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Jeremy Strong is back in the buzz for that time of the year when we come together to honor and celebrate the best of television. The 2022 Emmys will recapitulate a year of outstanding, brilliant shows and performances. Nonetheless, it is going to be tough to decide on the winners.
The nominations for the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards were unveiled last week and we have some amazing contenders in the run. The popular series, Succession, is leading the charts with a whopping 25 nominations, with Ted Lasso not far behind with 20 nominations.
Jeremy Strong of Succession, who plays Kendall Roy, has been nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. In his reaction to his nomination, Strong said:
“I am deeply honored to be nominated alongside such brilliant and inspired work. It is the role of a lifetime and an immeasurable gift to be part of making this show. I am so proud of my fellow ensemble members and the whole Succession family.
He continued:
A wholehearted congratulations to all of my fellow nominees. And as we are in the midst of filming Season 4 right now, I’ll just say this: Dad – It’s On.”
Here are a few facts about the 43-year-old Succession actor that you should know.
Interesting facts about Jeremy Strong that you didn't know
1) Shared the stage with Chris Evans' big sister
The world is a small place, brimming with relationships that go way back before celebrities make a name for themselves. Jeremy Strong was always a theater enthusiast who performed in various, renowned theater groups and plays.
By the time he reached the fifth grade, his family had moved to the suburbs of Sudbury, and in a bid to blend in, he joined a children's theater group called Act/Tunes. The group performed classic musicals and Strong even participated in Oliver! in which he played Dodger.
While Strong was following his passion, he made an admirer who used to frequent the kids' theater with his elder sister. The future Captain America, Chris Evans. In an interview, Evans revealed that he was very fond of Jeremy Strong. He said:
“I was probably nine, ten, going to my sister’s shows, and even then thinking, Damn, this kid is great!”
Strong and Evans even went to the same school later, where the latter thought of him as somewhat of a celebrity.
2) Worked under his heroes
Jeremy Strong is a devoted, brilliant actor who gets into the skin of a character only to immerse himself in it to a point where the audience can't really tell one from the other. Although he denies being a method actor, he does acknowledge the role and impact that three of his idols have had on his acting career.
Growing up, Strong was absolutely in awe of Daniel Day-Lewis, Al Pacino and Dustin Hoffman and even hung up their posters in a shrine-like manner in his room. Not only this, Strong was so persistent in his pursuit of his heroes that he even managed to work with them all, at different points in time.
Strong said that Daniel Day-Lewis played a huge role in molding him as an actor. Lewis became a mentor to him and the two got very close.
3) Roman not Kendall was Strong's first choice
Fans of the popular TV show Succession would never have it any other way. To the audience, it is perfection, everything falls in place. But what if Jeremy Strong had been cast for the role of Logan's youngest son, Roman Roy, instead of Kendall? It's a good thing that they didn't, but that's what Jeremy preferred.
When the show's executive producer, Adam McKay, called Strong to talk about the show, he defined it as the "King Lear" of the media industry. McKay handed him the pilot script and asked him to pick a character that he thought he connected with the most, and he chose Roman Roy because Strong thought,
“He’s, like, this bon-vivant prick. I could do something that I hadn’t done before.”
After much deliberation, Riman's role went to Kieran Culkin but Strong was roped in for Kendall Roy's character.
4) Lost a role in Detroit
With every successful actor's journey, there comes a low point where things are not going their way. By the time Jeremy Strong was in his late 30s, he had played a couple of minor roles in big films like Lincoln, Zero Dark Thirty, Selma and The Big Short, but nothing made him rise to fame.
In 2016, he finally thought that his big moment had come when Academy-winning director Kathryn Bigelow cast him for a major role in her film, Detroit.
Strong put in a lot of effort preparing for the role - watching documentaries and honing his marksmanship skills at a shooting range. The then 37-year-old actor even missed some of his wedding festivities to accommodate the film's shooting schedule.
However, Strong started filming and was fired from the movie after shooting for just a day.
The director didn't think the character was working out in the narrative. After much pleading and insistence, she gave Strong the role of an Attorney in the movie as a consolation. The actor soon bagged the role of Kendall Roy after the devastating experience.
5) Strong has a unique way of acting
Controversy sparked around the profile of Jeremy Strong, which was published in the New Yorker in December 2021. The piece painted him as an aloof, detached, method actor who was so engrossed in his pursuit of perfection.
Strong rebuked the profile and called it a 'profound betrayal' but there are still hilarious yet intense moments in his acting career that demonstrate his love and seriousness for his work.
In The Trial of the Chicago 7, Strong plays the character of Jerry Rubin. In an interview with Vanity Fair, the director of the movie, Aaron Sorkin, said that Strong insisted that he sprayed some real tear gas on his eyes for a scene. Thankfully, the director refused to do so.
The 74th Primetime Emmy Awards will be announced on September 12, 2022, at 8 pm ET / 5 pm PT on NBC and Peacock. Jeremy Strong, who has already won the Award in 2020, has been nominated for it again.
