SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers from With Open Eyes, the series finale of HBOs Succession, now streaming on Max.
Connor Roy was interested in politics at an early age but Alan Ruck isnt convinced. He can say anything he wants to say, but just because he was interested doesnt mean hes knowledgeable.
Still, in his mid-50s, Connors interest is finally becoming a reality with a catch. In the finale of HBOs acclaimed drama Succession, from creator Jesse Armstrong, Rucks character is poised to become the next ambassador to Slovenia, provided that Jeryd Mencken actually becomes president. But his new wife Willa (Justine Lupe) drops a bombshell: She will be staying in New York (in Logans old apartment) while Connor carries out his duties abroad.
I just think that he would be so overwhelmed, Ruck says. He was so counting on Willa coming over there and being with him, going to all the steak dinners, going to the dances, going to the lunches, and attending all the ceremonies.
In an interview with Variety after the series finale, Ruck fights back tears as he reflects on Connors fate and the series as a whole.
I know you like to watch the episodes live. So, what did you think when you finally watched the finale?
I thought it was a brilliant way to wrap up. All those different storylines, we dont know exactly whats going to happen with Kendall, or if things are going to be OK between Connor and Willa. Because the Jeryd Mencken thing is up in the air, maybe he wont go to Slovenia, which we can tell Willa was counting on. These writers are brilliant. The detail and the depth to every character was serviced in that hour and a half, and it all makes perfect sense.
Kendall would not be a good CEO. He would not, even though this has been his dream since he was seven years old. Whatever Shivs motives are, everybody who watches the show has a slightly different, or sometimes radically different idea about why whoever did what. Some people say Siobhan did it purely out of spite, and shes just keeping herself close to power because of Toms ascendancy, and thats why she voted Kendall down. Or maybe she just had an amazing moment of clarity, and was like, This is awful. Youll be awful. Maybe she was just jealous: I wanted it. Im smarter than you. Id be better at it than you, but I cant have because Im a woman. Fuck you.
I think whats probably accurate is all those things are true on some level, and all these characters are human beings. Were just walking balls of contradictions. We have our character defects, and we have some attributes and were just people. These just happened to be some very high-powered, miserable people.
If Mencken comes through, Willa will stay in New York while Connor will become ambassador to Slovenia. He smiles through it, but how do you think he really feels about living apart? What comes next?
I think hes kind of heartbroken by it, because hes completely lost without Willa. She gave him a lot of confidence. Hes always been this guy that nobodys taken seriously. If he loses Willa, even for any length of time, hes going to become morose. If that marriage doesnt work out, if he actually loses her, that would be kind of the end of Connor. Hed be a shell of a person. I dont know how long he would last, to tell you the truth.
Jesse has this theory that people never really change, and I think for the characters in this show, thats absolutely true. Even though Connor and Willa had that lovely moment in the third episode, where they actually talked about stuff that matters, and then they go ahead and get married and theres some joy in that for both of them, I think she gets scared. Im gonna marry this guy. Im gonna be with this guy for the rest of my life. What am I doing? Shes lost. Willa is street smart. She was tough enough to be an escort and get out of that thing alive, or just relatively unscathed. But shes not a completely confident person. Its weird for both of them.
Were not too sure about anything. We have no idea how that baby will turn out with Tom and Shiv. We dont know what that family will be like. We dont know what will happen to Roman. Maybe hell just be the billionaire, nasty playboy. Kendall is shattered. Somebody picked up on this: They said Colin is walking close behind Kendall as he did with Logan, but hes just making sure that Ken wont throw himself over the railing and into the sea. Through Jeremys acting, that was just so obvious. This guys in hell. Hes got nothing anymore. Hes lost. So we dont know really whats going to happen to all these people, but this Succession era is closed and its been resolved. Theyll all go on, in whatever weird way they do.
HBO During that sibling conflict near the end, Kendall insists Im the eldest boy! in what seems to be yet another moment of Connor erasure. What did you make of that?
I thought it was perfect, because hes not discounting my existence: What hes saying is, Im the eldest boy of people who matter. You see Siobhan, after he says that, she shakes her head no. Hes obsessed. He basically says, The old man promised this to me when I was seven. So for 33 years, this has been his drive. Without it, hes nothing. His marriage is a disaster. He doesnt have a proper relationship with his kids. The whole family dynamic, everybodys like, Yeah, hes the suicidal, drug addict guy.
Everybody gets clocked, you know? Connors the dingbat who will never amount to anything. And maybe thats true. Kendall is the drug addict, self-destructive guy. Even though Roman is the middle child, hes the indecisive baby. And Siobhan is the ball-busting bitch. Thats how the rest of the family has typified each other, and it will probably never change.
Its ironic that Connor is perceived as the failure, but hes the only sibling with a potential job lined up in the end. Hed at least be His Excellency!
Hes going to be a mess. Hes not going to be able to focus on anything, really. Hes not going to want to do that job very long if Willas not around. Hes going to delegate all authority. Hell gladly put on the nice clothes and go and meet people and make small talk, but if theres actually people coming to ask his help in some way, hes going to try to delegate all that. Please speak with my assistant. Shes quite well-versed in all this, and shell take good care of you. And then just bail out. I just see him being overwhelmed by the whole thing: strange new country, language he doesnt understand. Hes gonna feel intimidated.
What was Connors actual political platform?
Its kind of a mess. In the pilot, he talked about the aquifer under his property, so Im sure that hes very concerned about pollution, as it affects him. Anything thats around him: somebodys trying to build a power plant or somebodys trying to dig some sort of mine, hes going to be all over that, because he doesnt want the water on his ranch to be tainted by somebody elses lust for money.
And then this is an idea I had, because he wants to be a man of the people and he doesnt want to pay any taxes: since Citizens United, the Supreme Court decided that corporations are people. Then it stands to reason that people are corporations. I wanted to suggest as Connor that he say to the people, I encourage you all to become incorporated. The Smith family business. Were in the business of raising these children, so therefore, we get to write off all their food, all their clothing, all their education, all their medical care. We get to write all those things off. I think he would have wanted to start kind of a grassroots revolution: Were not paying. No taxes! He would think that the people would just adore him for that.
Connor took Logans medals in his exclusive first round of the great reallocation. Why?
I think he just wanted something that his dad really loved. For some reason, Logan was crazy about those medals, even though Ewan got right up his ass about it. I just think because Logan was so fond of it, thats why Connor wanted them.
HBO That video of the dinner with Logan indicated that Connor perhaps shared more actual quality time with him than any of his siblings. But when he died, Connor said, He didnt even like me. How do you reconcile his relationship with Logan when it comes down to it?
I think that, like all the kids, hes just wanted his fathers validation and unconditional love. But now, Connor is deep into his 50s, and he has realized by this point that actually, thats not available. It doesnt mean you still dont want it. But he does realize that the man just is not capable of getting warm and fuzzy. It was never going to happen.
Connor always came down on the side of his father throughout these four seasons. With all Kendalls machinations and the siblings plotting stuff together, Connor would always vote with his father, because his father was magic at this business stuff. Like Tom said, I never saw Logan get fucked. He was a winner. And if there was a plan to take down Logan, it probably wasnt going to work. So Connor loved his father, admired his father, and desperately wanted that love and admiration back. But he took what he could get.
Your impression of Logan singing Im a Little Teapot was spot-on. Did Brian Cox tell you what he thought of it?
He laughed. Hes just good-natured guy. He had just come back for that one day. He had a death in the family in Scotland, and he had just come back after that. So he was quiet. He was pensive. But he enjoyed all that stuff. When Karl starts singing Green Grow the Rashes, it was really wonderful. It was a charming and emotionally charged scene that was great fun to do. Brians great fun.
Despite that relationship, Connor didnt get to speak at the funeral in the penultimate episode. How did you feel about that?
They wrote so much good stuff, and we filmed it, but when it came right down to it, the show would be too long. In that the funeral episode, Connor had shown up saying that he had basically a manifesto to recite that was like 20 pages long. And then what happened in the script was that, at one point Siobhan turns around to Frank and goes, Frank, Connors in, youre out. Frank was going to read a passage from the Bible. So they gave me this passage from the Bible to read before Roman gets up. I did that, and it was pretty straightforward, but the shows just too long and it didnt advance the plot. So we kind of cut to the chase, which is the way it needed to be.
What was the final table read like?
Before the show, I really hated table reads. When you do a play, you all sit down and you read the play together aloud, because plays are all about the words. I never liked reading television shows or movies, because its mostly some guy reading a bunch of stage directions. Well, our show was more like a play, and Jesse and the writers are just master wordsmiths. It was a great joy to get together in the early days before COVID and read through every episode, because we were in the same room together. You get to feel everybodys energy. And then COVID hit, and that put a kibosh on that until the reading of the finale. They decided to do that in person, like we did in the old days.
It was incredibly emotional. Wed all been told that this was going to be the end of the series. Sarah Snook burst into tears. Like, erupted in tears when we finished. It was just so moving to her. And then Mark Mylod and Scott Ferguson were trying real hard to hold back the emotion when they said how wonderful the whole ride had been and all that stuff. Im getting a little worked up now. I got a little emotional. It was great.
And what about the moment when they wrapped on your final scene?
Justine and I hugged. Im really surprised how this is still getting me, excuse me. Jeremy and Kieran and Sarah came over and we had a big group hug. The crew applauded for a long time. You can tell right now, it was just a special time in my life.
Have you kept in touch much with the rest of the cast?
We have a couple of different threads, but theres one thats just called Succession Folks. Nicky Braun has a restaurant, and he invited everybody to come. He says hes going to have a viewing party for the finale. J. Smith says, Kenny and I will be there! Macfadyen says, Be there in spirit. Much love to you all. He says were allowed to bring a few guests, and Peter Friedman says, Im in! A few guests per person. Bwahaha! And then David Rasche says, Is this free, or will I have to pay for something? Braun says, You will pay for nothing, not sure about everyone else. Friedman says, What? Braun says, David has been a dear, dear friend, so I will be comping him two drinks and one appetizer. Friedman says, Did you say has been? David Rasche says, How big are the appetizers?
So yeah, were in touch. Its just a bunch of very clever, highly intelligent people giving each other a hard time. Its great.
This interview has been edited and condensed.