Succession: HBO interview with Matthew Macfadyen and Nicholas Braun

HBO has posted an interview with Matthew Macfadyen and Nicholas Braun talking about being an outsider among the Roy family.

On joining Succession:

 

Matthew Macfadyen: Working on an American show and playing an American role gave me a chance to do something I hadn't before. As an actor, you don't want to get stuck in a rut, so Succession was perfect for avoiding that. It ticked every box.

On playing Roy family outsiders:

Matthew Macfadyen: Most people don't know what they're doing, in general. People go to work every day and tell themselves and their colleagues, "Oh yeah, I know what I'm doing," but in truth, we’re all trying to get by. Even making good television — no one knows for sure what makes a TV show successful. We're all trying to get good people and hope for the best, but there's no formula.

On Tom's relationship with Shiv:

Matthew Macfadyen: I think he's genuinely in love with her but is also punching way above his weight. As irritating as Tom may be, with his nasal strips and constant groveling, he's never gonna dump her. Like, ever. That security is attractive to Shiv. I really believed in this marriage when I read the scripts. There's a lot of relationships and marriages that work for different reasons than pure sentimentality.

On Tom and Greg's dysfunctional alliance:

Matthew Macfadyen: Tom is a little unsettled by Greg when they first meet. I'm trying to get as close as I possibly can to my fiancee's father, Logan, because he's the boss of the firm and I've got all these ambitions to be a powerful businessman. But this guy, Greg, just strolls in to Logan’s birthday party cause unlike me, he's already family. He seems to have no fear of the patriarch while I'm terrified of the guy. Oh, and he's taller than me. That’s upsetting. Even though I'm sycophantically groveling to the Roys, he’s so intimidating to my character, I can’t help but be f**king horrible to him. I need to put him in his place.

Matthew Macfadyen: There are moments of joy between the two, like the club scene from episode six.