successor Star Matthew Macfadyen recently revealed the exact moment he learned what was about to happen in the ‘Succession’ finale.
Speaking to Variety after Sunday’s finale, Macfadyen was asked when he found out his character, Tom Wambsgans, would become the new CEO of Waystar RoyCo/GoJo. Macfadyen knew pretty early on in the fourth season’s production, as series creator Jesse Armstrong was pretty candid about it.
“Maybe half? Jesse was very open with all of us on set and said, “If you want to know, come and see me.” Sometimes you don’t want to know — I didn’t know the other two seasons,” Macfadyen said. “But I kind of knew it was going to end. And so I thought, let’s find out.”
In the finale, Wambsgans gets the job from tech billionaire and GoJo owner Lukas Matsson. Matsson prefers Wambsgans to his own wife, Siobhan “Shiv” Roy. According to Macfadyen, Armstrong never told him how long he had imagined Tom to be the one running the company. However, once he laid it out, it all made sense.
“No, no – he just set it out and explained it. And it was quite complicated, but it made sense in a dramatic way,” Macfadyen said.
What is succession about?
Succession tells the story of the Roy family – Logan Roy and his four children – who control one of the largest media and entertainment companies in the world. The series follows their lives as they plan for a future without their father.
“In season four, the sale of media conglomerate Waystar Royco to tech visionary Lukas Matsson draws ever closer,” reads the season synopsis. “The prospect of this disastrous sale causes existential anxiety and family divisions for the Roys as they envision what their lives will be like once the deal is finalized.” A power struggle ensues as the family ponders a future in which their cultural and political weight is severely limited.”
The series stars Brian Cox, Jeremy Strong, Alan Ruck, Kieran Culkin, Sarah Snook, Nicholas Braun, Matthew Macfadyen, J. Smith-Cameron, Peter Friedman, David Rasche, Fisher Stevens, Hiam Abbass, Cherry Jones, Alexander Skarsgård and Stephen Root with , and more.
The Emmy-winning series is created and executive produced by showrunner Jesse Armstrong. Additional executive producers are Adam McKay, Frank Rich, Kevin Messick, Jane Tranter, Mark Mylod, Tony Roche, Scott Ferguson, Jon Brown, Lucy Prebble, Will Tracy and Will Ferrell.