Succession star "delighted" with episode 3's shocking twist

We still don’t know who it could be, but the position is now officially open.

That’s right, folks: the ruthless media mogul played by Brian Cox is dead.

The Roy family patriarch died while on a flight to Stockholm in the third episode and, with seven episodes left in Succession’s final season, the twist came as a surprise to many.

However, despite the surprising departure, Cox didn’t have too much difficulty coming to terms with his character's exit from the series.

Speaking to Deadline, he said of the show creator Jesse Armstrong's huge decision: "He knew he had to bring it to a close, you know? He knew he had to bring it to a close. It was difficult for him to bring it to a close."

Cox continued: "Because I think when you start to write something, you don’t always know how it’s going to end up. Then, because of the other writers, it sort of went on this different route. I was delighted because I’ve always been delighted by the writing anyway, and for me, less is more."

Asked about who could win control of Roy’s media empire following his death, he added: “I don’t know, because I haven’t seen it, so I don’t really know what, you know because I don’t read stuff if I’m not in it. I’ve got enough to be getting on with."

He continued: "My suspicion is that it won’t be the kids. I think that they will get locked out. Ultimately, they’ll get locked out. Ultimately, they will be, you know, the whole Pierce thing was such a stupid fucking idea anyway, and not well handled on their part. It was the last big mistake and I could see them walking into a shitstorm."

He concluded: "And I think they’re going to be walking into more s**tstorms. So, I’m not sure if they’re going to be coming out running it. So, the only other alternative is to, I suppose is Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård), you know, if that works. Or, the other alternative is, where does Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) and Greg (Nicholas Braun) go to, you know? Where do they go to? What does Tom go to, with, in his extremely dysfunctional relationship with his wife?"

Read more:

• Succession siblings team up with old foes to take down Logan in trailer
• Succession creator hints at spin-offs – but HBO boss has doubts

Succession airs on Mondays at 2am and is repeated at 9pm on Sky Atlantic and NOW – sign up for Sky TV here. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to see what's on tonight.

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