Succession's Brian Cox has surprising thoughts about which child should've won

The acclaimed satirical drama concluded with its fourth season earlier this year, which ended with the business slipping out of the family's grasp, as Swedish entrepreneur Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård) bought it "for parts".

He installed Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfadyen) – husband of Logan's daughter, Shiv (Sarah Snook) – in the top job, keeping a tangential link with the old regime.

However, Kendall (Jeremy Strong) and Roman (Kieran Culkin) were implied to have no future at the company after their intense dealings with Matsson, although we'll never know exactly where they end up in the long-term.

Speaking to Screen Rant, Cox said that "none" of the Roy children were truly suitable to take their father's place, but in his opinion, the person who came closest was Roman.

"The only one, ironically, who I think he feels could step up was Roman, because Roman showed a lot of sensibility, particularly in dealing with the Middle Eastern money — which was fake, and he knew it, and he could see it in season 2," he explained.

"I thought, 'Wow, there is a potential in Roman', as I believe there is. That's why I think Roman really, really loved his father."

However, reflecting on Succession season 4's funeral episode, where Roman became hysterical while attempting to deliver a eulogy and had to be rescued by his siblings, Cox seemingly began to feel differently.

"I watched it and I just thought that Roman is such a child, he's so lost," he added.

Read more:

• Succession star Brian Cox explains why he hasn't watched the finale
• Succession's Tom Wambsgans is far from the "winner"

While Cox personally saw the most potential in Roman, he believes that his character was hoping to hand the empire to Shiv, who took pole position in the second season before overstepping her mark.

"Shiv is the one that he felt strongly [about] because it's his daughter... He felt that she should be the one, but in a sense, she just behaves like she can't keep her f*****g mouth shut, excuse my Greek," said Cox.

"She really can't, and that was a problem, and then she's so uncertain of herself. Now you can blame the father for that, but actually, it's about them, it's not about him."

He summarised: "I always knew that it wasn’t gonna work, they weren’t gonna get it, and they didn’t deserve it. They were not serious people."

Succession is available to stream on NOW. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.
Try Radio Times magazine today and get 12 issues for only £1 with delivery to your home – subscribe now. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.