Succession stars describe the emotional toll of filming ‘devastating’ episode three

‘It’s this weird disconnect of feeling physically like I’ve gone through some sort of emotional trauma but I haven’t,’ Kieran Culkin explained

The Succession cast have spoken about the emotional impact of filming season four’s third episode, which fans branded “historic”.

*Warning – Major spoilers ahead for Succession*

The episode, which aired Sunday (9 April), sees the death of patriarch Logan Roy (Brian Cox) and the fallout that follows while his children are at Connor’s wedding in New York Harbor.

After the episode aired, the post-credit sequence featured interviews with the cast, the creator and the director.

“When Jesse [Armstrong, showrunner] told me that, that was going to happen, I wasn’t terribly surprised,” Kendall Roy star Jeremy Strong said.

“I thought it made sense dramaturgically. And then when I read the script, I found it shocking and emotionally devastating.”

Sarah Snook – who plays Shiv Roy – said of filming her character’s reaction to her father’s death: “Being in that frame of mind for two weeks at a time is not healthy.”

(Left to right) Jeremy Strong, Sarah Snook, Kieran Culkin in ‘Succession’ (HBO)

“To some extent, this is just my job and I’m trying to keep the emotional stakes up and put the character through that and then go home,” Roman Roy actor Kieran Culkin said.

“But, the problem with that is going home – yeah, that was Roman going through that but physically, I actually had to go through that,” he continued. “It’s this weird disconnect of feeling physically like I’ve gone through some sort of emotional trauma but I haven’t.”

“You are trying to live with and embody the death of a parent,” Strong added. “It was hard. One of the things about this show [is] time and time again, I’ll be given something that I think is, ‘This is the limit of what I’m capable of as an actor, here’s my wall.’ And then you have no choice but to go through that and this episode was one of those.”

Meanwhile, Alan Ruck – who plays Connor Roy – said he relied on the talent of his castmates to get him through the scenes.

Brian Cox in ‘Succession’ (HBO)

“You just have to accept the fact that your performance is going to come from all the other characters around you,” he said. “And when Sarah [Snook] came in to tell me [of Logan’s death], Sarah was a puddle. Then it was just like, game over. You don’t have to act.”

Cox reacted to the seismic episode and the end of his character’s reign in an interview with Deadline published Sunday.

“Well, he was very good about that, Jesse [Armstrong], because he told me right before the season started, this was going to happen. And I knew that I was going to be going,” he said.

“I’m very proud of myself, that I managed to keep this secret. You know, I thought, wow, Brian, for the first time ever, you’ve actually kept a secret. It’s such a big secret.”

Succession is available to stream on NOW and Sky Atlantic every Monday, and continues in the US on HBO on Sundays.

Find The Independent’s recap of the episode here.