The Cast of 'Succession': Everything to Know

HBO Succession

HBO's award-winning drama Succession is returning for a fourth and final season.

The series, which premiered in 2018, follows the Roy family as they prepare for the next phase of their media conglomerate, Waystar RoyCo, amid CEO and patriarch Logan's declining health.

It features a star-studded cast, including actors Jeremy Strong, Kieran Culkin and Brian Cox, among others, who have all received critical acclaim and several awards for their performances on the show.

Culkin, who portrays the youngest son Roman Roy, has acknowledged that the Roy family is not particularly likable.

"I'm not sure that they [viewers] like the characters, there's something about them they just want to watch them and maybe watch them fail or something," he said during an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. He added that he is grateful fans continue to tune in, whatever their reasons may be: "The fact that like people have been liking the show it actually feels really nice."

Here's everything to know about the cast of Succession before season 4 premieres on March 26.

Brian Cox as Logan Roy

Graeme Hunter/HBO

Cox was well known for his theater and movie roles before playing the bullish family patriarch and CEO of Waystar RoyCo, Logan Roy.

He rose to fame for his portrayal of King Lear with the Royal National Theatre in London and the Royal Shakespeare Company. The Scottish actor now has more than 200 acting credits to his name.

The first to portray Hannibal Lecter on screen in 1986's Manhunter, Cox has starred in major films like Braveheart, Super Troopers and Adaptation. He has also been a part of the Bourne and Red franchises, acted in TV shows on both sides of the pond and done voice work in video games and animation.

Over the course of his career, he's received a handful of awards for his work. In 2020, he won his first Golden Globe Award for his portrayal of the media tycoon on Succession. He has also won an Emmy in 2001 for his supporting role on the show Nuremberg as well as two Oliviers for his stage work in the U.K.

In addition to acting, Cox is also an author and has published three books: Salem to Moscow: An Actor's Odyssey, The Lear Diaries and his memoir, Putting the Rabbit in the Hat. In his memoir, he made comments about Johnny Depp being "overblown" and "overrated," for which Cox later apologized.

While discussing Succession's season 3 finale on Andy Cohen's SiriusXM show, Cox said: "I think the ending was great. I kind of knew it was going to end in that way. I didn't know it was going to be quite — that I was going to, sort of, blast the family in the way I did. I thought it was going to be a bit more subtle than that, but it wasn't, which is fine. It wasn't subtle at all."

Outside of work, Cox has been married three times. Following a brief marriage to Lilian Monroe-Carr from 1966 to 1967, he wed actress Caroline Burt in 1968. They divorced in 1986 and share two children: daughter Margaret and son Alan, who is also an actor.

Cox married his third wife, actress Nicole Ansari, in 2002. The couple share sons Orson Jonathan and Torin Kamran.

Jeremy Strong as Kendall Roy

Macall B. Polay/HBO

Strong plays the second-oldest Roy son, Kendall, who was initially portrayed as the heir apparent to the company.

Prior to his role on Succession, Strong studied English at Yale University, where he acted in a number of plays. He is known for his intensive acting process, which includes staying in his role as Kendall even after the cameras stop rolling, a dedication Cox told Town & Country was "f------ annoying."

"He's a very good actor," Cox told the outlet, noting that there's a precarious line between knowing a character and becoming him. Despite his concerns, Cox said, "Strong is talented. He's f------ gifted. When you've got the gift, celebrate the gift."

In a 2021 New Yorker profile, Strong explained his approach to playing Kendall. "To me, the stakes are life and death," he told the outlet. "I take him as seriously as I take my own life." He told GQ in February 2023 that saying goodbye to Kendall will "feel like a death, in a way."

The hard work has certainly paid off. Strong won an Emmy for outstanding lead actor in a drama series in 2020 and a Golden Globe for best actor in a television drama series in 2022, among other nominations. Before Succession, he appeared on The Good Wife, Mob City and Masters of Sex. His first film role was in Humboldt County, and he's since starred in several movies, including Lincoln, Zero Dark Thirty and The Trial of the Chicago 7.

As for his personal life, Strong and his wife, Danish psychiatrist Emma Wall, met in 2012 at a party in N.Y.C. during Hurricane Sandy and wed in Denmark in 2016. They share three daughters: Ingrid, Clara and Agathe.

Strong is also very good friends with actress Michelle Williams — he moved in with Williams and her daughter, Matilda Rose, for a brief period after Heath Ledger, her former partner and Matilda's father, died in 2008. In 2022, Williams told Variety, "Jeremy was serious enough to hold the weight of a child's broken heart and sensitive enough to understand how to approach her through play and games and silliness."

Another famous actress that Strong is close with is Anne Hathaway. The actors have costarred on two movies together, 2019's Serenity and 2022's Armageddon Time, and their families often vacation together.

Kieran Culkin as Roman Roy

Macall B. Polay/HBO

Culkin portrays Romulus "Roman" Roy, the second-youngest of the Roy kids, who is known for his inappropriate sense of humor and sarcasm.

At the 2022 Critics' Choice Awards, Culkin beat out his costars Nicholas Braun and Matthew Macfadyen for best supporting actor in a drama series. He has also earned nominations for Emmy, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Awards for his performance.

"I'm gonna say that Succession has just been a dream. It's like the dream job. I've been spoiled rotten," Culkin said during his Critics' Choice Award acceptance speech. "Jesse Armstrong is kind of a genius. All the writers on our show are just the best at what they do I feel like. And they give me so much to work with. All of our actors are so fantastic to work with."

Culkin started his career as a child actor; he was nominated for Young Artist Awards for roles in Father of the Bride and The Mighty. He later received a slew of nominations for The Cider House Rules, Igby Goes Down and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. He's also had guest roles on TV shows like Frasier and Fargo and hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live in 2021.

The middle child of seven, Culkin comes from a show-business family that includes brothers Macaulay and Rory. His paternal aunt is actress Bonnie Bedelia, star of Parenthood and Die Hard. Culkin's first role was actually in his brother Macaulay's iconic 1990 movie Home Alone.

Culkin wed U.K. native Jazz Charton in 2013, and the couple share two children, daughter Kinsey Sioux and son Wilder Wolf.

Sarah Snook as Siobhan "Shiv" Roy

Graeme Hunter/HBO

Australian actress Sarah Snook plays Siobhan "Shiv" Roy, the youngest of the Roy siblings. Shiv originally worked in politics but took a more active role in the family company as the show progressed, eventually vying for a top spot along with her siblings.

Snook earned her degree in acting from the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney in 2008. Her early roles include those in Not Suitable for Children and Steve Jobs. Her first TV part was in the Australian hospital drama All Saints in 2009. She later had lead roles in the shows The Secret River and The Beautiful Lie.

Succession served as her big break, and she has since landed roles in films like Pieces of a Woman and Run Rabbit Run. However, she almost turned down the part over concerns of sexism in the high-powered corporate world where the boardroom drama is set.

"If the world is going to be interested in a bunch of White dudes talking about business, and if I'm the only woman in that, then I'm likely to get sidelined and be like some sort of prop. I don't feel like that personally, nor do I feel like I want to compete for that," she told Variety in 2022. "Through blind faith, I thought, 'Well, the creatives are interesting. You may be one of the only women in the pilot, but that doesn't mean that you're going to get sidelined necessarily and maybe this is an opportunity for you to just fight for female characters.' "

Snook's tenacity and talent helped her win best-supporting actress in a drama series at the 2020 Critics' Choice Awards. She won again in 2022 and also earned a Golden Globe, SAG Award and an Emmy nomination for her work on the show.

The Glass Castle actress quietly married comedian Dave Lawson at her home in Brooklyn in February 2021. They had been friends since 2014 but had "never been single at the same time." She told Vogue Australia, "At the beginning of the [COVID-19] pandemic, I got locked down in Melbourne with one of my best mates and we fell in love."

Alan Ruck as Connor Roy

Macall B. Polay/ HBO

Alan Ruck plays eldest son Connor Roy, who is Kendall, Roman and Shiv's half-brother from Logan's first marriage. Connor is not interested in the family business and is instead focused on his ranch and running for president. Subsequently, no one in the Roy family, including Logan, takes him seriously.

Ruck is best known for his role as Cameron Frye, the best friend to Matthew Broderick's eponymous character in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. He made his Broadway debut with Broderick in Neil Simon's Biloxi Blues in 1985 and has starred in several other movies, including Bad Boys, Speed, Twister and Sierra Burgess Is a Loser. On the small screen, he has had roles on Going Places, Spin City, Greek and Bunheads.

While filming Spin City in 2001, Ruck nearly died of a mysterious blood infection. On the podcast WTF with Marc Maron, the actor shared that he got blood poisoning and "was out for like nine days" in the hospital. His doctors thought he might need to be on dialysis for the rest of his life, but he has since fully recovered. "I'm lucky. I don't know why," he said. "To this day they don't know how I got it."

Ruck and his wife, actress Mireille Enos, wed in 2008 and have two children together, daughter Vesper Vivianne and son Larkin Zouey. Ruck also has two adult children, daughter Emma and son Sam, from his previous marriage to Claudia Stefany.

Matthew Macfadyen as Tom Wambsgans

Graeme Hunter/HBO

Matthew Macfadyen plays Tom Wambsgans, oft-overlooked and subservient husband of Shiv who is also an executive at Waystar RoyCo.

Succession viewers most likely recognize him from his role as Mr. Darcy in the 2005 adaption of Pride & Prejudice. During a 2022 interview with NPR, the British actor compared his two iconic roles, noting: "Tom Wambsgans is a long way from Mr. Darcy."

Macfadyen has also starred in the films Frost/Nixon, Anna Karenina and The Assistant. He got his start on TV in a 1998 adaptation of Wuthering Heights and later appeared in two British series, Spooks and Ripper Street. Macfadyen has also narrated several documentaries and has been a part of more than a dozen theater productions.

The actor is a two-time Emmy nominee, the second of which he won for outstanding supporting actor in a drama series for Succession in 2022. During his acceptance speech, he said it was "a pleasure and a privilege to play this bonkers gift of a role." He has also earned a BAFTA Award and a SAG Award for his portrayal of Tom, as well as a BAFTA for Criminal Justice in 2010.

In 2022, he told Backstage magazine that it was "a great liberation" to play an American. "My voice goes into a different register. It's like putting on a big hat or a very colorful suit," he told the outlet. "We're suffused with American culture in the U.K. Everybody is, with films and TV. So stuff goes in, and then you get an opportunity to do a role like this, and it just sort of comes out without you knowing it. I'm a great believer in that."

Macfadyen met his wife, actress Keeley Hawes, on the set of Spooks. They began dating in 2002 and wed in November 2004. The pair share two children: daughter Maggie and son Ralph. Hawes also has a son, Myles, from her previous marriage to Spencer McCallum.

Nicholas Braun as Greg Hirsch

Macall B. Polay/ HBO

Nicholas Braun plays fan favorite Greg Hirsch, also known as "Cousin Greg," a role that scored him his first Emmy nomination in 2020 and a second in 2022.

Braun made his TV debut at age 6, when he appeared on Good Morning America sporting a bowl-cut to introduce the 1994 Saks Fifth Avenue holiday window display. His older brother produced that segment and many more for GMA.

He went on to appear in several Disney movies as a teenager, including Sky High, Minutemen and Princess Protection Program. Braun's television roles include 10 Things I Hate About You and The Secret Life of the American Teenager. In recent years, he's starred in the films How to Be Single, The Year of Spectacular Men and Zola, among others.

In 2021, Braun told the New York Times that he incorporated parts of himself into his character Greg. "I pick a bunch of traits that are me trying too hard or feeling uncomfortable in a room, or wanting to speak up but I don't quite get permission, so it comes out in a weird way," he said. "Maybe I'm attracted to roles that feel therapeutic. I get to look at these parts of myself and ask, 'Why do I do that? How do I amplify that in a fun way?' "

Though he prefers to keep his private life under wraps, he told the outlet that he hadn't yet been in a long-term relationship. "I do yearn for it and yet I'm incapable of it," he said. "I go toward it and then I hit a wall where I'm like, I can't go farther into this. I've got to exit."

In addition to acting, Braun is also an investor and owns a few bars and restaurants in N.Y.C., including Jac's on Bond and Ray's — the latter of which he co-owns with Justin Theroux.

J. Smith-Cameron as Gerri Kellman

Macall B. Polay/HBO

J. Smith-Cameron plays Gerri Kellman, the company's General Counsel who also has a flirtatious relationship with the much younger Roman.

Smith-Cameron spent much of her professional acting career on the stage after making her Broadway debut in Crimes of the Heart in 1982. She has since earned countless accolades for her work on Broadway in productions like Our Country's God, As Bees in Honey Drown and Sarah, Sarah.

She transitioned to film and TV later in her life, earning small roles in shows like The Good Wife, Law & Order, True Blood and Rectify, as well as the movies The First Wives Club, Sabrina and Harriet the Spy.

Her role in Succession earned her her first Emmy nomination in 2022.

Off the screen, Smith-Cameron has been married to writer and director Kenneth Lonergan since 2000 and they have one child, a daughter named Nellie.

Justine Lupe as Willa Ferreyra

Zach Dilgard/HBO

Justine Lupe turned her Succession guest spot as Willa Ferreyra, the much-younger playwright girlfriend of Connor Roy, into a mainstay part.

During a December 2021 interview with Insider, Lupe shared that Willa was only supposed to have a three-episode arc culminating in a breakup with Connor in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

"There was one — the Santa Fe script in particular — where they kept on doing rewrites over and over, and Willa kept on sticking around just a little bit longer," Lupe said. "I was like, 'Wait, am I not going to get thrown out? This is awesome.' "

Having grown up in an artistic family, Lupe studied theater at the Denver School of the Arts and graduated from the Juilliard School in 2011.

She scored her first film role in Three Forms of Insomnia and kicked off her TV career with a guest spot on Unforgettable in 2011. She's since starred in shows like Cristela, Mr. Mercedes and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, as well as movies like Netflix's Luckiest Girl Alive.

Lupe keeps her personal life relatively private and has only posted a few photos on Instagram, the majority of which are about Succession.