Editor's Note: The Following Article Contains Full Spoilers for Seasons 1 through 3 of Succession.HBO has consistently delivered quality programming over the years, as evident by the recent massive success of The Last of Us. Come this March, though, one of the studio's current crowned jewels will return with the fourth and final season of Succession. Created by Jesse Armstrong and executive produced by Adam McKay (The Big Short), a story of greedy and cruel family members who run a multimedia empire doesn't really sound like a successful show on paper. Yet, thanks to remarkable writing and incredible performances, Succession has become one of the most acclaimed and successful shows ever to grace the platform, essentially functioning as Game of Thrones but instead of mass murder and wanton violence, there are corporate cover-ups and unethical business practices.
Ever since Season 3 of Succession concluded in December 2021, fans of the Emmy-winning series have been eagerly awaiting the return of the Roy Family. Thankfully, fans won't have to wait much longer, as Succession Season 4 is primed and ready to return on Sunday, March 26. With so many twists, turns, and switches in alliance last season, some may want a brief refresher on where the characters in the ensemble cast currently stand. Luckily, we here at Collider have you covered, as we've put together a comprehensive cast and character guide for one of HBO's biggest success stories.
Brian Cox as Logan Roy
Legendary actor Brian Cox, whose prolific resume includes Adaptation, X2, Troy, and many more finally got some long-deserved awards recognition for his performance as the ruthless Logan Roy in the series' final season.
Logan is the proud, stubborn, and cruel owner of Waystar Royco - one of the world's largest media conglomerate empires and the biggest family-owned business on the planet. Although his children of Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Roman (Kieran Culkin), Shiv (Sarah Snook), and Connor (Alan Ruck) all are major players in the company and his personal life, Logan views them all as pieces on a chessboard rather than beloved family members. His regular employees like Frank (Peter Friedman) and Gerri (J. Smith-Cameron) he treats even worse, but it's fair to say that Logan tells almost everyone he knows to "fuck off".
As the show's title implies, Logan is getting older and his health is beginning to deteriorate, with the pilot episode showing this in its full effect. Despite this, Logan insists on staying on as Waystar Royco's CEO, causing Kendall, the Roy child who has the most involvement with the company to stage a coup against his own father. However, time and time again Logan comes out on top, even going as far as to blackmail Kendall after he learns that his son is responsible for the death of a waiter. Kendall effectively becomes Logan's unthinking drone, but this proves to only be a temporary solution as Kendall turns on Logan again when he gets documents that prove deep misconduct and corruption in the company's cruises division.
Kendall's latest attempt to overthrow Logan certainly got close, but again, Logan had an ace up his sleeve and effectively cuts Kendall and some of his siblings out of the company. With three of his four children now hating him, it will be up to Logan if the family will be brought back together (if it was even together, to begin with).
Jeremy Strong as Kendall Roy
Jeremy Strong's work with Adam McKay on The Big Short almost certainly factored into his casting in Succession, and thank goodness it did as his performance as Kendall Roy has become nothing short of iconic.
Although Kendall is the closest thing Succession has to a protagonist, he's far from a likable hero. Everything about his character screams "frat-boy trying to recapture his youth", holding rap performances even when nobody asks him to. Kendall may be the closest-knit family member in the company, but Logan still doesn't trust him enough to hand him the company, citing his current state as a recovering drug addict as the primary reason. Kendall is also struggling with his family life as his attempts to win back his ex-wife Rava (Natalie Gold) have also proven futile. After getting repeatedly beaten down by his family members and losing the love of his life, Kendall eventually relapses, convincing a waiter to help him get high which results in a car crash and the waiter's death.
This is what gives Logan a bargaining chip over Kendall, essentially forcing his son to do his bidding in exchange for keeping the incident confidential. This is what causes Kendall to become an unrecognizable drone in Season 2, shutting down whole divisions and firing dozens of people without any hesitation. This further ostracized Kendall from his siblings as well, as they don't have an ounce of trust in him and find his newfound loyalty to Logan confusing, to say the least. They're even more confused when Kendall flip-flops again and uses the cruises' controversy as an excuse to remove Logan from his position. Eventually, Kendall confides in Roman and Shiv about his incident with the waiter, and surprisingly enough, they understand what their sibling is going through and join him against Logan.
That would prove to be a mistake as Logan would be punishing not just Kendall, but also Roman and Shiv.
Kieran Culkin as Roman Roy
Kieran Culkin proved once and for all that he's far more than a child actor as seen in Father of the Bride with his performance as Roman Roy, the second Roy child that actively works in the company.
The problematic COO is also the youngest of the Roy children and is arguably the most immature. Roman is always leveling creative insults at his family and coworkers, particularly against his big sister Shiv. Roman also has a complicated relationship with Gerri, with the young playboy having a romantic interest in her despite Gerri being old enough to be his mother. Not to mention that workplace relationships are generally frowned upon at Waystar Royco, but between masturbating in his office and accidentally sending dick picks to Logan, that ship of workplace ethics sailed a long time ago.
Kendall has tried to get Roman on his side for a lot of coup attempts against Logan, but Roman's fear of his father always prevails in the end. This only further progressed the long-standing rivalry that the two had, but come the final season, they will find themselves as two members of an unlikely trio to oppose Logan. Now we'll just have to see if Roman will stay loyal to his siblings or once again get manipulated by Logan.
Sarah Snook as Shiv Roy
Steve Jobs star Sarah Snook brings to life Shiv Roy, the lone sister of the Roy siblings whose morally righteous exterior is repeatedly undermined by her selfish desires.
Unlike Kendall and Roman, Shiv doesn't actively work in the company but is still a major shareholder. Prior to Season 1, Shiv spent most of her time as a political consultant and one that works with more liberal politicians, which causes some division among her family given Logan Roy and the rest of the family are more right-wing-leaning. She also gets engaged and later married Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfadyen) - a high-ranking employee who gets placed in charge of the notorious cruises department. Shiv's relationship with Tom is unhealthy, to say the least, and it's clear that Shiv wants something more as she's cheated on him occasionally and even asked for an open relationship on their wedding night.
For a while, it seemed that Shiv was Logan's number-one choice to take over as CEO despite not having nearly the amount of company experience that her siblings have. That proves not to be the case as their own mother, Caroline Collingwood (Harriet Walter) sells out the shares of Shiv, Kendall, and Roman, officially creating this unlikely alliance.
Alan Ruck as Connor Roy
Cameron Frye from Ferris Bueller's Day Off himself, Alan Ruck plays Connor Roy, the oldest and most unusual of the Roy children by far.
When we first meet Connor, it initially seems that he's the one normal child of the bunch, not really having any interest in the family business and just wanting to stay out of drama in general. That quickly proves not to be the case. Connor's attitude towards those below their social class is just as repugnant as his other family members, he was dating and is now engaged to an escort and aspiring playwright who clearly has no romantic feelings for him, and he even has aspirations to become the President of the United States.
Above all else, Connor is also the most loyal to his beloved pop Logan, and it will be fairly unlikely that he'll join the side of his siblings ahead, during, or after his wedding.
Nicholas Braun as Greg Hirsch
The one member of the Roy family who is truly out of his element is Greg Hirsch, played by Sky High star Nicholas Braun.
Not-so-affectionately called "Cousin Greg" by his family members, Greg is the grandson of Logan's brother, Ewan Roy (James Cromwell), who bitterly resents his brother's unparalleled greed. Despite this, Greg comes to Logan for a job in the company to get out of his dead-end job as a mascot at one of Waystar Royco's theme parks. Greg also finds himself under the unwilling tutelage of Tom, who becomes quite the emotionally abusive mentor. Thanks to Tom's initial viewing of Tom as a patsy, Greg is tasked by Tom to illegally dispose of documents proving that the company willingly allowed abuse to occur within the company. Greg may be a bit naive, but he's smarter than he seems, as he keeps the documents to himself and that's how Kendall gets a hold of them.
Greg's everyman archetype has made him an easy fan favorite for fans, and we'll have to wait and see if he'll actually end up suing Green Peace.
Matthew Macfadyen as Tom Wambsgans
Like his on-screen wife Sarah Snook, Matthew Macfadyen (Death at a Funeral) delivers an expert American accent despite not actually being from America.
When Tom is introduced in the show, he's maybe the most unlikeable character of the bunch, constantly kissing up to Logan and repeatedly degrading Greg. One thing is for certain though - Tom's love for Shiv isn't a facade. Tom truly cares for Shiv and finds that devotion continuously fading when Shiv asks for an open marriage on their wedding night and fails to support him when he's declared the fall guy of the cruises' disaster.
Though Tom has historically been loyal to Shiv in the past, he seemingly betrays her and her siblings when he assists Logan in getting their shares removed. In the trailer for Season 4, Tom even floats the idea of divorcing Shiv if it means he'll still be on Logan's good side.
J. Smith-Cameron as Gerri Kellman
Easily the most vital non-family employee of Waystar Royco is Gerri Kellman, played by J. Smith-Cameron (Vengeance).
Gerri's exemplary performance as Waystar Royco's general counsel is what got her in the position of interim CEO when the fallout of the cruises' debacle was proven too hot for Logan. Whenever something disastrous happens at the company, Gerri is there to pick up the pieces and get things rolling again. If doing damage control for one of the biggest companies in the world wasn't hard enough, Gerri also has to deal with the unwanted advances of Roman Roy, though she's even able to use that to her advantage on occasion.
Alexander Skarsgård as Lukas Matsson
Succession has made a tradition of introducing surprise guest stars like Holly Hunter in Season 2 and Adrien Brody in Season 3. We also got to see The Northman's Alexander Skarsgård as the head of a major tech empire.
Skarsgård's character of Lukas Matsson runs GoJo - a massive streaming service that's essentially the Succession universe's equivalent of Netflix. This makes him a prime target for Waystar Royco which is always looking for ways to expand its media conglomerate. Roman forms a bond with the rebellious entrepreneur, but Lukas is not a big fan of Logan's company or the paltry streaming service it already owns. What Lukas is a fan of is money, and if he and Logan can come up with some sort of deal then he's more than willing to part with GoJo.