The 1st Person Who ‘Succession’ Creator Jesse Armstrong Cast Gave Him Confidence About the Show’s Tone

The final season of Succession premiered on March 26, and for the cast of the show as well as the fans, it is the end of an era. Kieran Culkin is one of the show’s fan favorites — and as Roman Roy, he has earned major critical acclaim. While Culkin might just be the most unexpected star to have emerged from Succession, show creator Jesse Armstrong was very confident about what the actor would bring to the table. In fact, in a recent Esquire profile, Armstrong revealed that it was Culkin who helped him realize that he was on the right path with the show.

What did Kieran Culkin say about not ‘overthinking’ Roman Roy?

Culkin had been acting for decades by the time he was cast as Roman Roy in Succession. The younger brother of Macaulay Culkin, the actor had made early appearances in films like Home Alone and Igby Goes Down. However, the character of Roman was new territory for him. In a recent interview with Esquire, Culkin admitted that he tried not to “overthink” the role when he first started talking to Armstrong about Succession.

Culkin said that he focused on one trait for Roman, noting that he believed the character would feel “like he never has to suffer any consequences. He can literally walk in any room and throw a drink in some lady’s face, and it’s fun.”

Kieran Culkin and ‘Succession’ creator Jesse Armstrong were on the same page with the character

Jesse Armstrong, the creator of Succession, told Esquire that Culkin was instrumental in finalizing his plan for the show. “There’s a certain way in which he was so tonally on that it gave me the confidence that we were in the right area for the tone of the show,” Armstrong said, revealing that Culkin was the very first actor that he cast for the show. “There wasn’t a cigarette paper between my vision of the character and him. I couldn’t even remember what I thought that guy would be before Kieran did it,” Armstrong said.

Succession not only made Culkin a star, but it allowed him to develop his skills as an actor. He told Esquire that prior to working on the show, he hadn’t had the chance to try improvisation — but Culkin’s co-star, Alan Ruck, said that he helped him to understand how beneficial improvisational acting could be. “It kind of horrified Kieran,” Ruck told the publication. “He was like, ‘I like writers to write my lines. I like to say them, and then I like to go home.'” Eventually, however, it all clicked, with Ruck noting that Culkin turned into “an artesian well of snappy bulls***.”

‘Succession’ has received many awards and honors

All the hard work from Culkin, Armstrong, and the rest of the cast and crew paid off in the end. The show has won a host of honors and accolades over the past several years, including 48 Primetime Emmy Award nominations with 13 wins, according to IMDb. The third season alone scored four Emmy wins, including an award for Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for Armstrong.

With the final season of Succession now streaming, it’s likely that fans will hear even more about the series in the weeks to come. For the actors who helped make the series such a hit, Succession is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. As Culkin told Esquire, “There cannot be a better job on the planet for an actor.”