Succession Star Almost Auditioned For Completely Different Character

Succession will likely go down as one of the most perfectly cast shows in years. Every single character seems to be flawlessly paired with their actor, leading to multiple acting awards over the course of the series and some of the most memorable turns in HBO's storied history. It's hard to imagine any of these characters being played by anyone else, so it's especially interesting to hear about some of the show's stars reading for other parts. 

Kieran Culkin will forever be linked to Roman Roy, but there have been rumors out there that he actually auditioned for the aloof Cousin Greg before landing the role of the youngest Roy sibling. Speaking to Variety, Culkin addressed those rumors and confirmed that he was initially asked to read for the Greg character. He didn't go through with an audition, however, falling in love with Roman instead.

"No, they sent me to read for Greg, and I knew I wasn't Greg" Culkin said. "I read the first element and knew that's just not me. What's fun about that is I thought the writing was good enough 10 pages in and just kept reading, which I don't normally do. Then the character Roman walks in and says, 'Hey, hey motherf----rs,' and then I was like, he's fun, and kept reading."

"And then I asked, 'I'm wrong for Greg, so that's a pass, but I don't want to pass. Can I read for Roman?' The response I got back was they're not reading for Roman yet," he continued. "And I said, 'Can I do it anyway?' My agent at the time was like, yeah, go ahead, play the game. So I picked three scenes, put myself on tape, and sent it in."

Of course, Culkin was right to trust his gut, as he was the perfect choice to play Roman Roy. The role of Greg Hirsch eventually went to Nicholas Braun, and every fan of the series would agree that he was the right person for the role.

New episodes of Succession's final season air on HBO every Sunday night.