Matthew Macfadyen Reveals When He Learned How Succession Would End

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Matthew Macfadyen Reveals When He Learned How Succession Would End

Succession star Matthew Macfadyen recently revealed the exact moment he found out what would happen on Succession’s finale.

Speaking to Variety following Sunday’s finale, Macfadyen was asked when he found out that his character, Tom Wambsgans, would end up as the new CEO of Waystar RoyCo/GoJo. Macfadyen knew fairly early into Season 4’s production, as series creator Jesse Armstrong was fairly open about it.

“Maybe halfway through? Jesse was very open with us all on set, and said, ‘If you want to know, come and see me.’ Sometimes you don’t want to know — the other two seasons, I’d hadn’t known,” said Macfadyen. “But I sort of knew it was coming to an end. And so I thought, let’s find out.”

In the finale, Wambsgans is given the job by tech billionaire and GoJo owner Lukas Matsson. Matsson chooses Wambsgans over his own wife, Siobhan “Shiv” Roy. According to Macfadyen, Armstrong never told him how long he’d imagined Tom as the one leading the company. Once he laid it out, though, it all made sense.

“No, no — he just laid it out, and explained it. And it was quite complicated, but it made sense dramatically,” Macfadyen said.

What is Succession about?

Succession follows the story of the Roy family — Logan Roy and his four children — who control one of the biggest media and entertainment conglomerates in the world. The series tracks their lives as they plan a future without their father.

“In season four, the sale of media conglomerate Waystar Royco to tech visionary Lukas Matsson moves ever closer,” reads the season’s synopsis. “The prospect of this seismic sale provokes existential angst and familial division among the Roys as they anticipate what their lives will look like once the deal is completed. A power struggle ensues as the family weighs up a future where their cultural and political weight is severely curtailed.”

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, Stephen Root, and more.

The Emmy-winning series is created and executive produced by showrunner Jesse Armstrong. Other executive producers include Adam McKay, Frank Rich, Kevin Messick, Jane Tranter, Mark Mylod, Tony Roche, Scott Ferguson, Jon Brown, Lucy Prebble, Will Tracy, and Will Ferrell.