HBO’s Succession follows a media mogul family as they compete to control of their empire. This show’s characters are inspired by actual mogul families like Murdochs.
Showrunner Jesse Armstrong wrote an extensive script about Rupert Murdoch and his family before conceptualizing Succession as a series. However, which family are we really following through this?
Logan Roy (Brian Cox)
Logan, as founder and leader of Waystar RoyCo, is an audacious personality more focused on business than raising his three children – Kendall, Roman and Siobhan – to their fullest potential. Additionally he is manipulative, ruthless and an accomplished political player within the media industry.
Logan suffers a debilitating stroke at a gala event and shocks his family by unexpectedly declaring his intention to continue serving as CEO despite having become incapacitated by giving them documents with Marcia as his replacement as CEO and then acting erratically as they debate how best to manage his company while he’s incapacitated.
Cox was an incomparable Logan Roy in BBC’s Amol Rajan tonight’s edition, but show writers abruptly wrote him out too soon, according to Cox himself. Cox claims he is still reeling from being told Logan’s funeral scenes were to be cut short; Logan was an integral part of every episode in which his character appeared – it will surely be missed! Logan Roy truly was one of our true monsters whom we all mourn.
Kendall Roy (Jeremy Strong)
Strong has played numerous TV characters with distinction, none so well as Kendall Roy on HBO’s Succession. Strong’s portrayal is poignantly realistic as Kendall fights hard against bullies while also jostling for acceptance from his siblings; Strong clearly puts all his heart into playing this character.
Strong was determined to make every take sweaty and breathless for every take during one scene from Season One when Kendall runs to make a board meeting on time, wearing Tom Ford dress shoes. As a result, he broke his foot.
But that hasn’t stopped him from pushing himself as an actor even after winning numerous awards and accolades. Recently he told Newsweek he was initially surprised that Succession would end after its fourth season, yet understood why it was best decision for both himself and the show: “I knew I would enjoy working on this and so it just felt right to do so,” he says.
Roman Roy (Kieran Culkin)
Kieran Culkin plays Roman Roy in HBO’s black dramedy Succession. This role presents him with an opportunity to demonstrate his transition from child star to serious actor with a growing family of his own.
Succession takes aim at the 1 percent, while showing us their flaws just like anyone else’s. Roman, especially, epitomizes this: he’s puckish and offensive while simultaneously striving for relevance within family matters – something which leads him to accidentally send his father an embarrassing pick pic in season 3.
As is true for all the Roys, Roman must navigate complex relationships on this series. He bonds closely with Gerri Kellman (J. Smith-Cameron), an employee at Waystar who shares an uneasy friendship. Roman is also distant with his own siblings; further evidenced by his wife and daughter vanishing mysteriously; this makes him the ideal candidate to lead a telecom empire as CEO.
Shiv Roy (Sarah Snook)
Sarah Snook, who plays Shiv Roy from Succession on TV show Succession, almost declined the role at first due to concerns of sexism in media mogul world and related workplace. That factored heavily in why Sarah first declined.
But Australian actor Australian actor was lucky: producer Jesse Armstrong battled hard to bring Snook on board, and she has since been honored with a Golden Globe, Critics’ Choice Award and Screen Actors Guild Award for her work on the series. Even though Shiv can often be unlikable character on television shows, Snook admits she enjoys portraying this one of a kind character with such charisma and hypocrisy that no one likes her on it!
Shiv (Shivani Snook), from Emmy-winning HBO show Succession, revealed she is pregnant to Tom (Matthew Macfadyen). Snook recently discussed this development on Kara Swisher’s Succession podcast with creator Jesse Armstrong; both had discussed whether or not Shiv would become pregnant – selecting an unconventional moment to deliver this news to Kara Swisher and others in her position.
Connor Roy (Alan Ruck)
After his successful turn as Cameron in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Alan Ruck has since made the transition from character actor to journeyman actor, landing minor parts in movies like Speed and Twister as well as appearing regularly in spin City. Unfortunately though, Ruck hadn’t found his dream role until auditioning for Succession’s Connor Roy (portrayed by Jonathan Deussen). This fictional company produces biodynamic wine while running as an underdog presidential candidate.
Connor Roy stands apart from his younger half-brothers by choosing not to seize control of Waystar RoyCo. Instead, the eldest Roy has focused on building his life in New Mexico with his wife and three children while being somewhat offbeat libertine – unlike his siblings who are engaged in an all-out battle for power.
He may resemble Scandinavian Spotify CEO Daniel Ek and weird blood enthusiast Peter Thiel at times, but that’s okay; beneath his outward bravado and comments about tax policy and biodynamic wines there’s a deeper vulnerability and insecurity which make Connor one of the more likeable characters on the show.