‘Succession’ star Nicholas Braun promises ‘bolder’ final season for Cousin Greg

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Like many Succession fans, Nicholas Braun wasn’t ready for it all to be over.

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The two-time Emmy-nominated actor, best known for playing the ditzy Cousin Greg on the cutthroat HBO drama, was shocked when Succession creator Jesse Armstrong announced that the show would be coming to an end after four seasons with the 10 episodes that began streaming last Sunday on Crave.

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“I did not see it coming,” Braun, 34, said of the announcement. “I figured we would be a five-season show. Five feels standard for HBO dramas.”

But when Armstrong shared the news with the ensemble cast, Braun said he understood the reasoning for bringing the acclaimed series to an early end.

“My reaction was, ‘Cool. If you think the story wraps up here, then fine by me.’ I think everyone felt the same.”

Embraced by critics and audiences, Succession has picked up Emmy Awards and Golden Globes as a series, for its writing and its actors since it first premiered in 2018.

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The latest season finds Logan Roy (Brian Cox) on the verge of selling his Waystar Royco conglomerate to tech boss Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgard), as his children Shiv (Sarah Snook), Kendell (Jeremy Strong) and Roman (Kieran Culkin) look to launch their own competing company with their father’s former rival (Cherry Jones).

Meanwhile, Braun’s Cousin Greg and Logan’s son-in-law Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) form a bromance on the periphery, siding with the Waystar Royco titan as they look to scrape out their own piece of the family fortune.

“The fight begins pretty quickly between both sides,” Braun teased in an interview with Postmedia.

With a new episode of Succession streaming tonight on Crave, Braun spoke more about the show’s ending and weighed the possibility of a spinoff centring on Cousin Greg and Tom.

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There’s a lot of moving pieces on a show like Succession. What happens to Greg this season?

“Greg has an interesting arc this season. Greg is trying to land in the right place, but Greg, as always, has acquired a set of skills — like Liam Neeson-style. He’s really matured so I think he’s able to sort of wield those skills better than ever. To me, Greg feels bolder and more confident than he ever has. So there’s a lot of nice twists and turns coming up.”

What have you loved most about Greg’s arc over the past four seasons?

“It’s been fun to try and figure out how the Roys influenced him as a person. He came in as a pretty blank slate like a puppy dog saying, ‘Include me, keep me around, please.’ Then, eventually, the politics and ruthlessness of the Roys affected this sweet guy. It’s been interesting trying to figure that out … If any of us were dropped into the Roy-type realm, you see it happen in the Trump world and people in (politics). You look at them and you think, ‘They started out a decent person,’ then you see them doing things that go against the brand of person you thought they were. That’s the responsibility I felt in playing Greg. Let’s show what could happen when you’re influenced by bad people at the top of the food chain.”

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What was your last day on set like?

“It kind of felt like any other day. There were a lot of other cast on set, so in a way it was a special day because there were people there I hadn’t seen in a long time. But I shot my last scene as Greg chronologically that day as well, so it felt like the right way to end it amongst all these other great actors. But it also felt really sad to never be in that costume again and be with these people again … It was tough.”

Who was the most likable Succession character?

“For me, it’s Roman. I just think he’s so charismatic and quick and obviously Kieran is that. When you see someone like him, you think, ‘I wish I could rip into people like that. I wish I could say exactly what I felt and be a d— about it.’ But we can’t do that in life and he can.”

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What about least likable?

“Probably Tom. You love Tom, he’s a sad character, but he’s cringy. But maybe Greg’s just as cringy. I can’t be objective about it, but I think Tom is pretty unlikable.”

It’s funny that you mentioned Tom because there’s all this talk about Tom and Greg getting a spinoff. Brian Cox said he would like to see Cousin Greg get his own show. If there was a spinoff, where would you like to see those two setting up shop?

“Matthew and I have talked about Tom and Greg being sent off to the Asia branch (of Waystar Royco) in Tokyo. They’d be the two tallest and weirdest guys in Tokyo. Maybe they get obsessed with sushi and get mercury poisoning. They learn Japanese and decide they never want to come back. They quit the business world and open up a boutique hotel. I don’t know, we’re just riffing here. Don’t people live in those mini-apartments there? So can you imagine Tom and Greg sharing a mini-capsule together? That could be cool. There could be an episode that’s one long take of them inside their mini-capsule in Tokyo. That’s something to think about.”

If Cousin Greg writes his memoir someday, what will it be called?

“I think I’ll use the title the Internet came up with, which was: A Benign Fungus: The Greg Hirsch Story. The Internet wins on that one.”

Succession streams Sunday nights on Crave

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