Matthew Macfadyen Actor Wins Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Emmy for ‘Succession’

The path to Emmys succession has been a competitive one this year for HBO’s hit drama series “Succession,” about the goings-on of a falling media empire. With 25 nominations, it’s been the show to beat, and with major accolades for its actors for a bombshell Season 3: Jeremy Strong, Brian Cox, Nicholas Braun, Kieran Culkin, Matthew Macfadyen, J. Smith-Cameron, and Sarah Snook all picked up nominations for their roles as series regulars, with a handful of guest actors nominated, from Adrien Brody to Alexander Skarsgard.

With Macfadyen, Braun, and Culkin all nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, it was a competitive field, with Macfadyen coming out on top to win the prize. During last weekend’s Creative Arts Emmys two-day rollout, “Succession” nabbed the Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series honor, with the award going to Avy Kaufman and Francine Maisler.

Upon winning, Macfadyen said in his acceptance speech, “So the Television Academy….I’m deeply flattered and for instance, I must say really is such a pleasure and a privilege to play this bonkers gift of a role in this wonderful show and my, my admiration and my gratitude for Jesse Armstrong and his remarkable writing team is boundless. They are truly amazing.”

“Succession” was previously a big Primetime Emmys winner in 2020 for the series’ second season, winning acting prizes for Cherry Jones (Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series) and Jeremy Strong (Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series), as well as that ceremony’s big honor for Outstanding Drama Series.

As announced back in June of this year, production on Season 4 of “Succession” is already underway. The sale of the media conglomerate, led by Logan Roy (Brian Cox) and targeted by disowned son Kendall Roy (Jeremy Strong) in a coup, is underway. The 10-episode season will now center on the sale of Waystar Royco to tech visionary Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård) as the acquisition established in the Season 3 finale moves ever closer. HBO additionally confirmed that Skarsgård, Dagmara Domińczyk, Arian Moayed, Juliana Canfield, Annabelle Dexter-Jones, Justin Kirk, Stephen Root, Hope Davis, and Cherry Jones will be returning as guest stars in the series.

Back in fall 2021 during the Season 3 run of “Succession,” IndieWire spoke to Kieran Culkin about the arc for Roman, who seems to be under his father’s good graces for once — until that all comes crashing down when Roman accidentally sends a sext meant for Gerri (J. Smith-Cameron) to Logan.

“You know what’s funny, it feels really great as a fan of the show. I remember watching the first episode and there’s this moment when they’re trying to pick who might possibly be the next CEO and Roman calls his dad from the airplane bathroom. I forgot about that scene, because it had been so long since we shot. And I felt myself really rooting for Roman, almost forgetting the fact that he sort of shoots himself in the foot there,” Culkin said.

“And earlier in that episode, he makes a pretty strong pitch for what to do with the company that nobody else seems to like, but he likes it. It’s not to like try to impress dad or anything. It’s his idea that he thinks does work. He doesn’t care if anyone else likes it. So he’s sort of finding his own voice that way. And Logan happens to back it up.”

He added, “Throughout the season, when it comes to the political candidate and [other moments], that’s him finding his confidence, kind of coming into his own. As a fan of the show, though, I like that. It’s satisfying to see that, but there’s also a little bit of the terror and worry that he’s going to shoot himself in the foot again.”

IndieWire even more recently spoke with “Succession” director and executive producer Mark Mylod about crafting the rhythms of Season 3, which delivers a more tense game than ever as the series ultimately becomes about the Roy children vs. their father.

“I’m not sure I’ve ever said it out loud, but I always think that [creator Jesse Armstrong] writes like he’s writing music, both in terms of rhythm and in terms of emotional dynamics,” Mylod said. “And that can work for whole episodes for whole seasons and also for scenes. There is a kind of bravery needed to be curious about the human interactions and the moments.”

He added, “We are obviously, you know, television and that hoary old cliche is, you know, it’s a character medium. So of course, my passion is to delve into these characters and [their] tragicomic lives. So that to me is kind of always my priority. Jesse, I think, probably sees the complete picture in that he also has this extraordinary understanding of business and economics and the power dynamics of business that’s way beyond my understanding. So I tend to air towards the character narrative or the character storylines. I’m the touchy-feely one, basically. And we, we work it out between us.”

See all this year’s Emmy winners so far here.

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