Who is in the Succession cast? The Roy family may well be the most messed up family in television history, with the intense battle for control of the WayStar Royco empire spanning four thrilling seasons. We saw Kendall rap, Shiv get married, Roman send a dick pic to his dad, and Connor run for President.
Succession, which was one of the best TV series airing, gave us some of the best acting we’ve ever seen in a TV series. That was partly due to the incredible writing on one of HBO’s best drama series, but also down to the talented actors in the Succession cast.
These stars became big parts of many TV fans’ lives, with the trials and tribulations of the siblings’ battle with their manipulative patriarch making all 39 Succession episodes incredible in their own right. So, let’s take a look at who makes up the Succession cast and where you may know them from.
The main Succession cast list:
- Jeremy Strong as Kendall Roy
- Brian Cox as Logan Roy
- Sarah Snook as Shiv Roy
- Kieran Culkin as Roman Roy
- Alan Ruck as Connor Roy
- Nicholas Braun as Greg Hirsch
- Matthew Macfadyen as Tom Wambsgans
Jeremy Strong as Kendall Roy
Succession may be an ensemble piece, but if you had to pick a leading Succession character, it would be Jeremy Strong’s Kendall Roy. Kendall is the self-proclaimed eldest child of the Roy family (much to the chagrin of Connor, who is actually older) and the sibling most intent on taking over the family business.
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Strong has garnered an enormous amount of critical praise and awards for his performances in Succession, with this role certainly becoming the one he is most synonymous with now, and rightly so. However, of all the Succession cast, Strong does have one of the more extensive movie careers, too.
2012 was a particularly prolific year for Strong, where he appeared in five movies, including two Oscar-winning efforts; the Steven Spielberg movie Lincoln, and Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty. It seems Strong has a thing for movies based on a true story, having also nabbed roles in Ava DuVernay’s Selma, joining forces with Bigelow again for Detroit, and more recently, The Trial of the Chicago 7.
Brian Cox as Logan Roy
WayStar Royco, and indeed Succession itself, wouldn’t be what it is today without the ruthless, relentless Logan Roy. The daddy, the king, the man sitting pretty at the top of the food chain, Logan is not a particularly nice man, but my word, he’s a joy to watch.
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Brian Cox is perfect as the swearing, selfish, and stubborn supreme leader of the media conglomerate, and if you thought Strong had a decent filmography, the veteran Scotsman Cox has him beat all day long, just like he does in the show. In a career spanning almost 60 years, Cox has appeared in various TV series and is an avid theatre performer, with an unthinkable 235 credits to his name.
Cox has worked with filmmakers like Michael Mann on his ‘80s movie Manhunter, appeared in the ‘90s movie Braveheart, and had a role in Wes Anderson‘s sophomore hit Rushmore. He has also played a part in huge franchises from the 2000s like the Jason Bourne movies, the original X-Men trilogy, as well as Troy and David Fincher‘s detective movie Zodiac.
Sarah Snook as Shiv Roy
In what is very much a male-dominated pool of sharks swinging their dicks around, Shiv Roy is one of the fiercest members of the Roy family. She is smart, driven, savvy, and quite simply knows how to get shit done.
From political aspirations to setting her sights on the whole RoyCo domain, Shiv is the most capable sibling and probably the most mentally stable, though that isn’t saying a lot. Her only real weakness is the fact she is a daddy’s girl at heart, and unfortunately, daddy doesn’t want her to play with his toys.
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Sarah Snook’s most notable part was a stunning supporting role opposite Ethan Hawke in the science fiction movie Predestination and she has also had small roles in Steve Jobs and Pieces of a Woman. More recently, she appeared in the horror movie Run Rabbit Run.
Kieran Culkin as Roman Roy
Despite the very serious, business jargon and matters of companies and stock shares in Succession, there is always a razor-sharp comedic twist to proceedings. Much of that humor comes from Roman Roy, the youngest sibling and the joker in the pack.
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Roman has aspirations of his own and hopes that sticking close to his papa can bring him the keys to the empire, but unfortunately, it just seems to highlight his ineptitude more and more. From blowing up a rocket to sending Logan a picture of his penis, Roman just can’t seem to get it right.
Kieran Culkin is the younger brother of Home Alone cast member Macaulay Culkin, but he’s managed to forge a great career for himself, too. His most notable role in the film industry is in Edgar Wright‘s comedy movie Scott Pilgrim vs The World, and he recently appeared in Steven Soderbergh‘s No Sudden Move in 2021.
Alan Ruck as Connor Roy
Whatever Kendall says, Connor Roy is the true firstborn of Logan Roy. Sadly, he is a bit of a joke among his family, mainly due to the fact that he always has a new madcap idea for how to live his life; be it his escort-turned-girlfriend Willa or his whimsical pursuit of the Oval Office.
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A long time ago, Alan Ruck was playing a fresh-faced Cameron Frye in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, despite actually being 30 years old at the time. He also had a role in the 1994 action movie Speed, the disaster movie Twister, and showed up in the 2021 horror movie Freaky.
Nicholas Braun as Greg Hirsch
Oh, Cousin Greg, you wonderful fool. When it comes to climbing the corporate ladder, no one does it better than Gregory Hirsch, the bumbling great-nephew of Logan. He may have started out as a lowly mascot for the WayStar Royco theme parks in season 1, but by the end of season 3, Greg finds himself in line for the throne of Luxembourg and in the midst of a legal battle with Greenpeace.
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As one-half of our favorite couple on Succession, Nicholas Braun is so endearing and fun to watch, especially when he’s joined by Tom Wambsgans. But don’t be fooled; this kid might not be as clueless as he makes out.
Braun actually appeared in a superhero movie long before the birth of the MCU, when he starred in the kids movie Sky High back in 2005. More recently, Braun brought his awkward humor to the tension-filled Zola, one of the best drama movies of recent years.
Matthew Macfadyen as Tom Wambsgans
You can’t make a Tomlette without breaking a few Gregs. Despite the constant battles between those who bear the surname Roy, Tom Wambsgans may just be the best Succession character, and perhaps the one most likely to reach the very top of the RoyCo empire.
What is so fascinating about Tom is that we simultaneously see him being cuckolded by his wife Shiv, mocked by his brothers-in-law, and forced to play boar on the floor by his evil father-in-law, but we also see him relish in flexing his own power over people like Cousin Greg, too.
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Tom Wambsgans is played by Matthew Macfadyen, a British actor most recognizable for his iconic hand flex in the romance movie Pride and Prejudice as Mr Darcy. More recently, he had a brief role as the HR rep from hell in The Assistant, opposite Ozark star Julia Garner. And, in 2022, he appeared in the war movie Operation Mincemeat.
All actors in the Succession cast:
- Brian Cox as Logan Roy
- Hiam Abbass as Marcia Roy
- Kieran Culkin as Roman Roy
- Peter Friedman as Frank Vernon
- Natalie Gold as Rava Roy
- Matthew Macfadyen as Tom Wambsgans
- Alan Ruck as Connor Roy
- Sarah Snook as Siobhan “Shiv” Roy
- Jeremy Strong as Kendall Roy
- Rob Yang as Lawrence Yee
- Arian Moayed as Stewy Hosseini
- J. Smith-Cameron as Gerri Kellman
- Justine Lupe as Willa Ferreyra
- David Rasche as Karl Muller
- Alexander Skarsgård as Lukas Matsson
So, there we have it; those are the main players from the Succession cast and a little information about where you may have seen these actors before. If you want to dive into some more of your favorite casts, why not check out the The Boys cast or learn more about the Rings of Power cast?
If you love Succession, you should check out our pieces on how to run a media empire, according to Logan Roy, how Succession changed my life, and find out how to watch Succession season 4.