Better Call Gerri ? Succession star J. Smith-Cameron on possible spin-off show

Clark Collis
·3 min read
1
Better Call Gerri ? Succession star J. Smith-Cameron on possible spin-off show
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

J. Smith-Cameron was out late this week at a premiere party in New York to celebrate the return of Succession, whose fourth and final season debuts on HBO March 26. Yet, as EW points out, the actress is looking bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

"Fooled you again!" she says in response, with glee.

Photograph by Macall B. Polay/HBO J. Smith-Cameron HBO Succession Season 4
Photograph by Macall B. Polay/HBO J. Smith-Cameron HBO Succession Season 4

Macall B. Polay/HBO J. Cameron-Smith in season 4 of 'Succession'

Smith-Cameron has certainly demonstrated her chops as an actress, first in the world of NYC theater and, more recently, with her portrayal of Gerri Kellman, the General Counsel and all-around troubleshooter for Waystar Royco, the media conglomerate controlled by Brian Cox's Logan Roy on Succession. Smith-Cameron teases that Gerri herself may be in trouble at the start of season 4.

"My character is not on terra firma," she tells EW. "She's on the outs with both Logan and Roman [Logan's son, played by Kieran Culkin], two people she's been the right-hand man to. It's a new limbo that she's in. And yet she's still the canny, capable one in the business, who's always somehow needed. I can't say anything [else] about season 4, because they'll sue me, they might kill me. No, they wouldn't do that, I don't think. No, it's very secret. I will say, it's very juicy, its got some very startling, cool things in it. It's a bumpy ride."

Over the past couple of seasons, Gerri and Roman have engaged in some outrageous, and risky, flirting. Will we see more of these shenanigans between the pair this time around?

"Well, that would be telling wouldn't it?" Smith-Cameron says. "We're definitely in a different, new phase. 'Shenanigans' is not really the mood we're in this season, but we still have a relationship, you know, that's stormy."

The actress admits to feeling sad about Succession creator Jesse Armstrong's decision to end the show this season.

"Jesse really knows his show, and in terms of the main characters, and the main storyline, [it's] probably proper and true that this is the final season," she says. "But for all these myriad characters around the perimeter, and all the other themes in the show, which are really rich and juicy, I feel like the show could go on for years, because there's just a lot of fun material. For us actors on the sidelines, we feel like, oh, okay, well, bye, bye, everybody! [Laughs] It's sad."

So, would Smith-Cameron consider starring in a spin-off show?

"Absolutely!" she says. "I would like to say to Jesse Armstrong, please consider a spin-off called Gerri!, with an exclamation mark! And it would be like The Mary Tyler Moore Show, but with Gerri. No. Maybe it could be like a Better Call Gerri show, where it's all about the fixer and different cases, I don't know. I'm really kidding. I don't think there should be a show about Gerri per se, but I do think that there could be some kind of sequel to the show, with or without Gerri. I think there's a lot of material."

While we may not see more of Gerri, you can see more of Smith-Cameron in the now-streaming comedy The Year Between, from filmmaker-actress Alex Heller.

"It's like the fresh, funny indie that you used to find all the time and they're so rare now, in my opinion," she says. "I play [a] mom, and it's about her [daughter's] bipolar condition, but it's funny, and Steve Buscemi plays my husband and the father. I'm just terribly proud of it."

Succession season 4 premieres Sunday, March 26, on HBO and HBO Max.

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.

Related content: