Jeremy Strong is Succession‘s Emmy-winning number one boy. He’s also the number one reason to watch The Trial of the Chicago 7, Aaron Sorkin’s new movie about a group of anti-Vietnam War protesters who are put on trial for allegedly inciting a riot at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. It’s a serious movie, but Strong, who gives a wonderfully blissed out (read: he’s freaking high, man) performance, found a way to keep things light on set. Like Dr. Melfi before him, he brought a fart machine to work.
“We’re in the courtroom for many, many, many months. It was a long trial, and trials are boring, and [the defendants] found ways to amuse themselves. And this, for me, was one of the ways I found to amuse myself — and to also get under the skin of Judge Hoffman, who to [defendants] Jerry and Abbie and Bobby and the rest of the men represented everything that was despicable and odious and bigoted and authoritarian in American government,” he told Vulture. Judge Hoffman is played by Frank Langella — that’s Oscar nominee Frank Langella — so please remember that for the next part:
“So I planted a fart machine in the judge’s dais where he couldn’t find it. I would set it off sometimes before a close-up, and it would really piss him off. His face turned red. Those are the takes we used in the film. It was great — there was real, palpable tension in the room when that happened. I got in trouble sometimes with Aaron and the producers, but I kind of felt like… if I’m Jerry Rubin, and I’m not in contempt of some court, then I’m not doing my job.”
This is only good kind of method acting. I bet that’s his own egg, too.
Jeremy Strong’s joy at catching an egg in THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7, the most wholesome. pic.twitter.com/b5airxbDj5
— NetflixFilm (@NetflixFilm) October 16, 2020
(Via Vulture)