‘Succession’ Standout Arian Moayed Reflects on Stewy’s Best Moments: ‘He’s the Son That Logan Always Wanted’

variety.com:

Katcy Stephan When Arian Moayed greets theater-goers at the stage door after “A Doll’s House” on Broadway, some fans have just one thing on their minds: “‘You wanna go do some coke?’ ‘Where’s the bathroom?’ ‘Sniff Sniff!’” Moayed says with a laugh. “I think I’m averaging one coke joke a week.” Moayed himself isn’t known for a coke habit, of course — but Stewy Hosseini, his wise-cracking equity investor on HBO’s “Succession,” doesn’t shy away from doing a little blow. “It’s been really exciting to be in something everyone really loves,” Moayed says. “I’m a fan of ‘Succession.’ I know I’m on the show, but all of us are fans!” With “Succession” set to take its final bow on May 28, the Tony-nominated actor, whose film “You Hurt My Feelings” hits theaters this weekend, spoke with Variety over Zoom to reflect on Stewy’s best moments and how his career trajectory has changed since joining the cast in 2018. What do you remember about your audition process for the show? I actually tested for the pilot.

I didn’t get the pilot, and a year goes by and they’re like, “There’s this other character named Stewy.” And I said, “The truth is, whatever I did, for the last time, I’m just going to do that same idea with these words, because I don’t have two douchebag hedge fund ideas.” I think HBO didn’t really know exactly what they wanted, and so there were some questions of what the character should be.

We tried something else, then I tried my version of it. As I was doing that version, I could feel that there was more energy.

The audition ended, and I got a call at midnight: “You’ve been cast. They need you tomorrow morning at 5am.” When I read that pilot, I thought it was really special for numerous reasons.