Movies - TV
Succession's Cast Has Accidentally Added Entire Storylines To The Series
By SHANIA RUSSELL
In the first few seasons of “Succession,” Matthew Macfadyen's character, Tom Wambsgans, is only sort of a player in the political intrigue. Though a prestige drama with such sharp dialogue doesn't seem like the natural space for improvisation, spontaneity is baked into the show’s DNA, and much of this has to do with the way episodes are shot, giving actors room to adlib and react.
While Tom's animosity toward Greg (Nicholas Braun) was always in the pilot script, the details of their relationship evolved as the writers embraced the hilarity of Braun and Macfadyen together onscreen. Theater alums like Brian Cox and Jeremy Strong have compared filming the series to being onstage: just because the camera isn't pointed in their direction doesn't mean they aren't in character.
In regards to acting and writing, Macfadyen explained that there is a circularity: “We will do something given to us by this magic writing, and then they will see something else, and then that will feed back into the script.” The relationship between Roman and Gerri was started as a result of this, according to Macfadyen and that builds the energy of these relationships.