Succession: Kendall's Emotional Breakdown in Season 1 Fin...

Succession’s Best Kendall Roy Scene Was Improvised By Jeremy Strong

Jeremy Strong as Kendall Roy with headphones and sunglasses on in Succession

By Guy Howie Published 3 minutes ago After joining ScreenRant in January 2025, Guy became a Senior Features Writer in March of the same year, and now specializes in features about classic TV shows. With several years' experience writing for and editing TV, film and music publications, his areas of expertise include a wide range of genres, from comedies, animated series, and crime dramas, to Westerns and political thrillers. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap

HBO’s landmark satirical drama Succession is full of powerful scenes involving Jeremy Strong’s Kendall Roy, but the very best remains a climactic moment in the show’s first season. This scene becomes even more impressive when you realize that Strong improvised his character’s emotional state, which wasn’t written in the script.

The incredible season 1 finale of Succession has just about everything, from a highly eventful wedding, multiple shocking betrayals, a horrifying death scene, and an unexpected final twist involving the drama’s central father and son characters. It’s this twist that involved an extraordinary piece of improvised acting from Jeremy Strong.

While season 1 might not be Succession’s best overall, its final scene is arguably the defining moment of the entire series. It demonstrates definitively that Kendall will never be able to break the hold his father Logan ultimately has over him, while exposing his childlike need for parental affection, one Logan is only too happy to manipulate for his own ends.

Jeremy Strong Improvised Kendall Crying To Logan In Succession’s Season 1 Finale

Jeremy Strong as Kendall Roy Crying in Succession Season 1 Finale

It’s no wonder that Kendall Roy actor Jeremy Strong main reflection on Succession is that working on the show “f**ked [him] up”. His commitment to the role was unparalleled, to the extent that co-star Brian Cox became concerned that Strong’s method of characterization could affect his health (via The Hollywood Reporter).

No scene epitomizes this commitment more than Kendall’s last act in Succession season 1, which was completely improvised by Strong. At the time the season was first released by HBO, Strong detailed his acting process for the scene in an interview with IndieWire:

“That’s one of those scenes when you read the script and you just think, ‘My God, I have no f**king idea how I’m going to do this scene.’ I hope that the thing in me will show up on that day that can serve this scene that I feel like a steward for, but am absolutely not in control of. And so that scene felt like it manifested in a powerful and real way. All the things that I think had been pent up and building up inside this character for the whole season, something about that scene sort of cracked the dam open. Jesse had this pretty ingenious sort of dramaturgical thing, which was, I bring my dad this bear hug letter and then this thing ends with a bear hug. And I thought that that was very powerful, the way it played out.”

“That was a scene that I had asked [director] Mark [Mylod] that we not touch, that we never rehearse it, that we not talk about it. And Brian agreed to do it that way. So whatever happened in that scene was just what happened. I find that a very thrilling and, for me, necessary way of working, where you just discover it on the vine. Without prescribing anything, not knowing the path, but being fully prepared and locked and loaded before you walk in the door and then leave it up to your scene partner and the combustion of that.”

His insistence on going into the scene without rehearsal led the actor to break down in tears spontaneously, before Cox embraced him in his arms. As a result, it became arguably the most powerful scene between Kendall and Logan Roy in the whole of Succession.

Succession’s Script Didn’t Call For Kendall To Cry

Jeremy Strong as Kendall Roy looking upset in Succession

During the final lines of dialogue in this crucial scene, the only scripted stage directions for the two actors involved were “Logan opens his arms”, and “Kendall has an urge to get that embrace that is so rarely offered. He looks around the room. Everything is too vivid.”

No part of Jeremy Strong’s complete emotional breakdown comes from the script. Nor does his decision to tell Cox’s Logan, “I’m sorry.” Yet, these are the elements that elevate the scene to the level of all-time greatness.

From this moment on, Kendall is a tragic figure throughout Succession’s four seasons, a would-be successor to the throne who is continually crushed and humiliated by his father, whenever he attempts to rise to the challenge. The season 1 finale’s ending breaks Kendall, and he never fully recovers from it.

Kendall’s Season 1 Breakdown Is Succession’s Most Moving Father-Son Moment

Logan puts his hands on Kendall's shoulders in Succession

Despite the fact that it centers on an appalling act of blackmail, the final scene of Succession season 1 is the show’s most moving father-son moment. If we didn’t know any better, we’d think that Logan Roy was genuinely being there for his son, giving him the love and support he needed at long last.

Logan’s death in season 4 adds even more emotional weight to this moment, as the only time in the show the two of them are completely emotionally open with each other in any meaningful way. Without it, Kendall would be much harder to empathize with.

Succession is full of brilliant scenes involving Jeremy Strong and Brian Cox in particular, but none of them affects us the way this one does. It’s testament to Strong as an actor that he was able to define such an important moment in the show with a display of emotions that was unrehearsed and totally unscripted.

Sources: The Hollywood Reporter; IndieWire

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