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The cast of Succession Season 4
11 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About Succession

Get hype before the next episode.

by Ani Bundel and Jess Ferguson
Updated: 
Originally Published: 
Claudette Barius/HBO

It’s the beginning of the end for HBO’s Succession. The fourth season, which premiered March 26, is confirmed to be the last ever. After a shocking Season 3 finale filled with betrayal and new alliances, the Roy fam is back again. Kendall, Shiv, and Roman have gone bicoastal and are living in Los Angeles to collab on their business ventures — and Logan is determined to make them crash and burn.

In the wake of Shiv and Tom’s separation after last season’s shocking finale, Tom and Greg combined forces to form the “Disgusting Brothers,” which kinda speaks for itself. At the end of Season 3, Willa gave a less-than-enthusiastic response to Connor’s proposal (which might break the world record for the amount of “f*ck it!”s in one conversation). Now, this season will see the couple headed toward their wedding as Connor makes a bid for president, holding onto his 1% of voters for dear life. Time will only tell what else is in store for this endlessly messy family.

Even though fans are tuning in to see the actors portray family members with a love-hate relationship, there’s plenty happening behind the scenes of the Emmy-winning series.

01Season 4 Is The Final Chapter, But The Book Might Not Be Closed

Macall B. Polay/HBO

It’s been confirmed that Season 4 will be the last of Succession, but will it be the end for the Roy family? Show creator Jesse Armstrong has kept the door open to creating a spin-off series, either with similar themes or following one of the main characters. Nicholas Braun, who plays Cousin Greg, recently joked to Entertainment Weekly about a “Disgusting Brothers” spin-off, saying, “We go off to Antarctica, and it's just the two of us trying to survive, and then we die pretty quickly. We die after three or four episodes. And that's it.” Even J. Smith Cameron quipped about a spin-off named Gerri! or a show sequel.

But as exciting as it sounds, try not to hold your breath. Casey Bloys, the CEO of HBO and HBO Max, wasn’t as confident. He said to The Wrap in February, “It doesn’t seem to me that there’s something in Succession where you would go, ‘Let’s follow just this kid’ or whatever.”

02What Brian Cox Really Thinks About Logan Roy’s Iconic Catchphrase

Macall B. Polay/HBO

Patriarch and CEO Logan Roy has said “f*ck off” so many times, fans have made compilations of it. Fans have even approached actor Brian Cox, asking them to say the catchphrase to them. But what does Cox actually think about it? He told CNN in March, “The world truly is crazy. That really convinced me that we’re in such a mess.” Such a Logan response.

03The Show Is Inspired By The Murdochs

Macall B. Polay/HBO

Succession was inspired, Screendaily reported in July 2019, by a script Jesse Armstrong wrote about the News of The World scandal in the UK, where the Murdoch family was accused of wiretapping celebrities and politicians for dirt. (It's one of two TV series to be inspired by the real-life drama. The other is Press, which aired on PBS in 2019.) Though rewrites made the Roys less of a direct fictionalization of the Fox News-owning billionaire family, their US network ACN and the Roy's newspaper holdings overseas are still a direct 1:1 to the Murdoch family business.

04Sarah Snook Says The Season 4 Promo Poster Contains Clues

Courtesy of HBO

In March, Jimmy Fallon asked Sarah Snook, who plays Shiv, if the Season 4 promo poster gives any clues about how the episodes will pan out. She confirmed there are subtle Easter eggs in the poster, but added, “You won’t know until you know.”

05The Cast Didn’t Know The Show Was Ending ‘Til The Last Minute

David Russell/HBO

The show’s actors like Kieran Culkin (Roman) have described a “Will they, won’t they?” feeling when filming season four since no one knew if it was ending or not. Snook told Jimmy Fallon in March the cast didn’t know for sure until the table read for the finale. Way to keep them guessing!

06Logan Roy Was Supposed To Die In Season 1

Peter Kramer/HBO

If Logan Roy's miraculous recovery halfway through Season 1 feels a little about-face, that's because it is. The original concept was "The Family Patriarch Dies," leading to the siblings going to war, Cox told The Guardian in 2021. But Cox was so compelling that it was decided having him live would be the more interesting twist. “Everything has to spin off him,” Cox said to The Guardian.

07Waystar Royco Is In One World Trade Center

Peter Kramer/HBO

Though the actual office scenes are on a soundstage much of the time, the B-roll footage showing those views out of the windows was shot in some empty office space in One World Trade Center towards the top of the tower, Untapped Cities reported in 2019.

Likewise, Untapped writes that empty condos on Billionaire's Row give Logan Roy's apartment the shots of the Met and Central Park out his windows.

08Entire Scenes Of Dialogue Are Improvised

HBO

What really makes this show sing is the rapid-fire snippy dialogue between the characters. The show's best moments are when the cast sits down around a dinner table or a makeshift boardroom and lets the verbal knives fly. And the best part is, a ton of it is improvised, executive producer Adam McKay told The Hollywood Reporter in 2019. There's a script, but actors are encouraged to make their own additions as they see fit for their characters. Kendall's breakdown in the pilot episode, for instance, was merely a sketch. Kendall’s infamous “L to the OG” rap was also kept a secret from the rest of the cast, actor Jeremy Strong told Entertainment Weekly in 2019. So if the reactions from the audience seem authentic, they really are.

09Kieran Culkin Auditioned For Greg

Peter Kramer/HBO

Culkin was initially asked if he wanted to try for Cousin Greg. But upon reading the script, Culkin told The Hollywood Reporter in 2018, he immediately recognized he was a better fit for the Roy family’s younger brother, Roman. Good call.

10The Family Bond Is Real For Cast & Crew

Claudette Barius/HBO

The actors’ relationship might be more similar to their characters than you think. Snook told Esquire in March that she and Culkin have a “very sibling relationship.” She recalled that when wrapping filming for Season 4, she teased her on-screen brother, saying, “Hey, Kieran, you’ll love this. When we finish this show, you and I will never work together again.”

But the fam love is real, too. Alan Ruck, who plays Connor, also said to Esquire, “I never had a little brother, and if I could have a little brother, I’d want him to be exactly like Kieran.” Awww.

11Cousin Greg Really Is That Tall

Macall B. Polay/HBO

Speaking of Cousin Greg, the longest, gangliest member of the Roy clan, there's no trickery being pulled, no CGI that goes into that. Braun told Insider he’s actually 6'7" in 2020.

New episodes from the fourth season of Succession drop Sundays at 9 p.m. EST on HBO/HBO Max.

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