Sarah Snook says she has to "start at the beginning and then go all the way through" when reciting her lines for the one-woman show The Picture of Dorian Gray, which is currently playing on Broadway.

ADVERTISEMENT
The Succession actress, 37, discussed what it was like to portray 26 characters, memorize 60,000 words and spend nearly two hours alone onstage on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert Monday.

"I accidentally did the wrong voice for the wrong character, and I asked the director if he knew, and he said 'No,'" she told Colbert. "I was like, 'I guess I'm not very good after all.'"

Colbert asked Snook how and if she remembers all her lines.

"I've got to start at the beginning and then go all the way through. I really would need to think about it to pick up a thread halfway through," she responded.

Snook, who was honored with an Oliver Award for her performance in London's West End, said that she did forget a line in the beginning.

"In the first preview, in London -- completely dried," noting that she was only seven lines in when she blanked.

The play was adapted from Oscar Wilde's 1890 novel by Kip Williams, who also incorporated video elements into the live performance.