Sarah Snook cried when she watched the 'Succession' finale because she was so "sad" for her character.
The 35-year-old actress portrayed Shiv Roy in all four seasons of the drama series and she couldn't help but grow emotional for her pregnant alter ego because she understood how "painful" it would be to see estranged husband Tom Wambsgans (Matthew McFadyen) named the CEO of Waystar RoyCo.
Explaining her tears, she told Variety: “Because I was sad for Shiv. She just tried so f****** hard, and ended up where she is — in this kind of gilded cage, next to the thing that she wants. And the journey’s not over for her. It’s not over for any of them, but still, she’s in the orbit of the CEO, and that will be really painful for her.”
And Sarah was also devastated at the thought of never filming Jesse Armstrong's show again.
She said: “I’ll never have an opportunity to speak those lines, or get given new lines, new jokes, new worlds for Shiv and Roman to exist in together.
“Just sadness for never getting a moment to play with these brilliant actors again.”
The Australian actress - who confessed to thinking "Are you f****** kidding me?" when she first read the script revealing Tom's triumph - had suspicions the show "probably" would end after its fourth series and knew for sure when she read the last episode, but Matthew was "hopeful" they would continue.
She said: "I thought it could go one way or the other — and also, it’s nice to hope."
Of reading the last script, she added: “I arrived and was like, ‘That’s it. It’s done.' And I walked in, and Matthew was like, ‘No, I don’t think so. I think that’s quite hopeful! The last handhold, maybe there’s potential for what’s going to happen with Tom as CEO.’”
But then showrunner Jesse confirmed her suspicions.
She recalled: “It was devastating."
The final scene Sarah shot for the show was the 'Meal Fit For A King' moment with Jeremy Strong and Kieran Culkin, who played her brothers Kendall and Roman and they saw the moment as a "personal sort of actor celebration".
She said: "It was maybe the closest to all three of us in our playful selves as actors — as Kieran, Sarah and Jeremy, not just Shiv, Roman and Kendall.
“And because of it being the last scene of the series, we may have leant into personal sort of actor celebration, and indulgence of what’s going on.”
Jesse added: “It was sort of magical, or slightly hysterical. It was wonderful and sad, and I never wanted it to end.”
Read the full interview with Sarah at https://variety.com/2023/tv/features/sarah-snook-succession-ending-pregnancy-crying-finale-1235683437/
