Jeremy Strong 'genuinely suffers' while method acting as Kendall Roy on 'Succession,' Brian Cox says

The highly-anticipated third season of HBO's Emmy-winning drama "Succession" premieres on October 17.

• "Succession" star Brian Cox discussed Jeremy Strong's creative process with The New York Times.
• He said Strong immerses himself in Kendall Roy's headspace ahead of filming.
• The actor "genuinely suffers" as a result, Cox said, because he "really puts himself through it."
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In order to transform into Kendall Roy on "Succession," Jeremy Strong immerses himself in the character's headspace. According to his costar Brian Cox, the process of getting there comes at a price.

During an interview with The New York Times on Wednesday, Cox discussed his costar's creative process, noting that it's very different from his own more text-based approach.

"Jeremy genuinely suffers because he really puts himself through it," the actor, who heads the family as Logan Roy, CEO of media and entertainment conglomerate Waystar Royco, said.

He continued, "I'm older now, and I don't. I don't see the value in it because I also see the fact that we've got to be like trapeze artists. We can't contemplate what we're doing. We have to do it. We have to catch the other person as they're coming through the air."

Feeling a character's baggage and burdens so deeply can be "tiresome beyond belief," Cox told The New York Times, adding that for some actors, it's essential.

"You've got to let it go and say 'This is fine,' as long as what's coming out at the end is justifiable," he said. "That's tough, because sometimes you say [laughs]: 'Jeremy, for [expletive] sake. Stop it now.'"

On Jesse Armstrong's Emmy-winning HBO series, Strong plays the heir determined to dethrone his father and become the next Waystar Royco CEO.

Strong previously told Rolling Stone that he doesn't method act, but instead goes into "airplane mode" to separate his social self from his creative self. While preparing for the role on "Succession," he avidly reads in an attempt to crack into Kendall's psyche. The works on his shelf include Andre Agassi's "Open," Michael Wolff's "The Man Who Owns the News," and F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Crack Up."

Still, Kieran Culkin, who plays younger sibling Roman Roy, noted on "WTF With Marc Maron" that Strong's mood can be entirely dictated by Kendall's mental state in the scene they're shooting.

Season three of "Succession" will become available to stream on HBO on October 17.