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Jeremy Strong's performance as Kendall Roy in Succession is one for the small-screen history books, with the character joining the antihero hall of fame. However, Kendall's closing scene in the season finale could have gone in a much darker direction if Strong had his way. Warning: there are Succession season 4 finale spoilers ahead!
The character's final scene in the series sees Kendall leave the Waystar RoyCo offices after failing to gain enough board votes to become CEO and wander, in a daze, to New York's Battery Park, trailed by his late father's bodyguard.
He sits down on a bench overlooking the East River, staring out over the water as it sinks in that everything he's worked toward in his life has amounted to nothing. Strong, who has become known for his method acting, had other ideas, though.
"I tried to go into the water after we cut," the actor told Vanity Fair. "I got up from that bench and went as fast as I could over the barrier and onto the pilings, and the actor playing [Logan's former bodyguard] Colin raced over. I didn't know I was gonna do that, and he didn't know, but he raced over and stopped me. I don't know whether in that moment I felt that Kendall just wanted to die – I think he did – or if he wanted to be saved by essentially a proxy of his father."
Strong added: "I also don't know if [Kendall] would've had the courage to actually go in that water, because my God, it would've been hard to do. But I think you even feel on a cellular level the intention or the longing to cross that threshold."
All episodes of Succession are streaming on Max in the US and NOW in the UK – if you still need to catch up, check out our guide to the Succession season 4 episode count. For more viewing inspiration, fill out your watch list with our picks of all the best new TV shows on the way.
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