Jeremy Strong, now notorious for his dedication to method acting, recently admitted on the latest episode of The New Yorker Radio Hour podcast that he didn’t feel “the need to apologize” to his collaborators who thought he took the process “too seriously.”
The actor, who plays tech billionaire Mark Zuckerberg in Aaron Sorkin’s “The Social Reckoning,” which will be released on October 9, was asked by podcast host and New Yorker editor-in-chief David Remnick how much his procedural approach helped the director and his fellow actors during filming, or how much it might surprise them on the other hand.
“I guess I can’t really speak to that,” Strong began. “Of course, I never mean to interfere with anyone else’s experience or modus operandi. First, do no harm, right? But be determined to screw up your work, completely.” Remnick then interjects to ask if Strong was frustrated by others on set who weren’t as dedicated, to which the “Succession” actor replies: “No, it just means I’m there to be completely dedicated to serving the material.”
He continued: “If some people think I’m taking this too seriously, or if it’s changing the molecules in the room in a disturbing way, I think that’s something I don’t need to apologize for, because I believe it, and I think the directors I’ve worked with all believe it, and I personally think a lot of the reactions to it are of a personal nature.”
Strong’s method acting antics have long made headlines. In September, Sorkin told the New York Times that Strong treated his co-stars “the way he imagined” Zuckerberg would treat them during filming. Strong’s “Succession” co-star Brian Cox repeatedly criticized the actor’s method acting, calling it “so annoying”, but also noted in a later interview that Strong was “great to act with.” “I had no quarrel with Jeremy’s acting,” Cox said. “He would have been a much better player if he had gotten rid of that, so there would have been a lot more inclusivity in what he did.”
Strong, Jeremy Allen White, Mikey Madison, Bill Burr, Betty Gilpin and Billy Magnussen star in “The Social Reckoning,” which follows the story of whistleblower Frances Haugen, who teams up with Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz to uncover the inner workings of Zuckerberg’s Facebook.