Edge of the seat
NOT EVEN THE ACTING CEO KNOWS HOW THE HIT SERIES SUCCESSION IS GOING TO END
American actor J. Smith-Cameron was in a South African airport recently when a Norwegian fan congratulated her on her portrayal of Gerri in the hit TV drama Succession.
It was a surprising reminder of the popularity of the show and her character, Smith-Cameron says, not least because Gerri – a savvy executive in the Roy family media empire – was originally intended to be a male Jerry.
“I think I just lucked out,” she says.
“The audition sides were written for a man, so it was kind of funny to me the way all the men speak very coarsely to each other on the show. They would say horrible things to me and I just wouldn’t blink, and I thought that was kind of funny and I guess the writers did too, and the rest is history.”
That history is now coming to an end as the show’s fourth and final season premieres today, which Smith-Cameron says has the cast “heartbroken”.
When the cameras started rolling last year, creator Jesse Armstrong left them “hopeful and dangling a bit” before it became clear the story was reaching its ultimate conclusion.
“I feel like my character has a lot more life in her, and I think that’s true of really most of the characters, that there’s lots more show in there,” Smith-Cameron says.
“But I think we also really have such confidence in Jesse, that if he thinks he can shore this up – he’s thinking of quality control and making sure it stays pure and good. I have to admire that and go with that, but we’re all really sad.”
As Waystar Royco’s general counsel, Gerri started off in the shadows of the dysfunctional Roy family, only to become a central player partly because of some playful ad libbing.
It was late in the first season when Smith-Cameron and Kieran Culkin, who plays the youngest Roy sibling Roman, ended a scene by flirting.
Succession’s writers quickly turned their risque repartee into a key plot line, despite SmithCameron initially wondering if the audience would be “horrified” by the banter with her younger co-star and long-time friend.
Instead, it prompted salacious fan-fiction about the couple anointed as “German” or “Rorri”.
“Part of the internet just lost their minds when Roman and Gerri got together,” she laughs.
“It’s just such an unexpected, bizarro thing. I think that Kieran and I in a very particular way have a sort of chemistry that was well used, but it still surprises me. I think it’s fantastic that it’s inspired so much fandom.”
Their unrequited romance blew up late in season 3, when an unsolicited “dick pic” from Roman meant for Gerri – by now the company’s interim CEO – went to his father Logan.
Smith-Cameron says that leaves her character “walking very carefully through a minefield” between Logan and Roman in the show’s final season.
“Season four starts with Gerri being on the outs with really both Roman and Logan, because it’s caused a wedge between them,” she says.
“As often happens when there’s misconduct of a sexual nature, often the woman is the person shamed and shut out.”
“I think it starts unsteady and it stays very unstable, and from my storyline within season 4, that’s sort of right on the nose about what my biggest issues are.”
The 65year-old, who spent most of her career in theatre before her Emmynominated turn in Succession, says she channelled friends in the corporate world to bring Gerri to life. She describes it as a “wonderful corner of the show” to see how a woman “keeps herself above water in that world”.
“I personally enjoyed the fact that I got to really have a lot to do with the creation of the character,” Smith-Cameron says.
“I’ve loved all the ad libbing we’ve got to do on the show … I love that I’ve got to play this very particular character that I feel some ownership over.”
Her co-star Brian Cox, who plays Logan, has been far less interested in improvising.
“I won’t do it. I’ve refused. I stick to the script,” he says, believing Logan “wouldn’t do it”.
“The improvising is to help the younger actors get into the scene and do their shit … I don’t mind it, I’ve got nothing against improvising.”
“They’ll say, ‘Do you want to, can you?’. And I’ll go, ‘nah, not really, let me do the scene’.”
Nevertheless, Smith-Cameron says the cast’s creativity has helped make Succession a “groundbreaking” series that she hopes will be ranked alongside great dramas including The Sopranos and The Wire.
“I think we’re all just shocked and exhilarated that so many people around the world have responded to it, because it doesn’t kow-tow to any rules of television,” she says.
“It doesn’t condescend the audience ever. It always expects everyone to be sitting forward in their seats and thinking, and I hope that sets a sort of standard, because I love that.”
Of course, any great show needs a great ending, although Smith-Cameron is none the wiser ahead of the season premiere.
“There have been rewrites up to the last minute and things added and things taken away,” she says.
“Even for myself, lines I said that I don’t know if they’ll be in, but if they’re in they’ll mean one thing, and if you don’t hear that line you’ll never know that. So I’m like everyone – on the edge of my seat.”
Succession, is streaming now on BINGE and airs today, midday and 8.30pm, Fox Showcase and On Demand