*WARNING: Spoilers for below*
Jeremy Strong truly went above and beyond for his role as Kendall Roy – and even drank the disgusting smoothie that his on-screen siblings cooked up for him.
A lot has been said about, and the amount of effort that he gives to a character, but we can’t help applauding his efforts for the rollercoaster season four episode.
In the instalment, the Roy family briefly came together ahead of the final vote over the company, and appeared to be on the same page when it came to their wishes for Waystar Royco’s future (Brian Cox).
After Shiv (Sarah Snook) learned that Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård) had cut her out of his plans going forward, she was seemingly back on board with her brothers’ plan to push the vote in their favor and eventually decided, along with Roman (Kieran Culkin) that Kendall should be CEO.
They celebrated the decision in the most Roy way possible, by opening every cupboard in their mom’s kitchen and throwing everything in sight into a blender, to prepare him a ‘meal fit for a king’.
Sparing no expense, they gleefully poured in milk, Tabasco, bread – aka ‘frozen knobbies’ – a whole egg and shell, cocoa powder, Branston pickle and sunflower oil spread.
There were also some Heinz beans and an array of sauces on the counter, but it’s not quite clear if those managed to make it into the final drink before it was blended into a dark, thick concoction, finished off with a cherry and Shiv’s spit.
Kendall bravely took a gulp, proving how desperate he was for the top spot, before Roman poured the rest over his head.
Unpacking the scene during an appearance on the official Succession podcast, Jeremy admitted that he truly committed to the moment – which included drinking the actual smoothie, eggshells and all.
‘It was all those things,’ he said when asked what it contained. ‘We did it only a few times and I went outside and retched, jumped in the ocean and washed it off my hair. I did drink it.
‘I wouldn’t know how not to drink it. He wants it that badly that he’s going to drink whatever that is. But it was disgusting.
‘It was a wonderful night, and we wrapped the show at the end of that scene. That was the final thing we did.’
Sadly, Kendall’s efforts were for nothing as he ended up being blocked at the final hurdle – after Shiv betrayed him to vote Lukas’ deal through, with her on-off husband, Tom Wambsgans, landing the role of US CEO of the company.
The episode, and series as a whole, ended with the rejected businessman walking along the Hudson River with loyal Colin a few paces behind, coming to terms with having the company in the palm of his hands, before it was taken from him in the blink of an eye.
Succession is available to stream on HBO Max.
