19 October 2023

Succession's Alan Ruck on Connor Roy, the oldest son in the world's most dysfunctional family

Season 3 of Succession is now streaming first on Showmax in South Africa. The HBO drama follows the dysfunctional Roy family, who control one of the biggest media and entertainment conglomerates in the world. With patriarch Logan Roy aging and ailing, his four adult children jockeyed for position throughout Season 1 but as Season 2 picks up, the Roys are struggling to retain control of their empire in a rapidly changing media landscape…

Earlier this year, the HBO drama won Best International Series at the BAFTAs and TV Program of the Year at AFI, on the way to winning Emmys for Jesse Armstrong’s screenwriting and Nicholas Britell’s main title theme music.

Kieran Culkin ((Igby Goes Down, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, and yes, Home Alone) was nominated for the Golden Globe as Logan’s youngest son, Roman Roy; Matthew Macfadyen was up for a Critics Choice Award as his brother-in-law-to-be Tom, and the impressive cast includes Golden Globe nominee Brian Cox (Adaptation, X-Men 2, Deadwood) as Logan, Screen Actors Guild nominee Jeremy Strong (The Big Short) as Kendall and multi-award winners like Hiam Abbas (Ramy, Blade Runner 2049) and Sarah Snook (The Dressmaker), not to mention Nicholas Braun (10 Things I Hate About You, Perks Of Being a Wallflower) as the scene-stealing Cousin Greg.

Where to stream Succession

Update: Succession S3 is streaming first on Showmax express from the US now. New episodes land on Mondays until 13 December 2021. Also binge S1-2.

We caught up with Alan Ruck, who plays Connor Roy, to find out more.

Is Connor a bit naïve?

Connor’s missing a few chips. He might appear naïve, but early on he realised that he hated the business world. I think, just as a backstory, he probably tried to make the old man happy and

tried to go to business school, and just realised he had no interest or ability at all. Then he probably went to art school and realised that he

had no ability there either. Then he just bought this ranch that his father didn’t want. He hasn’t worked a day in his life!

Is he the only Roy sibling who doesn’t want power?

The thing is: he suffers from delusional disorder, which is an actual thing. It’s on the same spectrum as schizophrenia, which I didn’t know before this job. But a schizophrenic will say: ‘I’m going to become a dragon.’ And you say: ‘OK.’ And a delusional person will say: ‘I’m going to become the President of the United States.’ So it’s within the realm of possibility but it’s never fucking going to happen. So Connor’s got some issues. I think maybe there was some ADHD, some things they didn’t address back in the day – because these dynastic families, when somebody is less than perfect, they just sweep it under the carpet a little bit and say: ‘Oh, yeah, he’s doing fine.’ Maybe Connor didn’t get all the help he needed.

Is he being drawn, perhaps reluctantly, closer to the levers of power in this series, though?

Well, I think he’s lazy as well. He loves the money so he’s like: ‘Just pay me dividends, you guys figure it out.’ They’re all gnashing teeth and

clawing at each other to see who’s gonna be the boss. I just want to make sure the money stays the same.

Do the characters become more likable the more you watch?

The truth is you discover things along the way, and you get bits and pieces of information, and then you ask questions. Way back in the audition for this thing, I was in Adam McKay’s house and even back then there was this line: ‘Dad, there’s this job I want, it’s called President of the United States.’ And I said: ‘Well, clearly he’s putting the

old man on, right?’ And Adam said: ‘Oh no, you’re dead serious.’ That’s when I was like: ‘Oh, I know who this guy is.’ You get these clues along the way. I wouldn’t say that we care about them, but we’re interested in what’s going to happen. And since I love the people I’m working with, I think that adds a layer to the work. These are truly awful people, and [even though we might not] care about them, we’ve piqued everybody’s interest. It seems to me a lot of people are curious about them. It’s like watching a train wreck. What’s going to happen? Who’s going to survive?

Are we going to learn more about Connor’s background, about his mother?

Well, I asked Jesse a while back, and he said: ‘I don’t think your mother’s on the planet anymore.’ And actually I think there are some things Jesse has known from the absolute beginning, and then there are other things he’s changed up or decided along the way. I’d always thought that my father divorced my mother when I was about eight years old. But I was old enough to know that I was a little prince – and then all of a sudden my glorious, spectacular father was gone and I was left with her. And maybe that wasn’t so great. Then you add the idea that she was having some psycho-emotional challenges. Not a real happy childhood. A lot of privilege and a lot of creature comforts, but maybe not a lot of love.

Why do you think this show has been such a success?

Well, I’m sure it’s the same here as in the States, where a mom and a dad might have to work four jobs between the two of them, just to get things paid for. It’s not like when I was a kid when the dad could work and all this industry was so strong, and the mom could actually stay

home, and they had two cars and televisions and could send the kids to college – that world’s gone. It’s so hard for people to just get by that when they see these people who have everything but are completely miserable... [it’s enjoyable].

Strip away the money, too, and these are universal family dynamics.

Yeah, it’s the same – spoiled brats.

Does it also strike a chord in terms of the current political and media landscape?

The only thing that I worry about sometimes is that the stuff that’s happening in real life is much crazier than just about anything that we’re doing. But hopefully we’re holding the mirror up as much as we can, and maybe shining a little light on some idiocy!