Jeremy Strong says his father saved his life by jumping in front of a car

Jeremy Strong has revealed that his father saved his life when he was eight-years-old.

The actor, best known for playing Kendall Roy in HBO series Succession, discussed his relationship with his father, David Strong, during an interview with CBS Sunday Morning.

• READ MORE: Succession season four, episode one recap: deals, drama and divorce

Strong explained that his father put his own life at risk when a car drove at him while they both walked to the local Arnold Arboretum park in Boston, Massachusetts.

“There was a car coming like [at] like 40mph that wasn’t slowing down for the traffic light,” Strong said. “So he picked me up and threw me out of the way. He got hit by the car and broke all the bones in both of his legs. [He] saved my life.”

His relationship with his actual father is a stark contrast to the fictional dynamic in Succession, where Logan Roy (Brian Cox) is often emotionally abusive to his children; Kendall (Strong), Shiv (Sarah Snook), Roman (Kieran Culkin) and Connor (Alan Ruck).

Asked about his role in the series, Strong said: “I don’t think I understand how I have access to that relationship. There’s not some hidden trauma in my life or my background.”

Succession is in its fourth and final season. Since the show began in 2018, it’s won 13 Emmys in total, including Outstanding Drama Series in both 2020 and 2022.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Strong compared shooting the final episode to skiing down a double black diamond slope.

“Certainly, there’s an awareness on the periphery that this is it, but in a way there’s no room for that,” Strong said. “You can’t both be saying goodbye to a television show and be doing what you need to do at the same time — or I can’t.

“I will say that the final episode, the culmination of everything, where Adam Starkey Jesse [Armstrong] really brings everything to its crisis, was like a double black diamond to go down. That’s what you want as an actor, and so that was incredibly fulfilling.”

Succession continues Sunday on HBO in the US. All episodes are available to stream in the UK on NOW.