'Succession' star Juliana Canfield says her character Jess gets more screen time because of Jeremy Strong's method acting approach

• Jess Jordan was originally a more minor role on "Succession," Juliana Canfield told The Cut.
• Jeremy Strong, who plays Kendall Roy, requested his on-screen assistant appear in more scenes.

Fans of Kendall Roy's assistant Jess Jordan have Jeremy Strong to thank for the character's prominent screen time on "Succession," actress Juliana Canfield said on Monday.

On the first three seasons of Jesse Armstrong's HBO series, the 29-year-old plays Jess, the unwaveringly loyal right hand to Strong's Kendall, the volatile middle son of media titan Logan Roy (Brian Cox). Strong famously gets into character by a process he calls "identity diffusion," which is similar to method acting, or immersing oneself in a character's emotions and reality.

When it came time to tell Kendall's story, Strong realized he needed Jess more than the script initially detailed.

"There were times when Jess wasn't written into a scene and he would be like, 'Where's Jess? I think Jess would be here,'" Canfield told New York Magazine's The Cut.

She added, "That's why I ended up in those scenes and why I kept coming back, because Jeremy is just so committed."

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Strong goes into "airplane mode" when he steps onto set, the actor previously told Rolling Stone. He separates himself from his fellow cast members and, in effect, mirrors Kendall's own isolation from his billionaire family.

Canfield observes the actor in the same way Jess stands by her boss, anticipating his next move or need.

"He might not consciously involve me, but I try to involve myself in a way that's invasive or disruptive," the actress explained to The Cut.

She continued, "She's one step ahead of him, in his needs. So whatever process Jeremy's in, I just try to clock it. When he is going through the Kendall roller coaster, that makes it really exciting for me."

Like many assistants with demanding bosses, Jess fields a wide range of requests on "Succession."

One day she's the conduit between Kendall and his screaming father, who threatens to "grind his fucking bones to make my bread." The next she's an astonished witness to Kendall giving his children's babysitter permission to feed their giant rabbit, Megathump, a piece of bagel. Predictably, Megathump falls ill.

Still, Canfield, who auditioned to play Willa Ferreyra before being cast as Jess, said that her character has a "soft spot" for Kendall. She believes Jess "sees some goodness in him."

Armstrong has yet to confirm how many seasons "Succession" will air, and it's unclear where Kendall (and, in turn, Jess) stands with the Roy family going into the season three finale. Despite the uncertainty, Canfield remains open to exploring more of Jess' story in the future.

"If they want me to speak more, I'll definitely speak more. If they want me to just roll my eyes and mutter under my breath, in the middle distance, I will do so happily," she said, adding, "It's just so much fun."