Sarah Snook, known for her role as Shiv Roy in Succession, has embraced an intense training regimen to prepare for her demanding one-woman performance in The Picture of Dorian Gray on Broadway. Portraying 26 characters over the course of two hours with minimal breaks, Snook adopted a method inspired by Taylor Swift’s preparations for the Eras Tour.
Speaking with The New Yorker, Snook described the production as an “athletic feat,” requiring endurance and precision. To build stamina, she rehearsed her lines at full pace while running on a treadmill. When the interviewer noted the similarity to Swift’s workout routine, Snook confirmed the influence. “I heard that and thought, ‘That’s a genius idea. I’m gonna do that.’”
Swift, ahead of her worldwide tour, explained in a 2023 Time interview that she trained by singing her full three-and-a-half-hour setlist while running on a treadmill. She alternated speeds to match the tempo of each song, ensuring she could deliver high-energy performances without losing breath.
For Snook, physical preparation went beyond treadmill rehearsals. “No alcohol, no caffeine. Sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep,” she said, emphasizing the discipline needed to sustain the role. Given the structure of the production, she has only three moments in the entire performance where she can take a sip of water.
Balancing the demands of the production with new motherhood, Snook credited her six-month-old baby with reinforcing discipline. “It’s valuing sleep, needing to keep nutrition up because she’s taking a lot of it from breastfeeding. Keeping myself healthy for being a new mom also kept myself healthy for doing this marathon.”
Snook previously spoke about how motherhood helped with memorization. After winning the Olivier Award for Best Actress for The Picture of Dorian Gray in London’s West End, she told Harper’s Bazaar that she used nighttime breastfeeding sessions to reinforce her lines. “I find that if you learn your lines at night and then sleep on them, they go in more effectively.”
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The Broadway production of The Picture of Dorian Gray began previews on March 10, with its official opening set for March 27 and a limited run through June 15.
