WARNING: This article contains spoilers forSuccessionseason 4, episode 7, “Tailgate Party.”
Yeah, it didn’t make the cut, but it was nice to hear the allusion."
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: There are wonderful scenes before we even get to the party.
Matthew Macfadyen and Sarah Snook on ‘Succession’.David M. Russell/HBO
We had like, 20 scorpion paperweights.
How big was the scorpion?
Was it too big?
Sarah Snook and Alexander Skarsgard on ‘Succession’.David M. Russell/HBO
Should it be more decorative?
You don’t want it to be that nice, you want it to be more sort of horrible.
It was fun [looking at] the varied scorpion paperweights that apparently exist.
Sarah Snook on ‘Succession’.Macall Polay/HBO
Starting off with the scorpion as a present, it just goes from bad to worse.
They’ve done such horrible things to each other.
Can we talk about Matsson’s choice of jacket?
Matthew Macfadyen and Nicholas Braun on ‘Succession’.David M. Russell/HBO
BERMAN:I love that jacket, it’s just the greatest jacket.
It’s so inappropriate, it’s perfect.
It was such a great character thing, we thought, and it was truthful.
It was great, seeing him walking in in that.
I find Matsson horribly believable but also completely mystifying.
PULCINI:I think in the tech world, that’s kind of right.
It was like, is this guy insane or is he a genius?
And you kind of have to believe both.
BERMAN:It was fun to watch Alex’s Matsson venture to be charming and behave.
But he can’t keep it up.
It has to crumble.
PULCINI:But he is mystifying.
PULCINI:[Laughs] Yeah.
BERMAN:Maybe that’s the finale.
PULCINI:I thought that I had never seen dialog inSuccessionthat wasn’t in some way coded.
Usually, everything is half-committed when they say something inSuccession.
Everything is half-way, no one commits.
Like how long can people survive without actually saying the obvious?
It’s true, but it’s so unlike anything we hear inSuccession.
It really threw me off and was very emotional.
What was it like reharsing and shooting the scene with those two actors?
I was worried that we might need a whole day for it or something.
We were seeing them through the glass as we were shooting other things or doing other things.
We could see where it was going and then they kind of auditioned it for us.
Yeah, both of them are just remarkable, they’re just remarkable actors.
I found it quite harrowing that they were having this discussion on a patio many flights up.
BERMAN:I think there was danger in every aspect of it.
They’re in a fishbowl, and to me that says a lot about a fight.
I also found it alarming to see Matthew Macfadyen playing that level of anger.
PULCINI:Well, he is everything you want him to be as a person and as a collaborator.
BERMAN:You call “Cut!”
and suddenlyhe becomes Mr. Darcy again.
He really is the most remarkable actor and also the loveliest person.
So you’re not going around saying, “What happened to Brian Cox?”
To keep that secret was really interesting.
I don’t think I’ve ever kept a secret like that!
What do you say?
PULCINI:I answered a different question, I think.
I didn’t want to say, “He wasn’t there!”
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
