Just days after his Succession character Roman Roy was named co-CEO of Waystar Royco along with his brother Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Kieran Culkin also gets an Emmy bump.
The 40-year-old actor is being nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at this year’s Emmy Awards, according to Variety.
Culkin had previously earned two nominations for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2020, where he lost to The Morning Show’s Billy Crudup, and 2022, where he lost to his co-star Matthew Mcfadyen (Tom Wambsgans).
The actor will likely compete against co-stars Jeremy Strong and Brian Cox, who were both nominated in the Lead Actor categories for Season 2 and Season 3.
Strong won for Season 2, but lost to Squid Game star Lee Jung-jae for the hit Netflix series Squid Game in Season 3.
Roman: Just days after his Succession character Roman Roy was named co-CEO of Waystar Royco alongside his brother Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Kieran Culkin also gets an Emmy bump
Lead actor: The 40-year-old actor is being submitted for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at this year’s Emmy Awards, according to Variety
Culkin appeared on Variety’s Awards Circuit podcast, and when asked if he thinks Roman is a major character, he definitely agreed.
“If you’re asking if he’s a major character, I’d say absolutely,” Culkin said during the podcast’s appearance.
“I think this season was set up before episode three was Logan versus Shiv, Roman, Kendall,” Culkin explained.
‘And then [Logan] passes, and it’s what I think is the central focus of the show – the three of them,” he added.
Strong’s team has confirmed that he will be submitted for a lead actor nomination, though it’s unclear whether Cox or Sarah Snook will be submitted for battle.
Since Cox’s Logan Roy appeared in the first three episodes of Season 4 before he was killed off, if he doesn’t appear in any more episodes, he could technically sign up for lead actor, supporting actor, or even guest star.
“Only performers appearing in less than 50% of eligible episodes may enter the guest performer categories,” the Emmy Rules said.
Culkin confirmed that the decision to enter the starring categories is simply due to the way the show has evolved.
Kieran agrees: Culkin appeared on Variety’s Awards Circuit podcast, and when asked if he thinks Roman is a main character, he definitely agreed
Main character: “If you ask if he’s a main character, then I would say absolutely,” Culkin said during the podcast’s appearance
“It’s just that’s what the show is. If I’m supportive, that means Kendall and Shiv are too. And to me, that doesn’t feel like that’s the show,” Culkin admitted.
“The show has always felt like an ensemble, but the center of gravity is this guy, Logan. So it’s always kind of silly thinking about these things — who’s the leader, who’s supporting, but it always felt like he was in charge, and we’re all dancing around him,” Culkin added.
Shortly before the season debuted in March, it was announced that Season 4 would be Succession’s final season.
Successor Jesse Armstrong first confirmed that season 4 will be the end of the show in an extensive interview with The New Yorker, where he was asked why he decided to confirm the final season before it debuted.
“First, we could have said it as soon as I made up my mind, almost as we were writing it, which I think would be weird and perverted,” Armstrong began.
“We could have said it at the end of the season. I kind of like that idea, creatively speaking, because then the audience can just enjoy everything as it comes, without trying to figure things out or perceive things a certain way once they know it’s the final season, he added.
“But also the counterintuitive is that we don’t hide the ball very much on the show. I feel a responsibility to the viewing public and I personally wouldn’t like to feel like, ‘Oh, that’s it, guys. That was the end.” I wouldn’t like that in a show. I think I’d like to know it’s coming to an end,” he clarified.
He added, “And there’s a lot of prosaic stuff too, like it might be weird for me and the cast when we do interviews.” It’s pretty definitively the end, so it might be uncomfortable to have to feign about it like a politician for ages. Hopefully the show is against bulls**t, and I wouldn’t like to bulls**** anyone if I talked about it.”
Supportive: “It’s just what the show is. If I’m supportive, that means Kendall and Shiv are too. And to me, that doesn’t feel like that’s the show,” Culkin admitted
Ensemble: ‘The show has always felt like an ensemble, but the center of gravity is this man, Logan. So it’s always kind of silly thinking about these things — who’s the leader, who’s supporting, but it always felt like he was in charge, and we’re all dancing around him,” Culkin added.