Yes, we’re still talking about Jeremy Strong’s New Yorker profile. There’s commentary on top of commentary. There’s commentary about the commentary. Celebrities are getting involved to defend Jeremy Strong from what they see as an unfair or snarky profile. People are arguing about whether the profile actually was negative or snarky. My take: the profile wasn’t complimentary, nor was the profile ripping Strong to shreds. He came across as self-absorbed and too method actor-y, but I came away respecting his process to get that wonderful performance in Succession. Other people came away from it thinking Strong is a douchebag and a bad coworker. The Strong profile is some kind of litmus test for how people see actors or something. I don’t know. In any case, Aaron Sorkin was one of the people quoted in the New Yorker piece, and Sorkin is mad about how his quotes were used. Jessica Chastain posted this:
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
Sorkin writes: “After reading Michael Schulman’s profile of Jeremy Strong — a profile in which I participated — I wanted to speak up. I think I helped Mr. Schulman create what I believe is a distorted picture of Jeremy that asks us to roll our eyes at his acting process.” Sorkin then posted the questions he was asked and his answers, and said that any director should hire Strong because he’s a great actor and a great team player. Sorkin was accurately quoted, but… I get it, I really do. Quotes were cherrypicked to provide a portrait of a self-involved actor who takes himself too seriously. Personally, I’m fine with all of this? The Strong profile was kind of unfair to him in a weird way, and his coworkers are defending him and that’s all fine. No one is “wrong.” People just have different opinions and interpretations.
Oh, and the New Yorker did respond to Sorkin’s comments, saying: “This is a nuanced, multi-sided portrait of an extremely dedicated actor. It has inspired a range of reactions from people, including many who say that they are even more impressed by Jeremy Strong’s artistry after having read the article.” Yeah. It’s fine.
I couldn’t agree more. Jeremy is not only a lovely guy but a brilliant actor who was cast in Succession precisely because of his passion the New Yorker writer mocks. https://t.co/oa8G99i6vf
— Adam McKay (@GhostPanther) December 11, 2021
Photos courtesy of Instar, Getty and Avalon Red.
There hasn’t been one story about Strong being the absolute worst on set or in his personal life. Yes, he is self absorbed on set, and? So unless he crosses a line, he will be fine.
I think this finale is gonna be lit and we will be talking about Jeremy more into award season next year.
I think asking that the scores of people working on a set, extras, and your cast mates get TEAR GASSED FOR REAL to make YOUR performance “better”/more real *is* crossing a line. That’s a pretty a@@hole move. And I love his character (and the show). But it is TV! It’s not a cure for cancer or world peace.
And he was told no and the movie moved on.
But according to Sorkin, he didn’t ask it for everyone. So you’re cherry picking as well. I don’t know why people can’t just leave it alone.
Forgive me for repeating myself, but from what I’ve read and heard via interviews from his costars, it sounds like JS is torturing himself more than anyone else. I’m sure it’s frustrating for the people who work with him, but he’s been consistently excellent in every role I’ve seen him in. I can’t wait to see more from him and I can’t wait for tonight’s episode.
Off topic, but I love that freaky necklace he’s rocking in the pic above.
That necklace is great and love it against the camel sweater.
Couldn’t agree more, as I’ve said before, Brian Cox’ comments were cherry picked too and it doesn’t seem like he is a nuisance to anyone but himself. Also agreed on the necklace, I think it’s the bit of chest hair that makes the look.
I think it’s sexy when a man is confident enough to wear jewelry. My husband and I share necklaces. As long as he doesn’t go full Johnny Depp or sport a pinky ring, I’m super down for the look.
Yes, Brian Cox expressed his concern for Jeremy and about how damaging method acting is for the actors’ mental health using Daniel Day Lewis as an example.
Oh ladies, what I wouldn’t give to be married to a man with chest hair and the willingness to openly wear a necklace and fabulous pendant like JS is wearing….or any jewelry for that matter!! My husband refuses to wear jewelry, and doesn’t have chest hair like my 2 ex husbands, but I am loving his look! My hair stylist purchased her husband this gorgeous tag in titanium and it was gorgeous, including the chain she bought him, and how I would love to buy my husband jewelry he would wear. He won’t even wear his watch that I bought him, I think it was an Omega, that I bought him in SF a hundred years ago.
Anyway, he does look yummy in this picture!!
Of all the people speaking up, I think Sorkin had the most reason to do so because the way the tear gas story was framed in the New Yorker article versus Sorkin’s actual answer really does show something different. And the tear gas story as outlined by the New Yorker has been used as a cudgel by many as to why Strong should be considered an obsessed jerk.
It is interesting to see the responses Sorkin provided and how they were actually used. And a reminder to everyone that no writer is ever as neutral as they claim to be.
Even writers who strive for objectivity are writing through the veil of their own frame of reference.
This writer, in my opinion, wanted people to talk about the piece. The audience for the New Yorker are white intellectuals with money. Those facts combined produced this profile.
Yes @ Merricat!! The author apparently had a bone to pick with JS and he allowed his personal views to drive/write this article. The author had an agenda and I am glad that Sorkin came out to and referred his actual answers that the author used to twist the facts.
And can we just talk about how misogynistic and difficult Frank Langella is to work with? His history of being an absolute pr!ck is legendary!
I think some of these writers/journalists are making a bigger name for themselves by writing celebrity takedowns in prestige magazines. I think it’s a big reason why Rob Pattinson more or less stonewalled Taffy in his GQ profile following her infamous interview with Tom Hiddleston in GQ. Nobody wants that treatment.
I tend to think Strong got the Hiddleston treatment. A relatively unproblematic actor is overeager and perhaps annoying and a journalist uses the opportunity to put them in their place while also getting accolades for being the one to do it.
I dunno. I think it’s a pretty low thing to do. It’s a celebrity profile.
I expressed those same thoughts in the first article about him, although not as well as you, and got a lot of negative responses but I feel like the author’s intentions have been met. He’s gotten mucho press and Jeremy has been smeared. He’ll be known to many now as the psycho who wanted to tear gas the cast and crew. Not to be forgotten is the author and Jeremy both went to Yale but J was a scholarship kid ffs like he smells bad or something. I’m glad people are speaking up.
…_did_ that GQ interview of Hiddleston “put him in his place”? I thought it was very sympathetic and that he came out of it looking good. Maybe I missed something?
Agreed. I think in this instance there was some sort of prior issue this writer had with the actor, and they took the opportunity for a low key takedown to put him in his place. That it wasn’t as bad as the Kate Tatler piece doesn’t make it alright. Especially given the info Aaron Sorkin is providing.
Yeah, to me the weird part is that the writer mentioned having worked with Strong briefly back in 2003 but dropped that tidbit pretty far down in the profile. It ended up coming across like the writer thought Strong was annoying back in the day and then brought that baggage into the piece. Who knows. But it gave the article a sort of “mean kid” vibe to me.
Any time an important white male actor isn’t treated as a king seemingly the entire acting world blows its collective top. It’s like a grave affront to their core values that someone might think a particular actor is faintly ridiculous. They did it for Pratt, even before it was clear he was absolutely The Worst. Celebrities aren’t allowed to be human.
And I get it. If I were famous I’d care deeply what people wrote about me. Maybe they feel personally attacked as much as anything when a famous person reads a less-than-flattering essay about another famous person. But I’m not sure writers owe it to their subjects to go easy on them.
Yeah I’m just rolling my eyes at all of this. Call me when Hollywood puts a tenth of the effort into defending women from harassment, insults, and threats the way they defend Pratt and this guy simply because someone didn’t throw themselves at their feet. Gonna cry boys? You wouldn’t last a day and a half as a woman.
Also….there is such a thing as protesting too much? This guy isn’t really on my radar (I’ve seen Succession but I’m not obsessed) so this profile was barely a blip. Now I’m beginning to think where there’s smoke there’s fire.
Right? No famous woman gets this kind of defense from the actually outrageous claims that are constantly made against them. And that’s, like, triply true for minorities.
@ A, and you can multiply that for WOC, or one that identifies as themselves as LBGTQ or a non-binary orientation!!!!
Anyone who happens to not be a white, heterosexual male actor??? Oh how difficult those who are white, heterosexual male actors who breeze through life without a care in the world AND refuse to acknowledge those who are not in their skin.
In addition, let’s just talk about how the questions of women actors v the questions of male actors.
Questions plagued by women; do you plan on having children?
Questions plagued by men; how well did you research/contemplate how you would portray this character in this film/tv/documentary?
Well said A, that’s what I was thinking too!
Folks always caping for white men and running to defend them. An American story. 🤷🏾♀️
OMG stay off the Succession threads. It’s unbelievable the pretzels people will bend their logic into to defend Kendall because pobrecito wasn’t properly loved as a child.
I read it and didn’t think it was really a hit job, some of the things Strong has done are a bit eccentric. It has now turned into the Streisand effect, though, and maybe his allies should just stop drawing attention to the article.
Same – I didn’t see it as a bad piece at all. It was a prestige profile that made me roll my eyes more than once, while reinforcing the idea of Strong as a dedicated, intense, quirky artiste. Haven’t you been around people like him all your life? Annoying because they take themselves so seriously but good at what they do? They never totally fit in, but they are essential to the process. Succession simply wouldn’t be what it is without him.
Referring to this as a hit job makes me think all the celeb ass kissing and the fake positivity and worshipful tones used all over social media is starting to warp our collective brains…
I don’t watch Succession, but the first few articles DO sound like a hit job! Referencing a commitment made to him by RD Jr in 2014, and the nameless design team member in “The Judge” who referred to Strong as an annoying gnat that they had to keep swatting at.
It reads very much like a hit piece as he cherry picks comments made to the author by co-stars that don’t point to him in a favorable light.
I don’t care even a little bit about Jeremy Strong and whatever his process is. I do think these celebrities leaping to defend him from the horrors of a less than fawning media profile are making *sses of themselves. There’s definitely a Streisand Effect thing going on too.
All that matters, all that’s on anyone’s mind, is whether Jeremy Strong will be in season 4. 9pm EST cannot come fast enough!! 😬😬😬
Yes. If we get a dead Kendall tonight, then by this time tomorrow every so-called critic will have pivoted and will be blowing up Jeremy’s agent’s phone, clamoring to sign him up for their next very special project.
He has to be there. I know I always said that cousin Greg will win in the end, but Kendall is the only one who knows how to stand up and fight Logan to a certain point.
I agree. I really don’t think we’re losing Kendall for that reason, and also because the show likes to surprise us and the least surprising thing at this point would be Kendall dying.
But I’m still mentally writing fan fiction in which Gerri & Greg team up to rule the world.
Yep, I have to get off all social media on west coast from 6pm so I don’t get any spoilers. There’s an interesting Succession thread on Twitter by Linda Holmes, who writes for NPR. Some speculation about tonight and Kendall’s fate and the Roman/Shiv/Gerri mess. Personally hoping Kendall turns himself into police and implicates his dad in drowning coverup and back at Waystar Royco I’m TEAM GERRI all the way…
I didn’t think the article was bad. I took away from it he is eccentric and extremely ambitious. I liked the way he was relentless in getting these assistant jobs to his acting heroes. He is to the extreme and it must have been hard for him that he never really made it until he got the part in Succession. He is over the top, but I have read some really pretentious interviews by actors or musicians. I just find this guy to be an extremist in acting and eccentric. I don’t get why all of these famous people feel the need to come out in support of him because of this article. Maybe they feel some of the things said by others and himself in the article might hurt his chances in being offered other roles? IDN
The piece was well written and made Jeremy seem obsessed and ambitous but also talented and smart.
They are acting like the piece said he was the worst person ever. When actually it probably made people sit up and take notice.
The fact that he and his friends are still upset about this reads like celebrities just want complete puff pieces as opposed to complex interesting portrayals.
It reminds me when the whole marvel universe defended Chris Pratt over some minor shit on the internet:
It’s always the white man who gets mollycoddled by the industry. I don’t see the same energy when it matters in relation to other women and POC.
He’s an actor, not Dr. Fauci. He’s not above criticism.
Agreed, I found the portrayal completely fine. My god can a mediocre white man not take the slightest mildest criticism of his weirdness?
Lmao, Aaron’s letter was the funniest thing all week, what a freaking diva. First he puts his name in 42pt font at the top. Well hello there. Then each paragraph is carefully written, opener plus exposition and a punchline, it was clearly Aaron Sorkin writing it. And when only snippets were used, he wanted THE ENTIRE WORLD to see his original “superior” script. Has nobody ever told this guy to shut up in his entire life?
The paper ran a story about a guy who works hard and takes his job very seriously. So what? It’s not like it says he abused anyone. Lighten up, Jeremy’s friends.
On the list of male actors to complain about, Jeremy Strong is not even in the top 100. Save your vitriol for someone who deserves it. Some people just like to whine.
So a talented actor works hard and finally gets famous due to a role on a popular acclaimed show, and someone writes a piece about said actor’s method and how it’s intense and maybe a bit much but gets great results? That’s the price of fame. I’m not saying the writer isn’t trying to raise his own profile, he clearly is, but I guess that’s fair enough. He’s coming in for some criticism, too. They both need to take the heat and just keep working.