It was such a lovely, lovely job.
Id wanted to do an American accent in something, Macfadyen says.
Id gone through pilot season hell once, and it wasnt fun.
Matthew Macfadyen as Tom Wambsgans and Sarah Snook as Shiv Roy inSuccession.David M. Russell/HBO
The part inThe Way We Live Nowhad also afforded Macfadyen a chance to play comedy.
It was this brilliant, New York, sexy HBO thing, he laughs.
But you never know how its going to land.
I thought I might only be in it for one season, and Tom was barely in the pilot.
Tom in the pilot script wasnt necessarily the Tom that emerged, says Macfadyen.
Ive got my eye on you, Tom tells Greg.
You need any help, advice, just, you know, dont f*cking bother, OK?
As Gregs smile drops, Tom laughs at him.
Im only razzing you cuz.
Youre dreaming, honestly.
I may look really fun, but the thing about me is Im a terrible, terrible prick.
As Greg discombobulates further, Tom cackles.
I got you again!
Seriously… pals, yeah?
And then the scene veers off script, as Tom tests his new protege.
Would you kiss me?
Would you kiss me if I asked you?
Youre there, youre responding to things on the day.
Gregs an interloper, Toms an interloper, and theyre both sort of ingratiating themselves.
There was an instantsomethingthere.
But Tom cant quite bring himself to ditch his favorite punching bag.
You f*cked it, man.
You are a fcking piece of sht. But I got you.
I got just enough capital.
Wed get a freebie take at the end of every scene, Macfadyen says.
Theyd feed you extra lines, youd do alt lines.
It was just bliss as an actor.
The alts were so funny, and there were sometimes 20, 30 alternates that wouldnt make it through.
I dont have a plan for my life.
After all, Tom doesnt fully know why he does the things he does.
I think thats the real brilliance of Jesses writing, and all the other writers plugged into that.
It makes sense, Macfadyen considers.
The only way to survive in that world is to think moment-to-moment.
The decisions being made, simply, are too big, and too earth-shattering, to be well-considered.
Yeah, because otherwise you wouldnt be able to move.
Tom Wambsgans is not an easy character to love.
Few ofSuccessions ensemble of avaricious power players are.
But Macfadyen will miss him.
I wouldnt want to play the same person forever.
None of us do.
Inevitably, you find yourself playing familiar beats.
But Ill miss the writing.
Ill miss Jesse, and Tony [Roche], and Lucy [Prebble].
Ill miss the cast, and Ill miss the crew.
Watching Episode 9 Logans funeral was hard for me.
Tom is barely involved, and so I wasreallywatching it.
I found it enormously upsetting because I do feel a part of that family.
It was like, There are all of my buddies, and theyre all so amazing.
