Succession's 'Meal Fit For A King' Was Real, And Jeremy Strong Actually Drank It
This post contains spoilers for the series finale of "Succession."
In news that should surprise exactly no one, it turns out Jeremy Strong really committed to his role as Kendall Roy in the "Succession" series finale. Specifically, the actor revealed on the show's official companion podcast that he actually drank the nasty, noxious-sounding smoothie that Roman (Kieran Culkin) and Shiv (Sarah Snook) dubbed the "Meal Fit For A King."
That's right: the actor known for intensive, character-embodying techniques that often leave him referring to Kendall as himself in interviews made one last Method move during the shoot for the series finale, "With Open Eyes." In a scene in which Roman and Shiv haze Kendall — who they've just dubbed CEO — with a game involving blending up the nastiest stuff they can find in their mom's fridge, Strong said he drank the concoction that included Tabasco sauce, frozen bread "knobbies," a pickled vegetable spread, 0% milk, an egg (with shell!), a cherry, Shiv's spit, and what Mashable clocked as a whole bunch of cocoa powder and sunflower oil.
"It was all those things, oh yeah," Strong shared on the podcast, confirming that every ingredient we saw on screen really went into the drink he sipped on set. Unlike Kendall, though, who takes an impressively hefty swig of the drink before setting it down, Strong apparently had an unpleasant reaction after enduring more than one take with the rancid mix. "We did it only a few times and I went outside and retched and jumped in the ocean and washed it off my hair," he admitted, before confirming, "Yeah, I did drink it."
Jeremy Strong really got into character on Succession
As usual, Jeremy Strong seemed to see every on-set experience through the eyes of his tortured, ambitious character. "I wouldn't know how to not drink it," he replied after host Kara Swisher noted that he "really [is] a Method actor." According to the performer, it all came back to what Kendall wanted most. "He wants it that badly, that he's going to drink whatever that is," he explained. "But it was disgusting." Across the show's four-season run, it's true that Kendall has seemed just as preoccupied with seeming worthy of the crown as with actually getting it. In that sense, of course he'd drink whatever sludge his siblings handed to him if it meant proving himself the rightful successor.
This isn't the only finale moment in which Strong disappeared into his character; he revealed elsewhere in the podcast that he stepped over the railing at one point while filming the final scene, which led Colin actor Scott Nicholson to run over and make sure he didn't jump. The story of "Succession" clearly feels very real for the actor, but luckily, it was filmed out of order. The last scene Strong filmed doesn't seem to be that fateful ending, but a scene from the night of Meal Fit For A King.