Jesse Armstrong Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Michaela Zee Jesse Armstrong has settled the debate over whether Logan Roy crossed out or underlined Kendall’s name in the fourth and final season of “Succession.” In Episode 4 of the series’ final season, titled “Honeymoon States,” the Roy family and friends gather at the home of Waystar Royco CEO and patriarch Logan (Brian Cox) to mourn his death. At the wake, Frank (Peter Friedman) discovers an undated document that names Kendall Roy (Jeremy Strong) as his father Logan’s successor.

Succession creator Jesse Armstrong appears to have settled a debate that emerged regarding the fourth episode of the show’s final season.Following the death of business magnate Logan Roy (Brian Cox), an important typed document was found that appeared to name his son Kendall (Jeremy Strong) as his successor as chief executive of the family’s media empire, WayStar Royco. However, there was a line in ink that started under Kendall’s name but moved up through it, prompting debate over whether his name was underlined or crossed out.At a Financial Times event in London yesterday (September 3), Armstrong suggested what the actual answer to the question was, which he would have definitively known since he was the one who drew the line itself on the paper.“This is the sort of thing I would have hated to do while we were still doing the show,” Armstrong said.

Succession creator Jesse Armstrong has talked up the benefits of writers rooms for shows of “scale and length” as he threw his support behind the ongoing writers strike.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Mark Mylod is still kicking himself over something in Season 4 of “Succession.” The series’ final installment has been universally lauded, and the general consensus is that the HBO drama stuck the landing. But for Mylod, the executive producer/director who is once again Emmy nominated, he can’t stop thinking about something — and he won’t reveal what it is just yet. “I will do the kicking myself thing.

Emmy-winning producer and director Mark Mylod has been with Succession for all four seasons, as has composer Nicholas Britell, who won an Emmy for the iconic theme of the series marking the three-time Oscar nominee’s first TV show. However, it was the stunner of a Episode 3 in the series’ final season, “Connor’s Wedding,” that was unlike anything they had tackled before on the show, and it presented unique challenges.

Succession,” the tenuously married couple Shiv Roy and Tom Wambsgans exit their crowded election eve party to viciously scream at each other, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” style, on their balcony. Half in shadow, half lit by the glow emanating from their Manhattan triplex, they hurl previously unspoken cruelties at one another, all of which are true. “You’re pathetic!” Shiv tells Tom.

Jesse Armstrong and Danny McBride will have some individual independence to celebrate this holiday weekend.

EXCLUSIVE: Ed Solomon, film and television writer, has teamed up with the Black List to host Word by Word. The show will broadcast live on Zoom starting Thursday, June 29.

On the Friday after Tom Wambsgans became the new puppet CEO of the Waystar-Royco media empire, the actor who has spent the past five years essaying the character’s ups, downs, and withering one-liners is propping up the bar of a small boutique hotel in London’s Chelsea. Matthew Macfadyen is nursing a lime tonic and contemplating a rest after several months of hard work on Succession’s blockbusting fourth season. In some other world, one imagines his fictional alter-ego is already discovering the poison in the chalice of the job he has spent a lifetime coveting. Macfadyen, instead, is content simply to think ahead to a quiet family dinner, and to reflect on the adventure of his past half decade.

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Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International The next season of “Bad Sisters” is slowly taking shape, even amid a writers strike. Creator Sharon Horgan confirmed that she’s currently writing Season 2 of the hit Apple TV+ series “Bad Sisters,” which will continue the story of the Garvey sisters after they successfully got rid of their toxic brother-in-law Jean-Paul (played by a deliciously evil Claes Bang). Horgan, who was speaking at the Banff World Media Festival, is likely able to continue working on the U.K.-filmed show — which she writes alongside Brett Baer and Dave Finkel — because she has a local contract in place with Apple TV+ for “Bad Sisters” rather than a WGA-governed deal. Under the current rules, U.K. writers can continue working on existing projects (under the jurisdiction of non-WGA contracts) with “struck” companies such as Apple, but can’t take on new work.

EXCLUSIVE: “We are today… WGA!” was the cry outside Cologne Cathedral yesterday evening in Germany, where around 50 protestors held a rally in solidarity with their WGA counterparts in the U.S.

The Flash showrunner Eric Wallace will be telling fellow American writers “we are not in this alone” when he returns home from London later.

This article contains major spoilers for the ‘Succession’ finale.Succession star Kieran Culkin says he disagrees with creator Jesse Armstrong’s interpretation of how Roman Roy feels at the show’s end.The lauded HBO show’s dramatic finale aired last month (May 28), with Culkin’s character Roman and his brother Kendall (Jeremy Strong) betrayed by sister Shiv (Sarah Snook), who backtracked on her pact with her brothers and cast the deciding vote to sell Waystar Royco to Lukas Matsson’s (Alexander Skarsgård) GoJo company.After the finale, Armstrong shared his thoughts on the characters’ headspace after the events of the finale, saying: “In a reductive, brutal way, Roman ends up exactly where he started. He is that guy still. And he maybe easily could have been a playboy jerk with some slightly nasty instincts, and some quite funny jokes.“He could’ve stayed in a bar, being that guy.

would be Waystar Royco’s new CEO in the wake of the death of Logan Roy (Brian Cox). But the highly acclaimed series almost continued.In a new interview in Variety, “Succession” star Kieran Culkin tells fellow actor and longtime friend Claire Danes that the show’s creator, Jesse Armstrong, considered doing additional seasons. He “pitched an amazing fifth season and then another and another,” seemingly off the top of his head, Culkin said of Armstrong.

Season 4 didn’t have to be the end of “Succession”.

Kate Aurthur editor SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers from “With Open Eyes,” the series finale of HBO’s “Succession,” now streaming on Max. During their cover story for Variety’s Actors on Actors, Claire Danes — who’s starred in a number of TV shows, including “Homeland” and FX’s recent limited series “Fleishman Is in Trouble” — asked Kieran Culkin whether he’d ever done episodic television before “Succession.” The answer, even though Culkin has been acting since he was a child, was no. Danes laughed, and said, “So you just thought, ‘No, I’m just going to do the best one, and start right there.’”

Kieran Culkin and Claire Danes worked together on Burr Steers’ 2002 indie “Igby Goes Down,” in which Culkin played the angst-ridden 17-year-old title character to Danes’ slightly older Manhattan socialite Sookie Sapperstein. All these years later, Danes is visibly pregnant, and they chat like old pals about the difficulty of naming her third child with Hugh Dancy. “‘Cyrus,’ we came to pretty readily. ‘Rowan,’ we had to fight harder for. This one is impossible,” she says. “I realized the movie you and I did together is over half of our lives ago,” Culkin says.

Note: The following contains spoilers for the “Succession” series finale.Of the many moments in the “Succession” series finale that have sparked conversation and debate ever since it aired, perhaps the most charged might be the final scene between Shiv (Sarah Snook) and Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) – and creator Jesse Armstrong is now offering up his interpretation of that dead-fish handhold.Tom has been named CEO of Waystar Royco, now owned by Matsson’s (Alexander Skarsgard) Gojo, thanks to Shiv’s last-minute decision to change her vote at the board meeting and deny Kendall (Jeremy Strong) the chance to be CEO. In the moments following the vote, we see Tom ask Shiv to meet him in a car waiting downstairs and she hurridly declines, yet later on we see her join him in the vehicle, the new King and Queen side by side. Tom coldly offers up his hand and Shiv puts hers on top of his, not as a show of affection but of… resignation? Acquiescence? Deference?What precisely is going on there has been a matter of debate among fans, but Armstrong told NPR’s Fresh Air that he sees it as “terrifying equality.”“Everyone has their own view, and I can tell you mine, which is that for me it was a moment of equality,” the creator and showrunner said.

Editor’s note: These interview was done outside of the FYC event as there was no cast or creatives panel as a part of the event.

Succession star Brian Cox has admitted he hasn't watched the show's finale, but said it had been 'one of the great shows of all time.'

Brian Cox is opening up about the Succession series finale but the actor has not watched how the show ended on HBO.

Shiv Roy may have looked defeated in those final moments of Succession but she actually achieved “terrifying equality” and “remains in play” for the future, the creator said in a new interview.

Succession fans have shared a bunch of references to Peep Show from the HBO series.Peep Show was co-created by Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong, who also collaborated together on Channel 4 comedy Fresh Meat. Armstrong later went on to create HBO’s Succession, which recently wrapped its fourth and final season.Throughout Succession’s run, fans have highlighted various references to Peep Show, which starred David Mitchell and Robert Webb as dysfunctional flatmates Mark and Jeremy.A number of these references have been listed by Twitter user @PodcastPharoahs, including a character called Stefan Strauss on the investigation committee in Succession season two.

Editor’s note: Deadline’s It Starts on the Page features 10 standout drama series scripts in 2023 Emmy contention. It showcases the critical role writer’s work plays in a show’s success. All arrangements were made before the WGA strike began on May 2.

Katcy Stephan SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers from “With Open Eyes,” the series finale of HBO’s “Succession,” now streaming on Max. Connor Roy was interested in politics at an early age — but Alan Ruck isn’t convinced. “He can say anything he wants to say, but just because he was interested doesn’t mean he’s knowledgeable.” Still, in his mid-50s, Connor’s interest is finally becoming a reality — with a catch. In the finale of HBO’s acclaimed drama “Succession,” from creator Jesse Armstrong, Ruck’s 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 Logan’s old apartment) while Connor carries out his duties abroad.

“AI ain’t gonna write Succession, or Chinatown or The Godfather,” says Jeremy Strong of what’s at stake with the writers’ strike. “It’s just not going to,” the actor who brought Jesse Armstrong’s words for Kendall Roy to life bluntly adds.

Ethan Shanfeld SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers from “With Open Eyes,” the series finale of HBO’s “Succession,” now streaming on Max. The end of “Succession” was filmed on the coldest day of the year. “The windchill was minus-something in Fahrenheit, and it was absolute purgatory to shoot,” says Mark Mylod, the director and executive producer who has steered many of “Succession’s” greatest episodes. “Jeremy initially was feeling nothing but cold.” Mylod, who has now helmed all four season finales of the HBO juggernaut, was worried that the last scene — with Jeremy Strong’s Kendall hopelessly walking through Battery Park, and Logan’s leftover bodyguard Colin trailing behind — didn’t feel “weighty enough.”

HBO‘s Succession will not be getting a spin-off series, per the network’s Head of Drama Francesca Orsi.The news comes after the show’s final episode aired, bringing the hit series to a close. Speaking to Deadline, Orsi shared: “I know there was some talk about spinoffs, but no, not at all”.Orsi added: “I’ll never say never but my instinct and based on a number of conversations about the evolution of Succession and these characters, at this stage, there is no intention of spinning any one character off”.The HBO exec also said that while she doesn’t know what Succession creator Jesse Armstrong is planning to do next, she thinks “it will be entirely original.

Succession,” you know that things didn’t exactly play out like Kendall Roy (played masterfully by Jeremy Strong) had hoped. And now the actor is shedding light on how things could have been even darker than what ended up in the episode, telling Kara Swisher on the official “Succession” podcast: “It always to me felt like there’s no coming back from this.”Spoilers for the “Succession” series finale follow.In the final moments of the episode, Kendall, having lost the bid to block the sale to tech weirdo Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård) and all chances of leading the company that his father had once promised him, sits alone, dejected, in a public park, looking out against the slate grey water. The only person with him is Colin (Scott Nicholson), his father’s former driver and now his employee.

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. The profanity-riddled dialogue and whip smart writing of “Succession” finally came to a close on Sunday night with one last extremely dramatic finale episode, ending with the highly anticipated answer to the series-long question over who will take over the Roy empire.

Succession.In the finale titled With Open Eyes, Shiv (Sarah Snook) and Roman (Kieran Culkin) prepare a smoothie for their brother Kendall (Strong) after agreeing to support his bid to become the new CEO of Waystar Royco.The smoothie, described as “a meal fit for a king”, contains milk, Tabasco hot sauce, bread crusts, Branston pickle, raw eggs, cocoa powder and Shiv’s spit.Kendall takes a large gulp of the smoothie, and after he refuses to drink the rest, Roman tips the leftovers over his brother’s head.Speaking on the official Succession podcast to host Kara Swisher, Strong said the smoothie contained “all those things” seen on screen, which he actually consumed for the scene.“We did it only a few times and I went outside and retched, and jumped in the ocean, and washed it off my hair,” the actor said. “Yeah, I did drink it, yeah.”After Swisher remarked that he “really was a method actor”, Strong replied: “I wouldn’t know how not to drink it.

This article contains major spoilers for the ‘Succession’ finale.Succession creator Jesse Armstrong has shared his thoughts on the outcome of the lauded HBO show’s dramatic finale, which aired last night (May 28).After a power struggle between the Roy siblings after the death of their father Logan, the finale ended with Shiv Roy (Sarah Snook) backtracking on her pact with brothers Kendall (Jeremy Strong) and Roman (Kieran Culkin) to betray them and cast the deciding vote to sell Waystar Royco to Lukas Matsson’s (Alexander Skarsgård) GoJo company.This meant that Shiv’s husband and ATN boss Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfadyen) became boss of the company in a major twist after Matsson betrayed Shiv, who was initially in line for the CEO job.Speaking as part of a ‘Controlling The Narrative’ featurette on streaming service Max, Armstrong said he knew what he wanted the outcome of the finale to be for a good while.“The idea of Tom being the eventual successor, that had been something that I thought was the right ending for quite a while now,” Armstrong said.“Even though he’s not exactly the most powerful monarch you’ll ever meet — his power comes from Matsson. Those figures that drift upwards and make themselves amenable to powerful people are around.”Of the future of the Roy siblings, Armstrong added: “I thought about all their stories.

Succession fans were waiting with bated breath for the final episode of series four to air.

This article contains spoilers from the series finale of “Succession.”“This show has always been a tragedy,” said director Mark Mylod of “Succession” in a segment that aired after the series finale of the Emmy-winning HBO series Sunday night.Mylod, who has directed 16 episodes of the series, called the finale “perfectly painful,” as the Roys literally came to blows before completely losing control of their father’s company. He praised series creator Jesse Armstrong, saying, “Jesse stuck the landing with this climactic showdown between the three siblings,” referring to the brutal scene where Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Roman (Kieran Culkin) and Shiv (Sarah Snook), lashed out physically and verbally over the decision to sell the company. “The final ripping off of the bandage to expose that terrible, terrible truth put so simply by Roman,” he said of the scene in which Roman proclaims, “We are bulls—t.

[WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for the series finale of “Succession.”]After four seasons, “Succession” has come to an end — and Waystar RoyCo has a new CEO.In the 90-minute series finale, creator Jesse Armstrong wrapped up a string of conflicts, but ultimately had the goal of answering the question everyone has been asking since Season 1 premiered in 2018: Who will succeed Logan Roy (Brian Cox) as CEO?There were many ways the ending could’ve gone: Kendall Roy (Jeremy Strong) could’ve filled his father’s shoes — as Logan may or may not have wanted from the looks of the underline/cross-out on his official document, Kendall and Roman Roy (Kieran Culkin) could’ve stayed on as co-CEOs, GoJo could have acquired Waystar with Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård) coming out on top and naming Shiv Roy (Sarah Snook) as CEO, as well as many other possibilities.In the end, the hole left by the death of Logan Roy could only be filled by one person.Spoilers for Season 4, Episode 10, “With Open Eyes” are below, so stop scrolling now if you don’t want to know who got the crown.While it was always presumed that Logan Roy’s successor would be in the family bloodline, it didn’t exactly turn out that way.Neither Kendall, Roman, Shiv — or Connor (Alan Ruck), for that matter — ended up being the heir to the media mogul’s throne.After Matsson decided he wasn’t going to name Shiv as the CEO of the company, an unsuspecting person filled her in on who it would be.“Shiv, you should probably know: it’s me,” Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfadyen) told his wife.As noted above, Greg found out by translating a conversation in Swedish that Matsson was not actually planning on giving the CEO title to Shiv, as he promised he would.Upon finding