[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers through the series finale of Succession, “With Open Eyes.”]
Jeremy Strong is famously committed to becoming his characters, so we shouldn’t be surprised that he was willing to drink that disgusting smoothie from the Succession finale.
Halfway through “With Open Eyes,” it seems like things may actually go Kendall’s way. He’s convinced Shiv (Sarah Snook) and Roman (Kieran Culkin) to let him take over Waystar, and at their mother’s summer home in Barbados, the siblings share a moment of childlike glee as they hunt for scraps in Caroline’s barren kitchen. Shiv and Roman anoint (or, rather, try to kill) Kendall with “a meal fit for a king,” blending together milk, Tabasco sauce, bread crusts, Branston Pickle, raw eggs, cocoa powder, and, for good measure, Shiv’s spit.
Strong confirmed that he did actually drink the concoction when he appeared on the official Succession podcast. “I wouldn’t know how not to drink it,” he said. “He wants it that badly that he’s gonna drink whatever that is. But it was disgusting.”
“We did it only a few times, and I went outside and retched, and jumped in the ocean and washed it off my hair,” Strong said. Still, the scene — the final thing Strong, Snook, and Culkin shot before wrapping Succession for good — was a rare moment in which our beloved (not) method actor could loosen up with his cast mates.
“It was one of those times where I felt allowed to really just enjoy,” Strong said. “You know, Kieran and Sarah and I have been through so much together. I love them so much, I respect them so much. Their work this season has just blown me away. But often, Kendall is at variance with them, or there is just so much tension and friction, and that’s something that I need to take on board myself.”
Listen to the complete final episode of the Succession podcast below, then revisit our recap of the series finale.