Brian Cox Thinks the Roy Kids Should F-ck Off About Being the New Leader of the Pack

Throughout the entirety of Succession, the Roy siblings have been locked in a battle to take over their father’s company. The upcoming final season just might finally reveal who the successor to the Waystar Royco empire is. But if Brian Cox has a say in it, the whole thing will end with his character, family patriarch Logan, still in charge.

“They would absolutely destroy it,” Cox tells Variety. “It would last in their hands probably no more than five minutes. And yet that’s what he wanted. He wanted his successor. Four seasons to prove it! And they simply haven’t proved it.”

It’s clear it’s something Cox has thought about a lot — he goes on to say that Roman (Kieran Culkin) can’t be trusted after accidentally sending a d*ck pic to his father, Shiv (Sarah Snook) is too unsure of who she is, and Kendall’s (Jeremy Strong) greed and self-loathing have gotten in his own way. Fittingly, there’s no mention of Connor (Alan Ruck), who has never been seriously considered as the rightful heir despite being the eldest.

Even though Cox admits that he’ll miss playing Logan Roy, he ultimately supports Succession creator Jesse Armstrong’s decision to end the series with Season 4, calling the move “very disciplined” and “very British.” But in his own way Armstrong has stretched out the story longer than he initially intended — according to Variety, Logan was initially going to be killed off in Season 1, making the need for one of the other Roys to prove their worth much more immediate. Instead, he kept Logan around long enough for each of them to fumble enough important opportunities to be taken out of contention.

Cox insists that it’s because Logan cares about his children too much that he’s prolonged the decision for who should take over. “If he didn’t love his children, it would be so much easier,” he says. “That’s his Achilles’ heel.” Still he reveals no hints as to how the ongoing battle will shake out in the end. We’ll just have to watch along with everyone else to find out.

Succession Season 4 premieres March 26 on HBO. Join the discussion about the show in our forums.

Brianna Wellen is a TV Reporter at Primetimer who became obsessed with television when her parents let her stay up late to watch E.R.