section_path: Reception and artistry
section_name: Reception and artistry
paragraph_text: Reception and artistry
  
  The truth is, is one of my most favorite scene partners I've had in the seven years of working on Succession. While he and I clash on some levels and have not always seen eye to eye, I count him as a brother in arms.
  
  Culkin's approach to acting is based on "bringing life to someone else, but also realizing that person is somewhere inside you." He is known for his "versatile and dynamic" performances, which often blends "impeccable" comedic timing with "surprising" depth and complexity. Alex Moreland of National World believed that Culkin's performance in the penultimate episode of Succession was the crowning moment of his career, "a remarkable achievement for the actor that stands head and shoulders above all the other remarkable achievements he's made so far on the show."
  
  Succession encouraged its actors to improvise, which Culkin disliked at first due to being theatrically trained. He soon developed a free-associative style of acting in which he learned his lines shortly before delivering them, declined to stand on his marker, and frequently experimented with the temperature of his performance. Such techniques have been referred to as a form of improvisation, but he prefers to call it blagging because he believes that improv must have a "certain feel" to it. Culkin's methods contrasted with his co-star Jeremy Strong 's labor-intensive acting style, but Strong's process was not intrusive upon his own. "Some actors—me—need a certain amount of doggedness and labor and hyper-focus to get there," Strong explained to The Times. " just is there. There’s no sweat equity, and he is unburdened by analysis. has an incredibly agile mind, but, what’s more, he is as open and as present an actor as I’ve ever encountered. It makes working with him an experience of touching the third rail, which is what you want."
  
  The truth is, is one of my most favorite scene partners I've had in the seven years of working on Succession. While he and I clash on some levels and have not always seen eye to eye, I count him as a brother in arms.
  
  Culkin's approach to acting is based on "bringing life to someone else, but also realizing that person is somewhere inside you." He is known for his "versatile and dynamic" performances, which often blends "impeccable" comedic timing with "surprising" depth and complexity. Alex Moreland of National World believed that Culkin's performance in the penultimate episode of Succession was the crowning moment of his career, "a remarkable achievement for the actor that stands head and shoulders above all the other remarkable achievements he's made so far on the show."
  
  Succession encouraged its actors to improvise, which Culkin disliked at first due to being theatrically trained. He soon developed a free-associative style of acting in which he learned his lines shortly before delivering them, declined to stand on his marker, and frequently experimented with the temperature of his performance. Such techniques have been referred to as a form of improvisation, but he prefers to call it blagging because he believes that improv must have a "certain feel" to it. Culkin's methods contrasted with his co-star Jeremy Strong 's labor-intensive acting style, but Strong's process was not intrusive upon his own. "Some actors—me—need a certain amount of doggedness and labor and hyper-focus to get there," Strong explained to The Times. " just is there. There’s no sweat equity, and he is unburdened by analysis. has an incredibly agile mind, but, what’s more, he is as open and as present an actor as I’ve ever encountered. It makes working with him an experience of touching the third rail, which is what you want."