‘Succession’ Star Matthew Macfadyen on Shiv’s Motivations and Tom’s Future: ‘It’s Just Another Move in a Corporate Nightmare’
Kate Aurthur editor SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers from “With Open Eyes,” the series finale of HBO’s “Succession,” now streaming on Max. Tom Wambsgans of St. Paul, Minn. — an unrepentant striver, the broken-hearted lover of Shiv Roy, an unconscionable careerist, a yearning potential parent, an abuser of Greg, a Disgusting Brother: Matthew Macfadyen played the “Succession” character in all of his shades. In the end, it was Tom’s boot-licking abilities that made him irresistible to Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård). When Shiv (Sarah Snook) tells Matsson that “Tom will suck the biggest dick in the room,” the eyes of the unhinged GoJo founder light up. Then, when Matsson shares his worries about Shiv with Tom — basically, that he wants to have sex with her — Tom takes that, too, weakly offering an excuse about the weirdness of Matsson confessing that, of all things, to him, Shiv’s husband “We’re men.”