Succession’s Jeremy Strong Wanted To Play Roman Roy
Succession star Jeremy Strong reveals that he initially wanted to play Roman, not Kendall. In its third season, Succession shows that Kendall can’t quite execute his desired goal of removing his father Logan (Brian Cox) from controlling Waystar Royco. Though he does achieve temporary victories, Kendall has spent most of Succession season 3 battling back personal demons and perhaps coming to the realization that his dysfunctional family is far more broken than he might have realized. It has been, overall, a tough collection of episodes for the Roy family member that began the latest installment of the HBO series with the most leverage.
Logan’s youngest son, Roman (Kieran Culkin), has had a comparatively stronger run. Even as he’s alienated his siblings, or perhaps because of that fact, Roman has drawn closer to Logan. And, more than at any previous point of the popular drama, Culkin’s character has occasionally been positioned as an ostensible lead character with reasonably savvy business sense. It’s a shift that marks a change from Succession season 2, which showed a more comedic and chaotic to Roman. In a lengthy new interview, Strong sheds light on the fact that it was Roman that first appealed to him the most.
As part of a feature for The New Yorker, Strong recalled meeting with Adam McKay over lunch to discuss Succession. The two had worked together on The Big Short, which McKay directed, and as an executive producer on the HBO series, McKay asked Strong to name the role he most connected with. The actor picked Roman, though ultimately the part went to Culkin. Jesse Armstrong, the creator of Succession, agreed to let Strong audition for Kendall instead. Strong’s quote, about why Roman appealed to him, is included below.
“I thought, Oh, wow, Roman is such a cool part. He’s, like, this bon-vivant prick. I could do something that I hadn’t done before.”
Strong has, of course, made the role of Kendall his own. Cox, in the same New Yorker feature, talks about feeling worried for his on-screen son because Strong really works to place himself in Kendall’s mindset in an approach that could be described as method acting but is, in any case, isolating. Viewers have seen the results of that on-screen in Succession season 3, as Strong has given a wrenching and an often difficult-to-watch portrayal of a man that looks to be at the end of his rope.
While it would certainly be interesting to see an alternate version of Succession, with Strong as Roman and Culkin as Cousin Greg, it’s hard to deny that the series has been perfectly cast. What makes the Roy family conflict so compelling, and arguably the best drama on television, is partially the interplay and the chemistry that’s built up from an ensemble that is perfectly chosen for their respective roles. Strong and Culkin, each with their own unique strengths, are representative of that quality.
More: Succession Is TV's REAL Game Of Thrones Replacement (But There's A Catch)
Source: The New Yorker