Succession star J. Smith-Cameron underwent emergency appendectomy three weeks before West End play opened: 'I'm still sort of getting my strength back'

J. Smith-Cameron underwent emergency appendectomy surgery three weeks before making her West End debut in Juno and the Paycock, which opened last Saturday and runs through November 23 at the Gielgud Theatre in London.

'I'm still sort of getting my strength back,' the 67-year-old Succession alum admitted to The Guardian's Observer Magazine on Sunday.

'Yes, it was a big thing, and my husband [of 24 years, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Kenneth Lonergan] couldn't come because he's opening a play in New York. But I just feel very lucky...

'Today is only my second full day back. Everyone has been extremely gracious and understanding and I'd been looking forward to all this for weeks. I was so excited, and then all hell broke loose.'

J. (born Jean Isabel Smith) was in the midst of rehearsals with co-star Mark Rylance and director Matthew Warchus when she realized she 'could barely straighten up' due the pain in her abdomen, and she was rushed to St. Mary's Hospital in Paddington.

'They admitted me straight away, and put me on antibiotics. There were more urgent surgeries than mine, so then I had to wait a day. I came out on a Friday evening, and [the company] didn't call me; they let me rest until the following Tuesday, and then I did half-days for a while, which was draining, but also good,' Smith-Cameron recalled.

'I want to do a whole series about St. Mary's. They were wonderful. They were rock stars. I sent over a gift for them today because – oh my God – they were so skillful and hardworking, and their work ethic was so aggressive, you know?'

The two-time Emmy nominee made sure to 'touch wood' for luck ahead of the play opening: 'Everything is fine, apart from me being a little behind.'

And this isn't the first time J. took on the role of Juno Boyle, the long-suffering wife of drunk Captain Jack Boyle (Rylance), as she starred in an off-Broadway production at the Irish Repertory Theatre in Manhattan back in 2013-2014.

'I loved it and I sort of didn't get my fill of it, so when I heard that Matthew was thinking of doing it, I said, "Can I just throw my name in the hat?"' Smith-Cameron recalled.

'The play is 100 years old this year, which is crazy and cool, and without drawing any direct comparisons, I think it addresses some of what's going on in Gaza. On the one hand, this part is [for me] like tea that has been steeping.

'I wasn't too fussed about the script before I got here. I thought, "It's all in there somewhere. It's going to come back to me." But it's also disorientating, sometimes [having done it before], both familiar and yet completely different.'

Last year, the Southern belle concluded her role as Waystar RoyCo general counsel Gerri Kellman in Jesse Armstrong's hit HBO series Succession following four critically-acclaimed seasons.

'I started getting [new scripts with] versions of Gerri, and they felt like weak tea, because there is only one Gerri,' J. said of the role originally written for a man to play.

'And I was an unlikely person to play her in the first place.'

On the personal front, Smith-Cameron and her 61-year-old second husband are proud parents of 22-year-old daughter Nellie Lonergan.