From creator Jesse Armstrong, the highly acclaimed and much beloved HBO drama series Succession is back for a stinging third season, with the power dynamics in the Roy family shifting in a rather perilous way that feels like it could take down anyone in its path at any time. After Kendall’s (Jeremy Strong) decision to expose the depths of the company’s scandal, patriarch Logan Roy (Brian Cox) has pitted his other adult children – including Shiv (Sarah Snook), Roman (Kieran Culkin) and Connor (Alan Ruck) – against each other, wanting them to spy, snitch and claw their way into what could become a family civil war.
At a virtual junket for Season 3, Collider got the opportunity to chat 1-on-1 with Ruck about how much he enjoys playing Connor Roy, how his Succession character compares to his character in Ferris Bueller, how collaborative the relationship is between Armstrong and the cast, how Connor might do if he actually became President of the United States, his character’s best and worst qualities, and his mental state by the end of the season.
Collider: Did you miss Connor, in the time between filming for Season 2 ended and the filming for Season 3 began, or is he someone that you’re happy to pack away for a bit?
ALAN RUCK: No, I really enjoy playing Connor. I really enjoy being around all of my playmates. I enjoy discovering the story, as (show creator) Jesse [Armstrong] and the team write it. I just think we were all so preoccupied with COVID and were like, “What the hell is going on?,” that I didn’t think about it as much as I might’ve, in between a regular season, but I was really thrilled to get back doing it.
Was it harder to slip back into him this season because of everything else happening, or is he a pretty easy character for you to find?
RUCK: It wasn’t hard to find at all. The material that we’re given is so beautiful, it’s actually very easy to play because it’s so specific, which is nice. It was a little weird with all of the COVID protocols that we had, like masks and shields and everybody wearing their PPE, but other than that, it was just like old times.
I’m guessing that over the years you’ve had many fans talk to you about Ferris Bueller. When Succession became so popular, have you noticed a shift in that? Do you hear more from Succession fans now? Do people want to talk to you more about the Roy family?
RUCK: Maybe a little bit, but there’s still that Ferris Bueller thing float around, after all these years. We start out talking about Succession, and then it always goes to, “Oh, and by the way . . .” And I’m like, “Oh, okay, whatever you wanna talk about.”
Does it feel full circle to come back around to playing another neglected son of a rich man?
RUCK: I actually think that Cameron probably turned out all right. My joke is that his father came home and threw him out the window and on top of the car, but I actually think that Cameron probably turned out okay. The jury’s out on Connor.
Do you have a sense of ownership of this character, in the sense that you feel like you can make suggestions about character or dialogue or things with his arc, or do you just leave yourself in the hands of the writers?
RUCK: We all make suggestions and we all bounce ideas off of Jesse and the writing team. The truth is that they have such a clear vision of what this is. It’s not that they don’t hear us. It’s just that they they’ve planned it out. If someday they could fit in one of our ideas, they would probably do it, if it would help further the story. Maybe a lot of the stuff that we come up with is tangential and is just some really good backstory. You can just keep that in your heart for your own well being. But we improv a fair bit on set. Some of it makes it into the show and some of it doesn’t.
Has there ever been anything for your character that you’ve disagreed with, or is it just more about having conversations with the writers to understand where they’re coming from, if you’re not sure of something?
RUCK: I was worried for a while that he was just gonna be the family punching bag. He’s starting to stand up for himself a bit more and you can expect more of that, as time goes on. That was a concern of mine for awhile, but then they started to address that, which I think was their plan all along. They just needed me to be patient, which I am no good at.
I love that Connor is finding his voice and taking some agency this season, which is a little bit different for him. Is he going to continue to insist on being heard?
RUCK: I think it’s become clear in this family that the only way you get people to pay attention to you is if you have something that’s financially valuable, or you have something that’s damaging and they don’t want anybody to know. You have play dirty and you have to play for keeps. Connor is finally begrudgingly taking that to heart and he’s started to play ball on the family’s terms.
Do you feel like he actually knows what he wants, or does he just want in a way that leads him into trouble because he just wants something?
RUCK: He wants his father to be stunned. He wants to stun his father with an accomplishment. He also wants to be useful to his father. Obviously, this is the reason he’s decided he needs to be President of the United States because his father would not be able to ignore him and might, in fact, call upon Connor for some favors. He would need Connor, at that point.
It seems like up until now, Connor has been okay with just saying that he wants to be president or that he’s going to be president. Does he have a full understanding of what that would actually mean? Is he at a point where his level of ambition is finally getting him to where he thinks it’s something he could do?
RUCK: He absolutely thinks he can do it. He has no idea what the job entails. And as many difficulties might arise, he would just say, “I need to hire the proper people to help me and we’ll get through this.” He has absolute confidence, but not a clue, as to how to do it.
If he were to actually become president, how scared do you think the rest of the country and world should be?
RUCK: It could be complete financial collapse of the United States, as we know it. It could be a sign of the end times.
What do you think Connor’s best quality is and what do you think has worst quality is?
RUCK: I actually think he’s really loyal. He’s in love with Willa and he’s devoted to Willa. I actually think he loves his father. He loves his siblings as well, but he truly loves his father. And when push comes to shove, unless the old man really does him wrong, I think he’ll always come down on the side of his father. I’ve known him longer than anybody else and his loyalty is like a dog. He’s quite loyal. His worst quality is maybe that he’s just a scatterbrain. He’s not stupid. He just not at all linear. He’s scattershot in whatever grabs his attention, at any moment. He does suffer from delusional disorder. Maybe that isn’t his fault, but it’s not a great quality in a presidential candidate.
If you met Connor, is he someone that you would want to be friends with, or is he someone you would avoid ever crossing paths with again? How do you feel about him?
RUCK: I’m sure that, if I met him at a party, I would talk with my wife on the way home and say, “Did you talk to that guy?” I’m sure it would just be like, “What was he talking about? Oh, he’s talking about the aquifer under his ranch.” I don’t think I’d be that interested to pursue that friendship.
Brian Cox has said that Logan loves his children. Do you believe that’s true? If he is capable of love, do you feel like he loves them equally, or is that not possible?
RUCK: I’m not exactly sure, if he loves us equally. I actually think he feels very guilty about Connor because he virtually abandoned Connor when he divorced Connor’s mother. Connor didn’t actually see his father for awhile, and then he was off with this new family. I think Logan actually carries some guilt about Connor and he cuts him some slack, every now and then, because of that. This is a guy who was whipped as a child. We saw the scars on his back, in Season 1. The way he tells us he loves us is with these harsh insights into his world, the real world, the world of killers and media moguls and titans. There are these little glimpses into the way he lives. I think that’s the way he tells us he loves us.
Without spoilers and without telling me why, how would you describe Connor’s mental state by the end of Season 3?
RUCK: By the end of Season 3, I would say that he’s enjoying a moment of clarity. A few things have come into focus and he’s more his own man.
Would you say in a positive way, or in a way that we should be scared for Season 4?
RUCK: It just depends on your point of view.
Apparently, Jesse Armstrong has said that this is a show that could end up going only one more season or maybe two seasons, but he doesn’t see it going for more than five seasons. How do you feel about the fact that you could be playing this character for only one more season? Would you be sad to say goodbye to him?
RUCK: Yeah. I would like to do five seasons, and then I think that would be it. I think that would be the time to say goodbye. But it’s not up to me. If Jesse feels that it’s time to end it after Season 4, then that would be it and we’ll be grateful to have been part of it.
At the same time, if he came to you and said, “I have this great idea, we’re going to have a new show and it’s going to be Connor as president,” would you be game for that?
RUCK: I’d give a shot.
It seems like it might end with lots of destruction.
RUCK: It would be better if it was a limited series.
Succession airs on Sunday nights on HBO, and is available to stream at HBO Max.