“I actually know someone…”: Kieran Culkin Had a Lightbulb Moment About Roman Roy While Filming ‘Succession’ Pilot

Actor Kieran Culkin is widely recognized for portraying the character of Roman Roy in HBO’s black-comedy drama Succession. Culkin’s portrayal of Roman Roy, who is an immature and irresponsible media executive, was highly praised by the critics as well as the audience. The actor received rave reviews for his performance in the series finale and earned the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama along with the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Television Series.

Culkin appeared in Jesse Eisenberg’s A Real Pain, which premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival and was highly praised. The actor who has a complicated relationship with the celebrity culture become one of the fan favorites, and they look forward to his work. Kieran Culkin shared how he landed the role of Roman Roy.

Kieran Culkin revealed what made him say YES to Succession

Kieran Culkin is one of the most talented actors in the industry currently. He has proved to the audience as well as the critics with his performance as Roman Roy in HBO’s drama series Succession that he truly deserves all the praise and love he’s been getting even though the show went off air in 2023.

In an interview with Vulture, Culkin shared the moment he decided to be a part of Succession. He revealed that the script that was sent to him was for another character, Cousin Greg on the show, and after reading it, he realized that he could not play him. He added further,

But a few pages in, I thought, ‘Oh, this is really good writing; I may as well keep reading and see if there is anything else in here.’ I saw the character Roman pop up, and I was like, ‘Oh, this guy!’. I just found myself reading and re-reading his stuff.

Culkin shared that after he read the lines of Cousin Greg, he instantly knew that he wasn’t meant to play that character. Further, the actor was asked about what personality traits in Roman Roy stood out to him and that he knew it was the role for him.

He said that when they shot the pilot, Roman Roy was the kind of guy who would make himself comfortable in any room he walked in. The actor mentioned that his character would insult anybody to be on top, and he kept reading; he realized that his character grew up rich and entitled. He noted,

He grew up rich and entitled and all that stuff, and he has never had to suffer any consequences in his life. When I came to that realisation, I realised I actually know someone like that. When you know them personally, it is kind of weird.

When asked how it was to play a character like Roman Roy, Culkin added that there was a lot of freedom. He mentioned Roman would say the most perverse, awful lines one could say but added that a lot of stuff did not make it to the edit. He stated that he’s terrified of improvisation because of his theatre background.

Kieran Culkin on why he hasn’t watched the Succession‘s series finale

The actor who recently appeared in A Real Pain appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, where he admitted that he hasn’t watched Succession’s finale episode. Colbert reminded him that the series finale episode received rave reviews, to which he said,

I’ve heard. I mean, I was there. I read it, I was there for it, and I know what happens—at least I think. That wasn’t really on purpose—at least not at first. I guess it sort of is now. 

Kieran Culkin explained that he was filming A Real Pain in Poland when the last three episodes of Succession aired, and he couldn’t log in to his Max account. He added his wife actually went on social media to ask the fans if they could give their credentials for him to watch the episodes and noted that the fans did.

With that help, he was able to watch the eighth and ninth episodes of the show. But he added that when the last episode aired, he had moved into a new hotel and didn’t have a smart TV, so he couldn’t watch it. He recalled that when he got back home, it felt like he had missed the moment.

Kieran Culkin and his Succession co-star Jeremy Strong are nominated for the Academy’s Supporting Actor category for their work in A Real Pain and The Apprentice, respectively. Culkin, in speaking to Sky News, mentioned that he is not dependent on positive feedback, but it’s cool if the audience finds a connection to his work.

The actor noted that he has been in plays that he thought were bad, but he was enjoying them, so it did not matter to him if they got poorly reviewed. Kieran Culkin mentioned that he has been sort of trained to not care what the audience has to say.

A Real Pain is streaming on Hulu and Prime Video. Succession is streaming on HBO Max.