Adrien Brody says Jeremy Strong kept his “distance” from Brian Cox on ‘Succession’ set

Adrien Brody has said Jeremy Strong kept his “distance” from Succession co-star Brian Cox during filming on the HBO series.

Brody played billionaire investor Josh Aaronson in the show’s third season, where the character went up against Logan Roy (Cox) and his son Kendall (Strong) as they tried to appease Aaronson’s doubts about the future of Waystar Royco.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Brody discussed the differences in Roy and Strong’s approach to acting, with the latter known for adopting a method technique.

“I feel I’m supportive of any approach as long as it’s not really disruptive to anyone,” Brody said. “I think everyone has a responsibility to be malleable to other people’s approaches. That’s part of the job. I think the hard part comes when an actor disrupts the flow. That can come from many reasons: insecurity about where they’re at in that moment, whether they’re connecting or not, or from ego. Or some other thing.

“I didn’t experience any of that on Succession though. I thought Jeremy was a wonderful scene partner and very thoughtful. He reached out to me prior to coming on board, and we got together.”

He added: “I did notice that he was keeping his distance from Brian on set, but I just thought it was all really interesting. I think Brian could probably care less, but it was obviously working for Jeremy. I just remember thinking, ‘Wow, this is so fun to step into this.’ And it all went without a hitch. I just wanted there to be more. I really loved interacting with them.”

Cox recently described method acting as “American shit” at the Toronto Film Festival. “I don’t hold a lot of the American shit, having to have a religious experience every time you play a part. It’s crap,” Cox said.

“I don’t hang onto the characters I play. I let them go through me. The thing is to be ready to accept, as an actor. You stand there, you’re ready to accept whatever is thrown at you.”

Strong, meanwhile, recently described acting as his religion, comparing it to a “sacramental activity expressing a faith”.

Comments are closed.