Are you still processing the ending of Succession? You are not the only one. Jeremy Strong, actor who plays Kendall Roy, assured that he almost gave another closure to his character. However, he added that the series finale that Jesse Armstrong chose is “much stronger philosophically.” Read more here!
We are still processing the end of succession and getting ready to not find a new episode next Sunday on HBO. However, it seems we’re not the only ones left wondering how each member of the family ended up. Roy. If you saw the chapter you will know that one of the ones that had a more tragic ending (as always) was Kendallinterpreted by Jeremy Strongactor who assured that his character went through an event “extinction level. If you haven’t seen it yet, beware of the spoilers that follow.
Called “With Open Eyes“, the last episode of succession finally reveals who stays as CEO of Waystar RoyCo, after the company lukas matsson, GoJowill buy the media conglomerate. Matsson left in charge of none other than Tom Wambsgans. This obviously destroyed Kendall Roy, since being in control of his father’s empire had been his life’s purpose.
At the end of the episode we see how this decision affects and leaves Shiv, Roman and Kendall. The latter is in charge of closing the chapter and the series. And how and where do we see it? Virtually alone (despite having collin a few meters away), in Battery Park, staring at the river. But that’s not where Jeremy Strong he was ready to drop his character during filming.
In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, strong revealed that the waterI was calling” and that, after filming the scene, he tried to jump into the river. “listen to the poem john berryman that Jesse (Armstrong) has given names to these endings. the same john berryman died by suicide, jumping into the frozen river. I tried to get into the water after cutting; I got up off that bench and ran as fast as I could over the barrier, and the actor playing collin he ran there. He didn’t know he was going to do that, and he didn’t know it, but he ran over and stopped me. I don’t know if at that moment I felt that Kendall He just wanted to die, I think so, or if he wanted to be saved essentially by a proxy for his father.”
The actor added that, “just as it was written”the series was meant to end with an aerial shot in which we see Kendall walking already collin following him. However, strong asked the creator of the series, Armstrongand to the director Mark Mylod, to approach the water. “We ended up at the bitter end of Battery Park, facing the water. I had never seen waves like this on the East River. He felt biblical. And there was a terrible banging on a nearby scaffolding. We didn’t know what we were looking for, but something profound happened. The water was calling me“, said.
After revealing that he almost jumped into the river, Jeremy Strong assured that, for him, what happens in the vote of the board is “an extinction level event” for Kendall and that there is no going back from that. However, she added that the ending she gave him Armstrong is stronger than seeing Kendall jump into the water “It’s a much stronger ending philosophically, and has more integrity to what is the very bleak overall vision of jesse of humanity, which is that, fundamentally, people don’t really change. There’s some kind of fatal loop we’re all stuck in, and Kendall is caught in this kind of silent scream with collin there as a bodyguard and jailer.”
Despite almost changing such closure of Succession, Strong clarified that he is not sure if Kendall there would be “had the courage” from getting into the water. “My God, that would have been hard to do. But I think even at the cellular level you feel the intention or the yearning to cross that threshold. The way that (Armstrong) leaves us with a kind of ambivalence while staying true to his vision.”
All seasons and episodes of succession are available in HBO Max.