Jeremy Strong says he owes no apology for the intensity he brings to a set, and he is making that case days before he debuts as Mark Zuckerberg in Aaron Sorkin’s “The Social Reckoning.”
Strong, 47, addressed the criticism on The New Yorker Radio Hour. Host David Remnick asked how his immersion affects the people around him. Strong said he could not speak for them and insisted he never means to interfere with another actor’s work. He cited a simple rule, do no harm, then added a demand to commit fully to the job.
If colleagues feel he takes the process too seriously, or if it unsettles a room, Strong said he does not need to apologize. He argued that his method serves “the material” and that directors he works with share that view. Remnick asked whether he grows frustrated with actors who bring less intensity. Strong said he does not. He also suggested that many reactions to his approach are personal.
The debate gained fresh momentum after Sorkin described the shoot to The New York Times in September. The director said Strong treated co-stars as he imagines Zuckerberg treats the people around him, which meant no chatting at the snack table and no joking between takes. Sorkin added that Strong would probably not speak to colleagues at all. He also said Strong did extensive preparation before arriving and stayed out of his own voice and walk on set.
Peers have pushed back before. Brian Cox, Strong’s former “Succession” co-star, has called the approach bad for an ensemble while still praising his talent. Strong has said he felt hurt by a viral magazine profile that put these tensions in public view. He told The Hollywood Reporter it landed in a less compassionate way than he had hoped.
Sorkin has not framed the process as a problem. He presented it as the cost of a performance he trusts. Strong stars opposite Mikey Madison, Jeremy Allen White, Billy Magnussen and Bill Burr, and the film opens Oct. 9.
The criticism now meets its test in theaters. Audiences will see whether the tension Strong creates on set shows up on screen as the cold, controlling Zuckerberg Sorkin wanted.
