Yes, Kendall's Succession Season 4 Wardrobe Was Inspired By Elon Musk
Jeremy Strong's hardcore dedication to his "Succession" character is a well-tread territory, but his commitment to Kendall Roy's threads is often overlooked. The actor actually has quite a large hand in dressing the Murdoch-like media empire's failing-upwards-son. The intentional and occasionally flashy nature of Kendall's outfits is expertly matched to the character's various neuroses. The only person that puts more thought into Kendall's clothes than Kendall himself is the performer that plays him, and it shows — especially in episode 6 of the series' fourth and final season.
"Living+" is a series of nervous breakdowns, but Kendall's might be the biggest of all. With a new product launch happening in Hollywood, he seizes the opportunity to put on a show. Strong has to deliver a major monologue that cycles through a lot of different emotions — confidence, grief, pathetic stuttering — but the first thing that occurred to the actor was what Kendall might wear on such a big day.
"The first thing I did when I read the script was text the costume designer and the director from Norway and say, 'I need a flight suit to wear for the product launch,'" he recalled in an interview with Vulture. Strong wanted to emulate an ambitious and outrageously wealthy tech personality, trying to appear theatrical and down-to-earth all at once: "I started doing some research and there was this costume designer named Jose Fernandez who designed a flight suit for Elon Musk. It was a 'Chief Twit' thing I wanted to embody."
Strong never drops character while shooting, and he uses Kendall's outfit selections as a way to get into the role. "I pick out all the wardrobe for Kendall Roy, my character in 'Succession,' and I live in those clothes when we're shooting the show," he revealed to W Magazine. "The clothes maketh the man, and aesthetics are so personal."
The flight suit is inspired by one that the SpaceX founder wore
Jeremy Strong might be attentive to Kendall's wardrobe, but his character is equally intentional about the way he dresses. Just like Elon Musk in his flight suit, Kendall has a history of using clothes to give himself a very fabricated casual edge, like the sneakers he wears to his business meeting at a young artists' startup in season 1. He also uses his costume to be flashy, like his large chain necklace at his elaborate birthday party in season 3.
"I wanted something for Kendall's birthday in season 3 that felt colossal," Strong explained in a video segment with GQ. "Rashid Johnson is an artist that I've admired and I saw that he had collaborated with [jeweler] Liz Swig based on a series of paintings he made called the 'Anxious Man' paintings. This was like a keystone that made everything come together for me."
Jewelry isn't the only detail of Kendall's wardrobe that the actor has been known to obsess over. "I have been very deliberate about Kendall's sunglasses," he said. Strong even had a discontinued pair made especially for him — "well, for Kendall" — with the character's initials, KLR, engraved into the side.
"I have my pair — which also says KLR — and Kendall's pair," Strong explained. "So I do know where one ends and where the other begins," he added, seemingly trying to convince himself.
The costume was Strong's idea — it usually is
The actor's attention to costuming may seem excessive, but it helps him to access his character's various emotions. Kendall's manic delusion and eerie confidence were easier for Jeremy Strong to tap into in a jacket that felt both authoritarian and familiar — like an absurdly powerful billionaire that calls himself 'Chief Twit,' or a Nazi propaganda film.
"I went off with costume designer Michelle Matland and designed the flight suit and put these patches on it — we wanted to make, like, a Maverick jacket, and that element really unlocked something for me," the actor recounted, per Vulture. "The way Lorene [Scafaria, episode 6 director] was shooting it, the Chief Twit almost felt like a Leni Riefenstahl thing."
The comparison to Nazi propaganda seems apt, given the connection that Kendall's business frenemy — and the most Musk-like member of the "Succession" universe — Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård) draws between Living+ and concentration camps. It might be a little extreme to liken "land cruises" to the Holocaust but, given that Kendall described it as a plan to "warehouse the elderly and keep them drunk on content while we suck them dollar dry," perhaps it makes sense that the episode was shot like a Nazi propaganda film.
"Living+" might be sprinkled with Riefenstahl references, but the greatest influence on Strong's performance — including his jacket — was definitely the newly minted Twitter CEO Elon Musk.
"One of the things I love about this episode is that we see this character plugged into a certain kind of voltage, like an electrical socket, and I always found myself wishing that would be sustainable," Strong said, likening his character's state of mind to something like a Tesla.
Kendall's wardrobe tells a story
Elon Musk certainly isn't the only CEO to make bold choices at a product launch. Jeremy Strong also took inspiration from other big corporate names for his character's flashy statement jacket. "I had read about Shari Redstone doing a Viacom-CBS product launch where she rode in one of the 'Transformers' cars — it was Bumblebee, this yellow car," he recalled, perhaps also comparing the car to the Living+ house that Kendall commands the event crew to construct in a single day's time.
When it comes to his wardrobe selection — and his overall performance — Strong is not afraid to be excessively meticulous. He appreciates close attention to detail, and he doesn't accept anything less from himself, or his character. "I guess precision and soul are things that I look for in acting and everything," he told W Magazine.
Kendall has gone through a significant transformation through the four seasons of "Succession," and the final episodes seem to be bringing his narrative arc full circle — like the opening scene of episode 5 where Kendall listens to a rap song on the way to work, which closely mirrors the very first moments of the series premiere. Kendall's jacket at the product launch is reminiscent of so many poignant fashion choices that he has made in the past, from his down-to-earth sneakers to his Anxious Man necklace.
A big part of Kendall's inner life has always been communicated through his clothing, and Strong has made sure of that. As Kendall starts to transform, watch his wardrobe — it may reveal hidden secrets about the character before he tells you himself.