Succession Star Jeremy Strong Has Mixed Feelings About Filming the Series Finale

Succession creator Jesse Armstrong shocked TV fans everywhere when he announced that the upcoming fourth season of the HBO series — one of the most popular and critically acclaimed shows on television — would be its last. Armstrong’s series is going out while on the top of its game, ending with momentum and delivering a complete story that gives the audience some closure. Jeremy Strong, who won an Emmy for playing Kendall Roy on Succession, has some mixed feelings about the hit series coming to an end.

While speaking to EW about Sunday night’s Succession premiere, Strong opened up about his work on the final season, and reflected on the complete journey of his work on the show.

“It’s been such a gift, a role like this, getting to play what I think, in terms of the writing, is one of the great modern anti-heroes,” Strong said. “I was also ready for it to be done. I’ve advocated before now that it should be done for Kendall. I’ve felt that his arc has been close to, if not at, the point of running its course. There’s only so much catharsis and so much tragedy that a character can undergo before there’s nowhere left. So I do feel a sense of completion in the best possible way and I also feel a concomitant sense of loss.”

“I’ll miss the process, I’ll miss – well, I won’t always miss the process,” Strong added, joking about his highly discussed method acting techniques. “I’ll miss the writing.”

Strong went on to say that shooting the final episode of the show was difficult to navigate, like skiing down an incredibly difficult and dangerous mountain.

“Certainly, there’s an awareness on the periphery that this is it, but in a way there’s no room for that,” he said. “You can’t both be saying goodbye to a television show and be doing what you need to do at the same time –or I can’t. I will say that the final episode, the culmination of everything, where Jesse really brings everything to its crisis, was like a double black diamond to go down. That’s what you want as an actor, and so that was incredibly fulfilling.”

Are you looking forward to the final season of Succession? What do you think will become of Kendall Roy? Let us know in the comments!