A year afterSuccessionended, Jeremy Strong has found the perfect follow-upin Ali Abbasi’sThe Apprentice. Strong and Sebastian Stan leadThe Apprenticecastas Roy Cohn and Donald Trump, portraying the well-known real-life figures in the 1970s and ’80s, examining a historically defining mentorship. Cohn, a prosecutor known for flushing out communists in the United States government and having them served with the death penalty, passes on his “winner’s mentality” to a young Donald Trump, teaching him how to be ruthless in the world of business and politics.
The Apprentice Ending Explained
The Apprentice sees Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong playing Donald Trump and Roy Cohn, and the movie offers a ton of material to analyze.
Despite numerous outstanding roles, Jeremy Strong is best known for playing Kendall Roy in four seasons ofSuccession, an HBO series that’s quickly become regarded as one of thebest TV shows of all time. Kendall is the son of news conglomerate CEO Logan Roy, a less-than-stellar father who’s instilled competition, greed, and many other issues into his children, who bite and claw at one another over a chance to lead his company in preparation for his eventual death. While one is historical and the other is based on entirely fictional characters,The ApprenticeandSuccessionhave a lot in common.
Succession’s Jeremy Strong Continues Exploring The American Elite With The Apprentice
The Apprentice Highlights The Cyclical Creation Of The Corrupt
Jeremy Strong has found himself a niche with projects that explore similar ideas.The Apprenticesees Strong as real-life historical figure Roy Cohn, who the actor described onThe Late Show With Stephen Colbertas “one of the worst humans of the 20th century.” By the time events pick up in the film,Cohn has made quite the name for himself, accumulating wealth by being the dirty lawyer to the likes of Joseph R. McCarthy, Tony Salerno, and Rupert Murdoch.
Roy Cohn isn’t a magnate or a politician himself, but he’s the type of figure who’s learned to play ball in the park of the wealthy elite. The movie is about Donald Trump succumbing to the teachings of Roy Cohn in a Faustian-like deal with the devil, where Trump goes from a spoiled young millionaire to essentially a monster with no consideration for humanity. There’s so muchsimilarity in the dynamics explored in the film to those explored by characters like Logan Roy, Jeryd Mencken, and many moreinSuccession.
How The Apprentice & Succession Tackle The Corruption Of The American Elite Similarly
Both Titles Explore The Human Causes Of Corruption
At their core,The ApprenticeandSuccessionare shows rooted in humanity. Both importantly explore aspects of American societal issues, examining politics, capitalism, the news, etc., buttheir core elements are human characters. Among the controversies surroundingThe Apprenticeare accusations that the film “humanizes” the likes of Donald Trump and Roy Cohn. While this can be seen as more threatening inThe Apprenticebecause they are real-life figures, and due to the upcoming election,Successionarguably humanizes similar character archetypes to an even more extreme degree.
The Apprentice’sending is very clear in its depiction of Donald Trump as a man transforming into a monster, whileSuccessionis apparent in examining Kendall Roy as someone willing to rig an election to win power.
Neither project tries to suggest that the corrupt elite depicted in their stories aren’t bad.The Apprentice’sending is very clear in its depiction of Donald Trump as a man transforming into a monster, whileSuccessionis apparent in examining Kendall Roy as someone willing to rig an election to win power. However,the point of both narratives is to investigate how a person like that comes to be and how society and the family life of such a figure would push them down that road, resulting in their ultimate loss of humanity.
Who Is Roy Cohn? Donald Trump’s Lawyer In The Apprentice Explained
Jeremy Strong plays Roy Cohn in The Apprentice, introducing audiences to Donald Trump’s mentor. Here’s everything we know about the real Roy Cohn.
The Apprentice Is Jeremy Strong’s Latest Project To Tackle The Tragedy Of Capitalism
Jeremy Strong Continues A Career Trend In Film, Television, & Theater
In an interview withThe New York Timesto discussThe Apprentice,Jeremy Strong noted an important similarity toSuccession, saying, “I 100 percent see it as a human tragedy, the way that I saw “Succession” as a tragedy of late-stage capitalism.“Throughout his career, Strong has constantly taken on roles that explore similar premises, critiquing corporate America, capitalism, and various pertinent social issues. Before he was Kendall Roy, Jeremy Strong first collaborated with Adam McKay onThe Big Short, a film about the 2008 housing crisis that warns about a repeated crisis due to corporate greed.
In 2020, Strong played a supporting role inThe Trial of the Chicago 7, another period drama about a critical 1969 court trial that followed the 1968 Democratic National Convention protests. In 2024, the actor accepted his first Tony Award for his leading role in the playAn Enemy of the People, where he starred as a doctor who refuses to keep silent when discovering water contamination that threatens his town despite being oppressed by politicians. There’s a consistent thematic throughline in Jeremy Strong’s career that’s led toThe Apprentice, and here’s to hoping he keeps up his meaningful work.
The Apprentice
The Apprentice depicts a young Donald Trump in 1970s New York, highlighting his formative relationship with Roy Cohn, a ruthless attorney. As Trump seeks to establish his own legacy, Cohn identifies him as an ideal protégé, drawn to his ambition and determination to succeed at any cost.
