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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Lifestyle
Jacob Stolworthy

Kieran Culkin addresses ‘disappointing’ Succession change that’s confused fans

HBO

Kieran Culkin has answered an open question regarding his Succession. character Roman Roy.

The actor, who is being praised for his performance in the latest episode, has appeared in the HBO show since the very first episode.

In the pilot episode, which was first broadcast in June 2018, Roman was shown to seemingly be married with one child.

This was the only mention of Roman’s supposed family, however, with showrunner Jesse Armstrong opting not to explore this further.

With the show coming to an end, fans have been re-watching past episodes and expressing their confusion about where Roman’s wife and child went.

When asked about this, Culkin set the record straight, stating: “Not his kid. Not his wife, either.”

He told Variety: “It was in the pilot, and after it was picked up, it was his girlfriend, and she had a child. I’m wearing my real wedding band in the episode.”

The actor continued by saying he “was excited about the idea of [Roman] having a kid, and the kid was like seven or eight”, and admitted “it was a little disappointing” for the show to go in a different direction.

“But I think the idea was that it would just give them more freedom to play with the character,” Culkin said, adding: “They had mentioned to me, even before we shot the pilot, about questioning what Roman’s sexuality is – and we don’t know what it is.

“But it put something in my brain, and I was like, ‘OK, but I’m married and have kids?’”

Roman seemingly had a wife and child in the ‘Succession ‘pilot (HBO)

He concluded: “They were toying with the idea that she’s aware that you have sort of hangups sexually when it comes to monogamy, and might be more fluid, but we don’t know what that is yet.”

The show airs on Sundays on HBO in the US, and the following day in the UK on Sky Atlantic and NOW.

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