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It's all about power, sex, greed and... 'Succession!'
LOS ANGELES — What is juicier to watch than a family who is after each other's power, status, money, and more?
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, "Succession" is back and the show is now more intriguing and vicious in Season 3. Audiences are hooked to the critically acclaimed and award-winning TV series that deals with this kind of drama and as Logan Roy would say it, "Man, it is about f****** time!"
We were able to interview some of the cast members of the hit series that follows the Roy family and all their backstabbing siblings, power moves, and other shenanigans.
Below are excerpts of our conversations with Brian Cox, Jeremy Strong, Kieran Culkin, Alan Ruck, and Matthew Macfadyen.
Brian Cox (Logan Roy)
Congratulations, Brian, on your win at the Golden Globes and all of the multiple Emmys that you've won for "Succession." Now the series is kind of massive on a global scale. Looking back on all of this success, how do you feel right now?
Great. I just saw the first episode last night, premiere, and I thought I had a very small part in it, but I discovered I was on much more than I remembered. Because when we shoot, we do a little bit here a little bit there. So, it's very hard to know when you see a full episode, but I think it's very good. And I just think we stepped up, but it's the writing. Really it is the writers. They are fantastic, and they're so rigorous. It's a kind of classical background, really in a way. It's something that the Brits do, because we're taught, especially as an actor, we're taught to respect the writer.
When you've got Shakespeare, what else do you expect? So, the writer is first and foremost. That's not necessarily the case in America, for example, where the writer has never had the same kind of strength. They've gained strength, Shane Blacks, Tony Gilroy, what have you. But it's a different ballgame. That's what's so great about our guys and our gals that have brought the script together in the writer's room. They really are incredible. And then (creator) Jesse (Armstrong), of course, is just a genius. He has this gift, which is uncanny, that he can see something. There's no fat on it. It's all lean meat, and it's all delivered with a tremendous punch. Having watched it last night, the edit, the music, and then Nick Britell's music, in which is a genius idea to have a kind of classical score. So, you can't go wrong really. So, I keep touching myself, to see if it's all okay.
In this season, Logan seems to be stronger. Do you feel that? Because in some episodes, we see that the kids, as we call them, are thinking about what he knows, and he knows everything. And maybe he doesn't. What do you think about him in that sense?
I think he's a very reserved man. I think he's a very private man. I think what you get is a facade. And he has to deal with these quite difficult children, who behave in an extraordinary treacherous manner. And he is no fool. He knows what's going on, but he would have another stroke if he allowed it and it would affect him. But what his stroke has taught him is to not connect. I mean, he'll use his temper and he'll flare up and do all that, but it's a device in a way. It's to wake people up. He does it. That's why he does it in that way. So, he's a much cannier person. And sometimes the audience understands. He's much cannier.
When you think about it, all he's trying to do is find the child to take over the firm. That's all he is trying to do. And for him, it is a generous act, but then everybody says, "Oh, what a monster. He is horrible. Because he says, "fuck off" all the time. And you go, "Well, if you want to think that you want to think that." But not my view at all.
Do you still get surprised by your character, or do you know him kind of perfectly now?
No. I am constantly surprised, like I'm constantly surprised by my own character, because I never know what my character's going to do next either. So, I think that's true if it's a great piece of art, piece of work, great piece of writing that stands, that you don't know. You have no idea where it's going to go next. And you don't want to know where it's going to next. Because from an actor's point of view, from the creative motive as it were, you don't want to know. You want to allow it to happen, allow it to fall out and shape. And of course, that's the joy of it is you're going, "Oh, I see. We're going to go here. Oh, wow. It's going here. Oh, that's great." So, there's that part of you, which is the outside eye, looking at the actor. But then there's the actor inside, going. "Yeah. Okay. Well, wow. Wow. That's good." So, it's great. It's really good. Not knowing is what's important rather than knowing.
How do you think Logan is going to end up? I mean, is he always going to live forever, or will he regret his wrong deeds?
Well, I don't think he'll ever regret his wrong deeds, because I don't think he thinks he's had wrong deeds. It's other people who think he has wrong deeds. It's not Logan. So, he's not going to say, "Oh, I should have done this. Why didn't I do that?" That's not him. That's not who he is. I mean, of course, as far as I know, I don't think anybody's lived forever. I may be wrong. Maybe there's somebody out there who's been living for a very long time, but they're looking good if they are.
Logan knows that he's not going to live forever. And he also knows there's very and precise statute of limitations on his life. So, in a way, which motivates him more, in order to get it tidied up, to make it sort of some kind of sense. And also, the thing that people forget about Logan is that he is very loyal. I mean, he fires people and rehires them, but he's been doing that to this same people for 30 years, Gerri and Karl and Frank. And they say about him, but ultimately, he always comes back to his group. He comes back, because in a way, he does give trust. And so, these things that I love, the audience doesn't always get, but I'm going, "Oh, they missed that. No, they missed that. Oh, they don't miss that." They're just seeing the bombast. They're not looking beyond it. And I just think when you look beyond... the great strength of the script is there's so many layers to it. It goes on, and that's the genius of the writing. And that's why from an actor's point of view, it's such a wonderful gift.
What do you think separates "Succession" from all the other shows about rich, powerful people?
Well, I think it's in the Jonathan Swift tradition, it's the satirist's eye. Jesse's much more... he's much cleverer than just say he's a satirist, because there's so much else is going on. Because he uses satire, he uses drama, he uses comedy, he uses allegory. He uses all kinds of means to tell the story. And I think that's what's important really.
There's a point of view in the show, whereas a lot of shows are representative. It's got a very keen eye. And that's what makes it very different. That's why it's as successful as it is, because the audiences go, "Oh yes," because they feel that they're let in on a lot more. Whereas when it's a straight drama, it's being presented to you. So, you're sitting there going, "Oh, I see. It's all coming this way." Whereas in "Succession" you're going, "Oh, oh, I... " It makes you do that. And I think that's the genius again of the script. Also, I think we have a pretty bloody good cast as well.
Do you think there is a worthy successor to Logan? And if so, who is that? And is that answer different in season three than it was in season one?
I think it's getting more and more difficult to know who the successor should be, because he does try with his children. He gave the job to Shiv, and then she could not. But she couldn't shut her f****** mouth when it came to the Pierce. She just blew it. He went, "Wait a minute. And so, her avarice comes forward, and her own avarice kind of defeats her. She's probably ostensibly his favorite child, but she let him down rather badly. So, in a sense, she's not to be... He realized there's something very untrustworthy about her, but he doesn't say it. You see? He will never declare it, because he'll just go, "No, it's not him. It's her." He does that thing with Roman, where he says in the first episode. Where he says, "Roman's out," because he realizes that Roman isn't ready for it yet. I mean, Roman's got, probably in the end of the day, he's got the most potential, but he just is such a kind of adolescent to this rather vulgar behavior.
Television has an innate need to find equilibrium when stories like this end. And I guess by that, we mean the sort of classic happy ending or sort of satisfactory resolution. Do you think "Succession" is a story that can ever end well? Or do you think it will end like most Shakespearean sagas, in blood?
Well, I think neither. I mean, it could be a blood bath. I don't know. It could be with a bang, or it could be with a whimper, as a poet says, and I think that there is an element that is somewhere in between. It deals with conventional issues, but it's not all conventional in its presentation.
It will come to an end, and I know there's an endgame in sight. I don't know what it is, because we are the last to know, which is what I love. I like that. I'm quite happy with that. You look at these guys like Murdoch and a lot of these guys, and they're living well into their 90s. They're functioning in a way that is quite sort of astonishing. Now, I mean, my problem is I may not live that long myself, so that would be difficult for Logan, because no more Logan. But at the same time, I kind of understand that in a way, it's just a winding down that would happen. You just see Logan winding down.
That's what I think, but then I'm not the writer, is that you just see Logan just saying, "Oh, f*** it. I'm going to go in that direction," because he'll just probably get tired. But then again, he may not. And he may be carried out of the building in handcuffs. You just never know. You never know. And I think that's the beauty of the show. And you can speculate as much as you like, but it will always be a guessing game.
Having played true psychopaths, do you think that Logan has a psychopathic trait in him?
Well, I think we all have to a lesser or greater degree. I think there's an element of that, and it could be that big. So yeah, there is, but it's also having to do with nature and nurture. I think so much of what we saw, I think it was in episode four, when he went for a swim, these kind of cuts on his back, that he had clearly been beaten. They don't pursue that, rightly, because that was sort of, "Oh, well he was an abused child."
I think we've got a very good example. There is an abused child, which is probably what Donald Trump was. He's probably definitely an abused child. And you can feel that, because he still behaves like an abused child. You know? So, there is that element. It's very hard to know where his root is, where he comes from in that way. It's a guessing game really. And it's also something that one is discovering as one goes through the show. As an actor, I'm discovering, I'm getting more and more revelations about who he is, but it's still not a whole picture.
One of the most relevant aspects of the show is the media landscape, owning a TV channel that is more like a political arm for a very certain political party. We know this from America. I wonder what you think about the media's contribution to polarization that we see in the world as a whole today?
I think I was shocked, because I come from the UK. I was shocked how much both either to the left or to the right, the bias of American media is. And there's something in a way when you see it, because I'm quite left-wing leaning. But when you see something which is so constant and you go, "You're telling the same story again and again in different voices, but it's always the same script." It's a variation on the same script. So, there's no debate.
I do think from Britain, with the BBC, there's always an element of debate that goes on. Whereas when you get CNN, a channel, which I watch regularly, and I admire all of the journalists on that, but there's a sort of metronome that's going on throughout the whole thing, of who they are and what they're calling. And in a way that's what Logan will monopolize, because he sees money in that. Because you do get people who go, "I'm watching Fox, because that's where my truth of reality comes." He says, "Well, everybody's going that way. So we'll go that way." And I think Rupert Murdoch did the same. And I think that's what people always misunderstand, that they always see Murdoch as this sort of very right-wing figure. Which yeah, he probably is in many ways. But also, he's an opportunist. And he always was an opportunist and has taken the opportunity and riding with it.
That's what I think is what Logan does. He doesn't say, "It's this party or that party." He sees them all as clowns. And that's his great thing. He's always said right from the word go, "It's a game." And his children don't understand it's a game. It's a serious game, like all games, but it's a game. And life is a game. It really is a game. And try as you might to give it form or shape, you're still playing a game. And I think that's what Logan, that's where he really tunes in. And he understands the opportunism that goes with a CNN or a Fox, that he can say, "Oh, yes, I can make that. I can package that in that way, and it'll work wonderfully well."
Kieran Culkin (Roman Roy)
All the kids yearn for their father's approval. But Roman is almost like a kid, especially when his father passes on. Is he ever going to unshackle, find his bearings and shake it off?
Will he ever become his own man and not just his father's son? Geez. It's tough. Because I feel like it's funny because it's hard to put words to it, but when I'm in the room and Logan's there, I think Roman does just become a kid. The moment Logan's gone, I think he feels pretty comfortable in his skin, and does actually seems like an actual full person. So yeah, I don't know that he can ever be anything but Logan's child when Logan's in the room. I think he struggles with that. So, I guess maybe one day, if Logan's not in the room, maybe he can be that guy. He can reach that potential.
Do you think these characters live on a traditional axis of good and evil? Or do you think that they simply function in the only way that's true for them, which, I guess, is into the animal kingdom? Which is that in the end, each of them is clutching to kill their father to clutch and carve the piece of power that they want to take for themselves?
Yeah, the latter. But I feel like it is that. But for me, what makes it more interesting is also the other. There is that sense of family. I think, for Roman in particular, there is still, in his mind, we're still a group. We're still a family that loves each other. So that's why there's the freedom to play and back stab, or really go after each other because, "See you at Thanksgiving," it's still going to be us. And I think that's where the fun is.
I think the goal is to crush the siblings, really want to eviscerate them, to get ahead. So, you want to crush them, but you don't really want to see them get crushed because that is your brother. It is your sister. I think when Kendall is asked to fall on the sword at the end of the last season, and Roman gets promoted. He's the COO. That should be a great moment for him, but he can't enjoy it because it's awful. "Oh, I guess I won? And my dreams come true. My brother's out of the picture. He's going to prison. Yay." It's not nice. It's not a nice feeling. So, I think it's the fun in being able to go for each other as long as it's fun.
Why do you think the show is a global phenomenon?
I guess I just haven't been paying attention to what the response has been. I'm not present on the internet. I know that people on the street recognize me more, and I see posters for the show, and I go, "F***. Maybe people are watching it." Why might it resonate? I don't know. I have no idea. I don't know why I like the show, and I like the show a lot. I like it as a fan, and I really can't wait when I get the script in. I really want to see what's going to happen, and I haven't figured out why. I don't know why I want to see what happens to these characters. I don't necessarily want to see how horrible they are or watch them fail or anything like that. I can't figure out what that fascination is. I know it has very little, to me, to do with their wealth or their power and influence and stuff. So, it really isn't that. I feel like that's just a backdrop or, I don't know, a detail into what I find fascinating, which is just these dynamics and the nuances within these characters. I feel like if I could put my finger on it, it would make me like it less.
Do you think your character is a worthy successor to Logan? He seems like he's the dark horse, really, in that race. What do you think?
Yeah, it's funny that people could see him as the dark horse. I think at one point, I can't remember which season it was, Roman says, "No one sees me coming, but I'm right there." And I think that's true. And I think Roman actually, I don't see him as the dark horse. I think he actually has the tools and knows how to use them, especially if Logan really seems to want to pass it down to one of his kids. So maybe his kids are not exactly the best candidates to take the job, but if it is one of his kids, I think certainly it's Roman. And my reasoning for that is I think he's the one child of Logan's that wouldn't try to completely change the business. I think Kendall wants to make it his own. They want to be self-made like dad. They want to turn it on its head and make it something else. And I think Roman would think that it works fine. It's functioning. Let's just do what dad does. And I think he has the same sensibilities that Logan has, and I think he would be able run the business-like Logan has.
You were talking about how your character behaves, or every character behaves, with Logan. And I was curious if you think that the decisions at the beginning of the third season, he's offered a choice, let's say, and he sticks with the father. Is that out of self-preservation or fear, you think?
To stay on Logan's side, you mean. Yeah, I think he has moments of trying to be as objective as possible and make the right decision. That just the one that feels best because that's all he's ever known in his life, is Logan wins. He is the guy. And the only way that we'll get there is by following him, and him handing it to us. So, it just seems like the logical choice, but I think Roman tries to see the alternative. It's really what suits him best. It's not like, "Yeah, Kendall. Let's crush him, and you become the boss." That doesn't serve his interest. So, I think that that helps. It just seems like the right. My gut tells me, even as I'm reading it, going like, "Well, yeah, side with Logan. He'll figure it out. He always does."
Is it cathartic for you to play this character who has completely no filter?
Yes. So good. Oui, oui. It is so cathartic. It's amazing to just be able to say and do. They write this wonderful stuff for me to say, and then, within that, to keep the cameras rolling. And I can be as awful as I want. And that's just the character. There is something really freeing about that, being able to go up to one of the background actors and be like, "Hey, f*** face, shave that beard." Something that just really poke fun of people's looks, or something you wouldn't do as a person. Because I like to consider myself a nice person. I wouldn't mess with people. Roman doesn't really have that thing. It really is nice to be horrible to people, have the freedom to be horrible to people because it's my job. Feels nice. It's good. It's like therapy. You should try it without getting in trouble.
Jeremy Strong (Kendall Roy)
You mentioned in one interview something about not knowing if in this season, Ken is more really like a genius who sees the future and the revolution as he calls it, or if he's totally deranged. So, have you come to a conclusion about that?
Well, no. No. And, but I guess I don't feel like my job is to answer that question, but rather to live through that question. My experience of it was that I felt an almost preternatural clarity and certainty. And I felt like when my father referred to what happened in England and used the expression "no real person involved," I felt like I saw into the heart of darkness. And after that, there was a moment that sort of, the pendulum swung all the way. And I sat under the Bodhi tree and had a moment of enlightenment and lucidity. And decide, or it's the decision feels like it's almost providential that I'm going to be a savior of this company.
But there is a messianic strain to it. And as we all know, people who are visionaries or who believe that they can know the way... you know that's Trump tower behind me. One might see lots of things in their conviction and sort of positive positivity. So, I, on a character level, which was a very rich thing to work with. There were times where I felt airborne and like I had been completely emancipated from all of the things that had held me down and weighed on me and oppressed me for my whole life. And that feeling of sort of heir Kendall was a wonderful and new feeling. But at the same time, it exists in a kind of fugue state and, and there's a manic quality to it, isn't there? And so yeah, I was in French Polynesia before we started filming this season and I was on one of these things. I don't know if you are familiar with them, it's called a flight board. And a flight board is this sort of motorized surfboard thing that if you achieve sort of equilibrium, it starts to rise out of the water.
What do you think "Succession" says about our society and the time we are living in?
I see Jesse (Armstrong) in my mind sort of wagging his finger at me saying, "don't name that thing." Because in a way what's so brilliant about what he does is the show is sort of permeated by all kinds of, sort of in a sense, commentary on crumbling, empire, and decadence, and like I said a minute ago, on late, late-stage capitalism sort of being in its death throes. We found ourselves in Italy at the end of the season. And I was looking at... Dante and I was reading, trying to read, through stuff. And because in a way this character has been in the ninth rung of hell and the Inferno. And now in a way it's sort of finding its way to Paradisio.
But I was so struck by, and I tried to put it into this episode at some point, and it didn't fit, but there's this phrase in Italian "ché la via diritta era smarrita," that the right way was lost. And I guess I feel like that's what this show is about on some deep tectonic level. It is what the character, it's what my journey has been about, that somehow, I find myself in the middle of my middle of my life in a dark wood, the right way lost. And I think in a way he's pointing at the way in which we have lost our way and the way at which capitalism has contributed to us losing our way. And greed and the quest for power has contributed to us all losing our way. And I don't know if he offers an antidote to it.
I think Jesse is a humanist at heart. And so, I still find something redemptive in these people. They're wounded people and they have experienced monstrous things. I think that my father is a monstrous person. And yet at the same time, you can trace the why. You can see why they are the way they are. And so, yeah, but I guess to that's what this show is about, that we find ourselves in, in 2021 in the middle of a dark wood, the right way lost.
Matthew Macfadyen (Tom Wambsgans)
Journalists know shows like, "what does the world come to?" People seem to bind together in this show, the idea that wealth is integrally connected to the misery of these characters. Do you think they would be any happier if they were poor?
I think it's a good question. I don't know. I think often I think is it, it's the corrosive thing, the money and all that stuff? Or is the power and all that stuff? Or is it just the father, it's the absence of love and affection from the father that makes them all dysfunctional, and unhappy? And they're all lacking in confidence because they don't have that because sort of don't know they're loved. So, I don't know is the answer, but we know that money doesn't make you happy.
So, the Roy's are basically a bunch of sociopaths, but most of them aren't capable of love. At least that's how it seems. But he loves Shiv. That's how I feel, which makes him incredibly sad. The thing that he's willing to suffer just to stay with her or stay in the circle. Do you feel the same about the character? Is he sad?
There's something sad about him. Yeah. I mean, there's something sad about, I don't think any of them are incapable of love. I think he does love her, but it's interesting, it's complicated. I think she loves him in her way. She just doesn't have the ability and because of the way she's been brought up, doesn't have the ability to trust. And maybe she's been let down in previous relationships. But yeah, there is something quite sad about it.
I'd like to tap into your relationship with Greg actually. What is it that you guys have? I mean, is that like a mentorship or is it like a bromance? What is the essence of that relationship?
I think they really like each other. I mean, I think Tom really likes Greg and I think he does see himself maybe as a father figure/mentor. And then he also can't help but sort of brutalize him as well and bully him, probably because he's kicking the cat because he takes such a lot of s*** from everybody else. It's a great, fun relationship. It's complicated. I don't think Tom knows what it is.
This season Tom's kind of increasingly wild fears is of imprisonment are incredibly funny. They're a really great circuit breaker, I think to the tension.
And obviously, this show is described as a comedy drama, but I think we seem to preoccupy ourselves a lot with the drama. Do you think it's true to say that if we look at the characters as a group, some of them live more in the drama and some of them live more in the comedy? And do you see, Tom as a character who lives more in the comedy of "Succession?"
I think if you're looking at it objectively that he probably is in the comedy side of it. But I don't really distinguish because the only way to play any part is to play it deathly seriously. And part of the actor's technique is to know when something's funny, and you're hitting the beats and you're aware of the comic rhythms of the scene. But in anything, you're playing it straight down the line.
Nick and I have to be careful because the scenes are so funny, we find them so funny that we have to be careful not to enjoy ourselves too much, because it's there for us. It's already there. So, in a funny way, you play against it and it's even better. I hope.
Alan Ruck (Connor Roy)
Connor is the son who ultimately won't win the race, but in terms of self-awareness, how much of a contender do you think Connor sees himself as? You think he sees a destiny where he does take his father's place, particularly in the context that everybody else is kind of destroying each other around?
No, I don't think that Connor has a prayer, and I'm not convinced that the other kids do, either. And he's always throwing things out there. I'm not saying I would make a better CEO, I'm not saying that, I mean, he's up in this stuff all the time. I just think he's found to keep himself current, sort of in the family dynamic. The truth is he has no aptitude for business. He doesn't. He can't keep two thoughts in his brain for very long. He's not stupid, he's damaged, and he's delusional. But I think he knows that which is interesting because he thinks, he absolutely thinks he could be president, but I don't think he actually wants to run Waystar.
Can you talk about the relationship of Connor to Logan, and the arc of that relationship in this new season?
I think Connor's getting his nerve up and he's starting to pressure his dad. We'll see Connor get his nerve up and play his hand a little bit more strongly, with his dad and with the kids, with his siblings, just in terms of things he might remember that they don't want anybody to remember. And maybe seeing that if he can use some of his life experience with his family as leverage. I guess that's what we might see this season, but it's everything that all kids do to win their father's approval, ultimately. It's all about looking for daddy’s love, you know. They're a little pathetic.
Even with all the horrible things these people inflict on each other, are you ever a little bit jealous of them?
No. I prefer not to live in hell, thank you. I lead a very comfortable life and I don't know that having unlimited funds would do me any good. I'd probably get in trouble. So, I actually don't envy them because they have everything you could want materially, and they're still all just miserable. They're just miserable. So no, I don't envy them one bit.
Connor is like the outsider when you compare him to the other three. Why is he like the black sheep of this family?
Because when Logan divorced Connor's mother, I think he was just onto his new life. And in a way, sort of wanted to forget about Connor because he wanted to forget about Connor's mother. Right? And so, what he did do was he threw a lot of money at Connor and set up a big trust fund for him. And I would occasionally see Logan and Caroline and my step siblings every now and then, but ever since that breakup of my father and my mother, Connor has been on the outside desperately wanting to be included in the family dynamic. But part of it was Logan's doing. And then when Connor realized, as a young man, that he didn't like the business world and actually had no talent whatsoever for it, he removed himself from the family business. He still happily takes the money, but he doesn't want any responsibility. So, part of it is a self-imposed exile, I would say.
He's such a unique character. You don't know what is going to come out of his mouth, which makes it so compelling as a character, and interesting. How do you approach playing such a character?
I don't know. I seem to be cast as damaged people for the last 10 years. So, I'm just thinking it's something I might bring to the table that people are aware of that I actually didn't know. But so much of it is in the writing. Jesse (Armstrong) and the team of writers give us such wonderful things to do, and they constantly surprise us. So, I've said before that you pretty much just have to approach this and play it completely straight, no matter what insane things that you have coming out of your mouth, you show up and you just play it straight. And it kind of plays itself.
I was wondering if you have any thoughts, what do you think the show, "Succession," says about the world we are living now as a society and our time?
I think there's a huge divide between the haves and the have nots, and the haves don't seem too concerned about anything but themselves. I don't think this is anything new. In the old days it was kings and queens and emperors and princes, and now it's just captains of industry, but it's remarkable what sociopaths they are. And I think they firmly believe that the world belongs to them and that people who are not of their class are just another natural resource to be used or managed, but certainly to be managed. They say things like, "These people are, they're asking for so much. 'These people,'" when they talk about regular folks. So, I just think it illuminates something that we all know to be true, and that we see every day, and it's not really getting any better.
Connor is a person with eccentric ideas. So, I'm just wondering, where do they originate from, and also would he be an anti-vaccine person if this drama had been in COVID-19 time?
I take the second part first. I think that publicly, politically, he might be an anti-vaxxer, but I think that he would immediately get the vaccination. So, I think a little hypocrisy there, but I would think he would definitely take care of his own health. And then, if he thought it was politically expedient to say, "Oh, this is a terrible idea", then he'd go there.
Where does he get his eccentric ideas from?
I think he does read a lot. He doesn't read anything current. If he reads novels, they're a hundred years old, but I mean, I don't think he wants to read anything new that he might actually have to offer up an opinion about. He wants something that's been tried and true, in terms of reading, but I think he does read quite a bit. In terms of his platform as a politician, it doesn't really exist. It's whatever is running through his mind that day. I do think Jesse (Armstrong) typified him as a libertarian, which can mean a lot of different things, but I think he's basically, "I've got my money and please don't tax me."
But I do think that since he owns this ranch in New Mexico, I think he actually is concerned about the environment, because his groundwater might be tainted. So, I mean, especially, if anything affects him, then it's a serious problem and we're going to have to look into this. So, that's pretty much it.
So, this season also reveals the Roys' influence in politics, and especially one episode that I think there'll be a lot of longform articles about where they choose the next president. How do you think people will react? Do you think they'll be surprised that a family like the Roy's, and then assuming their real-world counterpart, can hold this power?
I think that, unfortunately, a lot of Americans are still naive about how these things are achieved. So, I think there are some people. But they might not be the folks that are watching our show, but I think there are some people that might not believe it. But I think for most of us, we know that this is how these things are done and there's an awful lot of money involved in placing somebody in one of these positions or even getting them up to the point where they might have a chance. I mean, it's ridiculous how much money it takes. So, some people, unfortunately, some naive people, might be surprised or not believe it, but I think we all know it's true.
The premise of the show seems very tightly bound up to the idea that wealth is the element of this world that kind of creates all the misery and sort of poisons the lives of these people. As a kind of step into the idea that, how much of this is nature or nurture, do you think that the Roy's would be any happier if they were poor?
Maybe. I mean, define poor. If it's living in a cardboard box on the street corner? No. But I mean, there's an awful lot of talent there, there's an awful lot of ability. And Logan, as we might remember from the first season, there were scars on his back that spoke of a miserable boyhood where he was abused. So, in a way, Logan is remarkable, and you think that in any situation he might have risen up. But maybe he would have been miserable no matter where he was. Maybe if he was born into the working class, he would have become a labor leader, because it's just the dynamic personality that he has. We have everything but love. The Roy's have everything, but love. There's no time for that. There's too much money to be made. So, we have everything you could dream of, materially, but no real support group.
You mentioned about the writing, the script, it's one of the reasons why "Succession" is very successful. It has an amazing script. Have you ever made suggestions to the writers, or did you ever improvise as well?
We do, quite a lot. We all bounce ideas off Jesse (Armstrong) and the writers. The scene is scripted and then they always come up with pages of alternate lines. "Do you want to try any of these? Do you want to try it?". And you'd want to do all of them because they're brilliant, but you pick a few, and then almost always with every scene, Mark Mylod, who's our producing director, or whoever else is directing, will say, "Okay, a free one. Freebie". And then whatever happens, happens. Sometimes it's junk. Or you're just paraphrasing what's already been written, but every now and then somebody will just do something crazy. And if you just hang on, you just go with wherever they go. Sometimes you come up with little bits, that sometimes make it into the show, but it's just a really fun way to work. It just keeps it alive.
Matthew Macfadyen has told us that you have a wealth advisor on set. Have you spoken to these people and what have you picked up from them?
No, I've not met them. I know they've been around, but I've not spoken to them. You hear little funny things, like stuff that... they say, "Well, these people don't wear overcoats because they just... They move from a limousine right into the helicopter. And so, they're not outside long enough to make sense to put on any outer garments when the weather is a little harsh." I mean, things like that, that you wouldn't even think of, you're like, "Oh, of course they would have some beautiful Likhunya jacket or something." No, they don't. But I haven't actually spoken to them about much of anything.
Do you read up on famous people who started political careers to feed your character?
I just kind of lived in the world we all lived in for the past four years, and I let that sort of inform me as to what might be possible. I think maybe Connor would do better if he had at some point been a game show host. I think he'd have a better crack at high office. We seem to be devolving in this country, and so it's just like a popularity contest. And maybe it's always been that I don't know. But it's discouraging. Everything that was happening in the news for the past four years, which was crazier than anything we've done on this show truly. So, I was just watching things unfold and letting that be my guide.
—MGP, GMA News
