Jessica Chastain Defends ‘Succession’ Star Jeremy Strong From ‘One-Sided’ Profile

Jessica Chastain is coming to the defense of her Zero Dark Thirty co-star Jeremy Strong after a “snarky” new profile was released about the actor which may not have painted him in the best light. Written by Michael Schulman for The New Yorker, the piece in question focused largely on Strong’s dedication to his HBO role and some of his co-stars’ intimate perspectives of him.

One of the quotes gaining much attention from the piece comes from his Succession co-star Kieran Culkin: “After the first season, he said something to me like, ‘I’m worried that people might think that the show is a comedy.’ And I said, ‘I think the show is a comedy.’” Culkin said. “He thought I was kidding.”

Other Succession stars such as Brian Cox went into detail about Strong’s serious nature on the set of the show. “The result that Jeremy gets is always pretty tremendous,” Cox said. “I just worry about what he does to himself. I worry about the crises he puts himself through in order to prepare.” Cox made the comments in reference to an incident in which Strong severely injured himself on set, earning an impacted tibia and fibula in one scene and fracturing his foot on another occasion. 

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Culkin said the severity Strong takes toward his craft “might be something that helps him,” but noted when it comes to their scenes together, “I can tell you that it doesn’t help me.” Strong admitted himself that sometimes he may be “difficult,” but says “sometimes there must even be room for necessary roughness.”

Chastain came to Strong’s defense on social media cautioning her followers not to believe all of the things written about her friend. “Ive known Jeremy Strong for 20yrs & worked with him on 2 films. Hes a lovely person. Very inspiring & passionate about his work. The profile that came out on him was incredibly one sided. Don’t believe everything you read folks,” she wrote, before adding, “Snark sells but maybe its time we move beyond it.”

Variety Editor-at-Large Kate Arthur respectfully disagreed with Chastain’s “snark” characterization. “Wait, what? It was an incredibly nuanced portrait of him. I’m sure you won’t see the responses to your tweet — and I’m jealous that you probably never do! — but calling it ‘snark’ seems like a real misread,” she wrote under the original tweet. 

To which, the actress responded: “Hi Kate, I read them when I can. I have to disagree with the nuanced description. I spend a lot of time with Jeremy and his family. This article in no way represents the man he is. All the quotes chosen felt ‘cherry picked’ to create the image the writer was putting forward,” she said. “Inviting a journalist to spend that much time with you and your children is very rare. It’s a level of trust that I (rightly) do not have when it comes to media. I see what get clicks. It’s usually negative headlines. Wish we could move beyond it as it feels predictable and tired.”