Kieran Culkin Nabbed The Role Of Roman On Succession By Refusing To Audition For Cousin Greg
There are some roles that are impossible to envision with any other actor besides the one playing it. HBO's "Succession" is chock-full of these roles – can you imagine any other actor besides Jeremy Strong as Kendall or Brian Cox as Logan? We certainly can't, and we especially can't see anyone stepping into the role of the slimy yet tragic Roman other than Kieran Culkin.
However, in some sort of strange multiverse, he could have played a character that was extremely different. In a recent interview with Variety, Culkin revealed that the casting team for "Succession" thought he would be a good fit for the affable-turned-despicable Greg (Nicholas Braun). Needless to say, he had other plans.
"I knew I wasn't Greg," he said. "I read the first element and knew that's just not me."
If you may recall, the audience's introduction to Greg was him working as a mascot at the Brightstar Adventure Park, being attacked by small children, and throwing up inside his costume. A compelling character introduction, sure, but it certainly is an acquired taste. However, that didn't mean Culkin wasn't interested in the show altogether.
"What's fun about that is I thought the writing was good enough [ten] pages in and just kept reading, which I don't normally do," Culkin continued. "Then the character Roman walks in and says, 'Hey, hey motherf***ers,' and then I was like, he's fun, and kept reading."
Love at first read
We can't blame Kieran Culkin for instantly being attracted to Roman. From that very first line, you know exactly the type of character he is, while also weirdly setting him up as a character to explore much deeper than just the surface. It sounds like the actor had the same idea, because he told Variety that he devised a plan to ensure he got to take a stab at the character, no matter what:
"I asked: 'I'm wrong for Greg, so that's a pass, but I don't want to pass. Can I read for Roman?' The response I got back was they're not reading for Roman yet. And I said, 'Can I do it anyway?' My agent at the time was like, yeah, go ahead, play the game. So I picked three scenes, put myself on tape, and sent it in."
Hey, sometimes you gotta make the opportunities you want yourself. And thank goodness he did, because obviously, going that extra mile worked out in Culkin's favor. He's been able to introduce multiple layers to an otherwise one-note goofball who's become the source of speculation and fascination among "Succession" fans. With the most recent episode's big blow-up, it's hard to see anyone besides Culkin in these shoes, and thank goodness for that.
"Succession" airs Sunday nights on HBO and HBO Max.