In ‘Succession,’ Tom and Greg Were Never Playing the Long Game
Is this what he wanted?
MACFADYEN You could make the argument that he wanted to have a happy marriage or maybe for Shiv [Tom’s wife, played by Sarah Snook] to do it and him to be No. 2. He would have been happy with that, too. I genuinely don’t know what he wants any more than I know what I want. He wants to shinny up the greasy pole, but I don’t know how ruthless he is.
NICHOLAS BRAUN People sometimes ask, “What is Greg doing in there? What does he want? Why does he keep hanging around?” We weren’t playing these big long game things.
Is this a good ending for Greg, in thrall to Tom forever at a greatly reduced salary?
BRAUN It’s a good résumé builder: Put a big position on LinkedIn; get the headhunters involved for the better salary somewhere else.
Do you think he can leave Tom?
BRAUN For Greg, that’s always in his mind. Like, “Do I need this? Do I need to feel this bad at work?” I also don’t know if he’s going to cut my salary. I think he could like triple it. Easily.
MACFADYEN You’ll be head of dismissals.
BRAUN Chief H.R. officer. Walking down the hall, every office: “You’re fired.”
Why do you think Shiv sides with Tom over her brothers, Kendall and Roman?
MACFADYEN Maybe she doesn’t choose Tom over her brothers. Maybe she just can’t stomach her big brother. It’s not a binary choice. She just looks at Kendall and thinks, “I can’t.” I don’t think she made a rational decision. And then there’s this beautiful stage direction that Jesse wrote in the script of Tom and Shiv in the car. He talks about two bombs being transported.
Source: The New York Times
