Succession star Sarah Snook reveals that she almost turned down her role in the series. The show, which premiered on HBO in 2018, follows four siblings vying for the opportunity to take over their father's successful company. It almost instantly became a zeitgeist-defining hit, its success snowballing during season 2 and leading to 9 Primetime Emmys and 5 Golden Globe Awards.
One of the most memorable and talked-about characters in Succession Snook's is Siobhan "Shiv" Roy. She is the only daughter of Logan Roy's (Brian Cox) four children and, while she is incredibly capable, she prefers politics to business. However, the events of the series drag her into a position at Waystar Royco, leading to her eventually being stabbed in the back by her father and her husband Tom Wambsgans (Pride & Prejudice's Matthew Macfadyen).
During a conversation with Variety, Snook revealed that she initially didn't think the role would pay dividends and she turned it down. She worried that "If the world is going to be interested in a bunch of white dudes talking about business, and if I'm the only woman in that, then I'm likely to get sidelined." She didn't want to be a "prop" so she said no to their offer. However, she reconsidered when they asked her to join the series again, and she considered how interesting the creators were. She then made the decision to take the role and use the Shiv Roy role to fight for female characters across the board. Read her full quote below:
When I first got offered the role, I said no. If the world is going to be interested in a bunch of white dudes talking about business, and if I’m the only woman in that, then I’m likely to get sidelined and be like some sort of prop. I don’t feel like that personally, nor do I feel like I want to compete for that. No, I don’t want to do this job, and then it came back again.
Through blind faith, I thought, ‘Well, the creatives are interesting. You may be one of the only women in the pilot, but that doesn’t mean that you’re going to get sidelined necessarily and maybe this is an opportunity for you to just fight for female characters.'
Sarah Snook was certainly right to be wary, considering how similar series have treated its female characters. However, she is certainly lucky she decided to take a risk on the series, as Shiv has been one of the standout characters in a show full with them. Succession has also arguably become Snook's biggest role yet. In addition to the role leading to her receiving her first Primetime Emmy nomination in 2020, it has also set her up for future big projects, including starring opposite Elizabeth Banks in The Beanie Bubble, an upcoming Apple film that tracks the rise and fall of the Beanie Babies fad.
Since Snook took the role, Succession has also promoted several prominent female recurring characters into main cast members. This includes Dagmara Domińczyk as PR head Karolina Novotney, J. Smith-Cameron as general counsel Gerri Kellman, and Justine Lupe as Connor's playwright girlfriend Willa Ferreyra. The show has proven its intention to treat Shiv with more respect than being merely a prop, and hopefully future seasons can push that trajectory to even further heights.
Source: Variety