and inhabit those poles in myself."

4. Jeremy thinks Kendall has "a lot of rage"

He thinks the rage comes from "a lifetime of being stifled, of being thwarted. It comes from a lack of nurture and love from his parents. I think this character has a lot of rage."

In case you haven't been watching, "Succession" is all about the Roy family and the their media company Waystar Co. As its title implies, "Succession" begins with the Roy siblings fighting over who succeeds their father, Logan Roy, in running the conglomerate.

"The show, in a way explores legacy, right? But it’s about a legacy of damage, and it’s about a legacy of abuse that is endemic in this family – and understanding that there’s a spill-over into the culture. The toxicity within this family finds its way out into the groundwater, and the groundwater is poisoned," Jeremy said.

Speaking about his character Kendall, Jeremy thinks "the anguish comes from what happens at the end of season one. Until then, I’m quite — you know. It’s a story of ambition. And the first season is a story of ascendancy and being the incumbent – and then a tragedy happens. Something that really irrevocably changes this character."

5. Here's how Jeremy prepared to play Kendall Roy in scenes with his father Logan (Brian Cox)

For Jeremy, Brian Cox is "pound for pound as great an actor as has ever walked the earth."

"He is a primal force, like Logan, but as an actor. Brian is a dangerous actor, which I think in a way is the highest compliment you can pay an actor," he continued.

According to Jeremy, they did not rehearse the scene. "To Brian’s [initial reluctance]," he admitted. "But I think he’s come to embrace this way of doing things. And I don’t like to rehearse when you’re making films, or in this case television, but it feels like we’re making a film. So we just meet each other in the ring, and it’s just like he’s a heavyweight, and it makes me summon every ounce of artistry and courage that I can summon.”

But it's not just with Brian. Jeremy admitted "I kind of take myself away and isolate myself all the time. Not really because Kendall is isolated, although that is a part of it, but just because that’s the way I need to work. I need to stay in a place of negative space and be quiet," he said.

"In a way, part of the discipline of being an actor is, you can’t make any one moment more important than any other moment. If you do that, you put a sort of pressure on the work that often can block something from happening. Your only job as the actor, I think, is to be as unfettered as possible. And as honest in the moment as possible." — LA, GMA News