‘Succession’ cast answers burning questions on new season

By Chloe Melas, CNN

The final season of “Succession” kicks off on Sunday.

The series, which centers around the Roy family and the complicated family dynamics over wealth and power, will reach a fever pitch based on the explosive trailer for the HBO show. (HBO, like CNN, is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.)

It stars Brian Cox as Logan Roy, the patriarch of the multi-billion-dollar Roy family, who owns a media conglomerate Waystar Royco. His children (played by Jeremy Strong, Sarah Snook, Kieran Culkin, and Alan Ruck) are vying not only for control of the company but, perhaps, his love and admiration too.

CNN caught up with the stars at the premiere earlier this week in New York City, where they answered our burning questions about the new season — sort of.

Are Tom and Shiv over for good?

Matthew Macfadyen, who plays Tom Wambsgans, discussed his character’s decision to tip off Logan about his children’s revolt.

“I sort of didn’t really defect,” Macfadyen defended. “I just sort of made a calculating decision to side with my father-in-law, the scariest of the lot, I suppose. I’ve taken a lot of, you know, round from everybody, so it was sort of betrayal by a thousand times.”

He played coy about Tom and Shiv’s future, saying the couple is “in a bit of a dark (place)…it’s sad.”

What will Greg do?

Nicholas Braun, who plays Greg Hirsch, the outsider on the inside in the series, ended last season finally learning the rules of the Roy family game. But what does that mean for his future?

“You’re gonna upset some people.,” Braun teased. “Greg would like to upset no one ever, but he plays the wrong side sometimes and hello? I think at the end of season three, I think he’s gonna land on the right side of things. I already know the answer, but I’m not saying it to you.”

Braun added that “the dynamics have shifted” and he believes Greg is “in a good position” at the beginning of the season, as is his ally Tom.

“You know, things have changed with (Tom) and Shiv, and he’s kind of free. He’s bringing me along; we’re on like this great side now that feels like, ‘Oh, we can never lose,'” he said. “And to be aligned with Logan is a winning game, you know? I think we’re all feeling pretty good and, of course, that’ll go to sh*t.”

A reconciliation for Logan Roy and his kids?

The man at the center of the drama on screen, Cox, said that although it appears Logan has total disdain for his children, that’s not the case.

“He won’t drive them into the ground. You know, he’s beyond that,” he said. “There was a point where he might have done that. I think he’s very sad because he’s lost them in a way and they’re his kids and he’s always loved them. That’s the point.”

Cox said early on in the show’s run, he asked creator Jesse Armstrong if he thought Logan loved his children.

“He said, ‘Oh, yes, he does. He really loves his children.’ So that’s always been the great thing for me,” he said. “But it’s also the Achilles heel of Logan. The fact that his children love him in a way that he can’t get out … Love is complicated.”

The future of Lukas Matsson and Waystar Royco?

Alexander Skarsgård, the controversial tech CEO, is back for more. The end of Season 3 left a merger on the table between his company, GoJo, and Waystar Royco, but then Matsson offered to buy the company.

“I’m gonna make sure that I can do the impossible,” Skarsgård said of his character. “I think it’s kind of a become like a personal challenge to see if (he) can pull this off — more than acquiring another company and just more wealth … it’s just like, ‘This should be impossible for a little coder from Stockholm, Sweden to do this.’ And that’s why he wants to.”

Spinoffs in the works?

Those hoping for more from the world of “Succession” after the conclusion of the series, prepare to have those dreams dashed.

Asked of a potential new series occupied by familiar “Succession” faces, Armstrong said, “I don’t think there’d ever be a spinoff.”

“I guess what I’m interested in is something that could occupy the same tone of show that I’ve found very amenable to me and the way I like to write it,” he said. “So maybe there’s something interlinked that has the same tone of world … I’m gonna take a bit of time off and it’s been a big beast to wrestle. So I’m gonna take some time.”

“Succession” begins its fourth and final season March 26 at 9pm ET on HBO.

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