What Kieran Culkins Succession Character Has In Common with Prince Harry

As Emmy nominations approach, Vanity Fairs HWD team is diving deep into how some of this seasons greatest scenes and characters came together. You can read more of these close looks here.

Roman Roy, Succession

When Jesse Armstrong was crafting his Shakespearian family drama Succession—which follows the dynastic maneuvering of a media empire—the British writer took a cue from actual royal family dynamics. Logan Roy (Brian Cox), the self-made mastermind of entertainment conglomerate Waystar Royco, is essentially the shows fictional king. Logans heir apparent—as of the pilot, at least—is Kendall Roy (Jeremy Strong), Logans firstborn son from his second marriage, who operates with the seriousness of a prince poised to inherit life-changing responsibility.

Kendalls wise-cracking younger brother, Roman, played by Kieran Culkin, is a different kind of character entirely: a man born into incredible privilege and secondhand power, but without the titanic expectation or consequences faced by Kendall. Armstrong told Vanity Fair that Roman was an amalgamation of people he came across in his research, with the primary inspiration being “the heir and the spare…. Thats a notion in royal families. Whats it like to be the spare?”

Armstrong created Roman to be brash and entitled, exuding a “mad freedom.” In the first episode of the series, for example, Roman displays a spectacular streak of cruelty, one that puts him on par with any Game of Thrones villain. During a family baseball game, a bored Roman decides to up the stakes by offering a kid on the sidelines $1 million if he can hit a home run. In spite of his sisters protests to “stop being an asshole,” Roman dramatically calls for his checkbook, writes out the note, and assures the boys family that he is completely serious. With about 20 people eagerly watching, including the boys working-class parents, the boy hits the ball and makes it around several bases—before being tagged out.

“You were so damn close!” Roman mock consoles. “That is so sad.” The familys loyal staff members—immune to all sorts of Roy callousness—avert their eyes in embarrassment. Roman doesnt notice. “Im sorry,” he continues. “That would have counted, by the way, if you had gone all the way around.” Roman then tears up the check, just inches from the boys crestfallen face—jokingly offering him a scrap as consolation: “Here, take this…a quarter million.”

Even Romans coldhearted father, Logan—who essentially breaks his childrens spirits for sport—feels bad for the kid, crossing the field to shake his hand and commend his “magnificent effort.” But instead of Roman being punished for his brazen display, he is insulated by his familys wealth; a Roy staff member does damage control by offering the boys family a gift in exchange for their NDA-bound silence.

Armstrong isnt sure where the idea for this provocative scene came from—“a dream or nightmare.” As he explained: “I read a lot about rich and powerful people in preparation for the show, so it might have been some detail from something. But I think it came quite fully formed. Its so direct; I kind of expected someone to say we couldnt or shouldnt do it. But no one ever did.”

Culkin had initially been asked to read for the sweetest member of the Roy family—Romans naive cousin Greg. But “there was just no part of me that felt I could play that part,” Culkin told Vanity Fair. Because he was enjoying the pilots script, however, he kept paging through until Roman made his grand entrance—walking into the office of his older brother and greeting a stiff room of serious businessmen with a brash “Hey hey, motherfuckers.” Said Culkin, “I thought, Oh, this guy seems interesting.”

Now, after playing Roman for two seasons—Succession returns to HBO August 11—Culkin has come to terms with the fact that his character might be a sociopath. But playing that can be kind of fun. “I can just be horrible to people around me—and they give me free rein to go further on that too—and just be like, Thats my job. That isnt me. Then I go back to being nice to people and polite and civil,” he said.

There may not be consequences for Romans bad behavior, but there have been a few for Culkin. Recently, a drunken Succession viewer approached the actor and announced, “I kind of want to punch you right now.” Culkin tried to handle the situation with grace—assuring her, “Im quite different [from the character].” But, Culkin confessed, “It wasnt the first time someone told me I have a very punchable face.”

How Roman Came to Life

Armstrong said that he cast Culkin as Roman because of the actors “pent energy and provocative attitude”—as well as a few other qualities that the Succession creator hadnt originally envisioned for the character: “a depth and a soulful, slightly weary, used-up dissipated sadness, which is very much his own.”

Before shooting the pilot, Culkin spoke to Armstrong about Romans personal life. Armstrong had originally conceived of the character as being married, and the two discussed what kind of marriage he might be in. They also talked about Romans sexuality. “When we got picked up for series,” said Culkin, “I remember thinking, Okay, where are they gonna go with this? And its kind of amazing, because theyre still discovering it—almost episode to episode. Were still discovering who the hell Roman is.”

Culkin also spoke to Jeremy Strong, who plays Romans brother Kendall, and Sarah Snook, who plays Romans sister, Shiv, about what kind of childhood the siblings had. Culkin, who has six siblings in real life, doesnt think that birth order played a factor in Romans development—but that the character might have shaped himself in reflection of his older siblings.

“I sort of guessed that Kendall was the one kid growing up who was maybe taught to compose himself, or was maybe even self-taught to be more serious. And Roman kind of [went the opposite direction],” he said. Still, Roman wanted to be the one his father chose to run his company. “Kendall may seem like the heir—who should be next to run the business—but hes very different from his dad. I think Roman is actually quite a bit more like his father.” Once the actors figured out a loose groundwork, they stopped disRead More – Source