Jeremy Strong recently revealed how he deviated from the script for an unused version of Succession’s series finale. Speaking to Variety, creator Jesse Armstrong revealed he was actually afraid when it happened.
What did the Succession creator think of Jeremy Strong’s alternate scene?
In the finale of Succession, following the official acquisition of Waystar Roco by GoJo, Kendall Roy leaves the company’s building in a state of disbelief. After walking through a park for a moment, Kendall sits down at a bench overlooking the East River, and the series ends.
However, Strong said they filmed a scene where he spontaneously stood up and attempted to climb over the railing, but was stopped by actor Scott Nicholson, who plays Colin, a former bodyguard to Logan Roy.
According to series creator Jesse Armstrong, no one knew that was going to happen, and the move left Armstrong “terrified” for a moment that Strong might actually fall into the river and be hurt.
“I was terrified. I was terrified that he might fall in and be injured,” Armstrong said. “He didn’t look like he was going to jump in. But once he climbed over that barrier, when you film, there are generally a lot of health and safety assessments made, and that was not our plan that day.”
Armstrong went on to note that had they planned for something like that, there would have been a ton of different safety precautions made, so seeing Strong just go for it was something that left him worried about the actor.
“If we’d even been thinking of that happening, we would have had boats and frogmen and all kinds of safety measures, which we didn’t have,” said Armstrong. “So my first thought was for his physical safety as a human being, not anything about the character. That’s what I felt on the day. Good Lord, above.”
The unscripted jump ultimately did not make the final cut. However, Strong agreed with Armstrong’s “much stronger ending,” believing it supported one of the show’s themes that “people don’t really change.”
Succession’s run is complete after four seasons and 39 episodes. The HBO drama has been met with universal acclaim, winning two Emmy wins for Outstanding Drama Series in 2020 and 2022. Strong won the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 2020.
