It often feels like none of the characters in Jesse Armstrong’s “Succession“ have a shred of decency in them. Whether they are members of the Roy family or executives maneuvering to survive mergers and power struggles, there are few characters on the program who are looking out for anyone but themselves. And while cousin Greg, played by Nicholas Braun, certainly is looking to climb the company ladder, Braun is quick to remind anyone who questions Greg’s motivations that he’s “on the side of morality on the show.”
READ MORE: “Succession”: Matthew Macfadyen on Tom’s “Betrayal by a thousand cuts” [Interview]
In the third season, Greg finds himself in the middle of a game for control of the company between Logan Roy (Brian Cox) and Kendall Roy (Jeremy Strong). While he debates whose side he should align with his relationship with Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfadyen) has evolved from combative to, in Braun’s view, “paternal.” And that is demonstrated in a scene in the season finale where Tom convinces Greg to follow him in a corporate maneuver that will end up shocking Logan’s children.
“Tom in that moment feels like he’s really taking care of Greg. He said that before for sure,” Braun says. “But I also thought maybe Kendall and him have that bond and then that went away early in the season. And Tom has given him signs of validation. Tom has given little bits of validation this season that I think Greg can survive on. I think it’s Greg gathering information and it’s maybe too big for him to know how to get into. So, when an option is brought to him a couple of hours later, which feels like let’s go to the dark side, he’s like, ‘Let’s do that.’ You’re giving me permission to go dark, go rogue with you. And I think a switch-up feels very nice, very refreshing for Greg.”
During our interview. Braun explains Greg’s feelings regarding Shiv (Sarah Snook), Tom’s wife and a key member of the Roy family, his frustration with shooting in COVID protocols, Greg’s future, and much, much more.
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The Playlist: I’ve heard through the grapevine that you are prepping season four at the moment. Is that correct?
Nicholas Braun: Yeah. We’re going to start filming very soon. We’re going to be back at it. So, we’re getting our scripts very shortly, so pretty stoked.
When you get your scripts how far ahead of filming is it?
We usually get a script maybe two to three weeks before the episode will start filming and we table read it as we’re filming an episode prior. So, it’s a pretty good cycle. We probably have three weeks or so by the time we shoot.
I’ve spoken to your castmates and they have mentioned numerous times that Jesse will say, hey if you want to know where your character’s going over the season, I’ll tell you. Are you someone who wants to know or do you like being in the dark?
I think the first two seasons, I was happy to be surprised. And then the third season, I wanted to know some more. And this season I wanted to know more. I think I just enjoy knowing. I think I really do enjoy knowing the arc because it helps me know how to build it myself too.
And so, I think one of the things that fans were most surprised about with season three was that by the end of the season, Greg and Tom felt like they’d come to a meeting of the minds. Did you see it that way?
Yeah, I think so. Well, for me, for Greg I feel like the season is so much about him trying to figure out what’s the path here that will feel right. Is it Kendall? Is it my grandpa? Is it Logan? Is it Tom? And for Tom to basically come in that finale to Greg and say, here’s what we’re going to do. Here’s the lane that we’re going to go down. And it is honestly like a bucket lane. Let’s just go. And I think there’s a lot of release in that. So, Greg doesn’t know what he’s signing up for, but when Tom is this excited and mischievous, and I think the tone of that felt like Greg is ready, there’s so much fear in Greg’s decision-making often, and for him to have permission to maybe be fearless in the next chapter, I think felt really right.
Clearly, Greg doesn’t know beforehand that he’s made the right choice, that Kendall and Roman and Shiv are going to be screwed over and Tom’s in a winning position. But in theory, why do you think he went with Tom who’s always been so mean to him when in theory it would look like the other members of the family were a better way to go?
Yeah. There’s a bond there that I think is a paternal thing that has evolved between Tom and Greg. And Tom in that moment feels like he’s really taking care of Greg. He said that before for sure. But I also thought maybe Kendall and him have that bond and then that went away early in the season. And Tom has given him signs of validation. Tom has given little bits of validation this season that I think Greg can survive on. I think it’s Greg gathering information and it’s maybe too big for him to know how to get into. So, when an option is brought to him a couple of hours later, which feels like let’s go to the dark side, he’s like, “Let’s do that.” You’re giving me permission to go dark, go rogue with you. And I think a switch-up feels very nice, very refreshing for Greg.
And without giving anything you already know away, how do you think Greg is going to respond when he realizes that Tom has screwed over his family as well as his own wife?
Remember Greg is on the side of morality in the show.
Right.
And has a tendency to want to be good in this world. And Shiv can be a real bitch.
True.
And she can be pretty harsh on Tom and I think Greg’s gut would be like, “You know what, leave her you’ll be less tortured.”
O.K.
That’s why he threw water bottles at Greg because he was dealing with two relationships where two people wanted to divorce him basically, or not be with him. And so, I don’t know where the season’s actually going, but maybe Greg is going to be supportive of it and be, “Yeah man, good for you. You stood up for yourself.”
In the final episode of this season, which is perhaps one of the most Shakespearean episodes of a very Shakespearean show, Greg, beyond a moment with Tom, in many ways is the comedic relief. Dealing with these women that he’s trying to connect with during the episode. Was that fun for you?
Yeah, I think Greg is often a counterpoint tonally to what the rest of the show is dealing with. There’s so much importance, intense, deep stuff happening with the siblings that I’m happy to be trying to figure out how to flirt with a girl or how to end up with the Duchess. But I do think for myself, it wasn’t as surface as that. I found in the last three episodes, but definitely in Italy, that Greg felt more confident. I wanted to appear more confident and I wanted this arc of the season, which is him filled with fear and what do I do. And is this the right thing, is this the right thing? I think the end of the season brought, for me it felt like an opportunity to show confidence. And especially in the scene with Roman where he comes up to Greg looking for more information and Greg stands up for himself in that scene. I think that’s an important piece of growth. That’s something he wouldn’t have done two, three, four months ago. So, I think there’s some nice evolution in the last two episodes.
You have been able to travel to different locations around the world to film the show. What did going to Italy bring to those final episodes?
It’s pretty amazing. We were all staying at this spa hotel with hot springs and a big lawn and we would drink our frigging wine and stuff together. So, it was a very bonding time after a season of COVID.
Yeah.
And the battle of that on set every day and only being able to see people’s top third of their face and not being able to hug each other, it felt really relieving. And so, it was pretty great honestly. And the scripts are good. Things are great when the scripts are great. That’s just how it is. And those scripts were amazing. And that last episode’s one of the best scripts and episodes of the show that I’ve been a part of. And so, I think for us it was just a really nice way to end a difficult chapter of making the show.
Mark Mylod has spoken about the freedom he gives the cast to shoot a scene in terms of blocking and some improvisation. Did COVID make it harder to break that out beforehand?
I will say, and it’s pretty amazing, but as soon as you take off your masks and shields and all this stuff goes away, all the equipment and all this stuff, it just felt like we snapped back to seasons one and two. And just the way that we work. I think it’s all just really ingrained in us. And maybe it’s just the permission too, masks are off, we’re tested, let’s go, let’s not think about it for these three minutes that we’re shooting the scene. I don’t think there was any feeling of being impeded by the COVID stuff when the cameras were rolling. And to Mark’s point about how we shoot, I think it’s one of the best things that we’re able to have so many options of where to go and who to talk to, and what route we take. And at what point in the scene we go, and there’s so much that we do figure out when we’re filming. And I would say we rarely rehearse blocking or lines. We might read it once or twice and maybe walk through it a bit and show the camera guys where we think we might go. But our camera department is incredible and they’re so flexible.
Eventually, the show will end. Do you think someone will actually win? That someone will actually succeed Logan to run Waystar/Royco?
Oh, man. It’s tough for me to speculate on that. It’s just a Jesse call. I shouldn’t even try to guess.
“Succession” is available on HBO Max
