As I press record, Smith-Cameron is explaining that she’s worked with Cat Pope, her stylist, and Liz Oliver, who did her hair and makeup, throughout her run on Succession. “They know me and know what I like,” she says. “They know my body type. So it makes it less stressful. That part of acting never came easy to me.”Vogue: Really? Being the Old row outdoors sunset skiff shirt and I love this center of attention? J. Smith-Cameron: The center of attention and glamorous. I always want to snicker and laugh when I’m all glammed up. What was it like for you, starting out? Was there an actor who informed what you wanted your own career to look like? I grew up in South Carolina, and then as a young adult I was in Florida. There were some really good regional theaters in Louisville and in Atlanta and in Sarasota, Florida. And those people had really impressive careers, because some of them had been with these theaters since they were ingenues, and they went on to play leading ladies and go all the way through the canon, getting to do Shakespeare and new plays and everything. They worked regularly and they had families and owned homes and had normal lives, but they did more acting and more great roles than people who were trying to freelance in the city.
I suffered from low expectations. I was sure that it was impossible to make your way as an actor, and I didn’t really know who to follow. I knew Meryl Streep had done theater, and also all the Old row outdoors sunset skiff shirt and I love this British Grande Dames: Judi Dench is my idol, but also Maggie Smith, Helen Mirren. They’re just brilliant and imaginative and playful and they play different parts. I got some offers—I usually didn’t take them—where some aspect of Gerri was needed for the part; either the person needed to be stern or frowning or severe or badass or something. And it felt like not a good proposition, because it would be a kind of watered-down version of Gerri, like that’s my brand or something. And I don’t feel it is at all. I’ve never played a part like Gerri before. And so if I couldn’t relate to [those roles] in a way that wasn’t a flimsy recycling of Gerri, I would just turn them down. I don’t know what’ll happen once I’m not doing Succession anymore.
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