There’s no doubt that one of the finest American actors working today is Jeremy Strong, who in the eagerly awaited The Social: The Price of Truth has taken from Jesse Eisenberg the role of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. With an Oscar nomination for Best Actor thanks to The Apprentice: The Origins of Trump and numerous accolades for his portrayal of Kendall Roy in the TV series Succession, Strong is one of the staunchest proponents of the Method, meaning he fully inhabits the character he is playing and clings to it for the entire shoot, even during breaks. Now, you should know that on the set of Aaron Sorkin‘s film, this working mode that fans of Al Pacino and Dustin Hoffman admire so much made the other performers uneasy, since the good Mark treated them as Mark Zuckerberg would. That’s why, during an episode of The New Yorker Radio Hour podcast, host David Remnick, who is also the editor-in-chief of The New York Times, asked him to what extent his strict rules affect the director and the other actors on a film. “I think I’m not the person best suited to talk about this,” Jeremy Strong replied, before explaining:
Naturally and above all I never intended to interfere with someone else’s experience and way of working. The most important thing is not to hurt anyone, right? Rather I devoted myself heart and soul to the work.
Strong also said that acting techniques far removed from his own do not distract him nor affect his performance. He then added:
If someone feels that I take my work too seriously, or that I spoil the atmosphere by making those present uncomfortable, well I am convinced I should not apologize, because I think all the directors I work with consider my contribution essential, so I am sure that negative reactions are personal in nature.
Criticism of Jeremy Strong‘s working method came from, among others, Brian Cox, who shared the Succession set with him. The actor described it as “fucking boring,” before conceding a moment later that collaborating with Strong is a real pleasure:
I have no problems with Jeremy’s method. He would be a better actor if he could shed it, because then he would have a more inclusive attitude.
The Social: The Price of Truth, which hits cinemas on October 8, is the true story of Facebook engineer Frances Haugen (Mikey Madison), who, with the help of journalist Jeff Horwitz (Jeremy Allen White), a few years ago blew the whistle on the darker aspects of the social network’s governance.
Comments