Kieran Culkin Reveals Plans for Filming Succession Season 3 During the Coronavirus Pandemic and Shares Tentative Start Date
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Kieran Culkin has revealed new details about filming the third season of HBO’s Succession, including a potential start date. Season 3 of the hit series was scheduled to start shooting in April, but production was delayed indefinitely as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. On the latest episode of Marc Maron’s WTF podcast, Culkin broke the news that filming is currently slated to commence “in late October.” He also opened up about the challenges of filming a TV show during a deadly pandemic and how the Succession team plans to get the job done.
On Succession, Culkin plays Roman Roy, the cocky and foul-mouthed youngest son of media mogul Logan Roy, played by Brian Cox. The HBO series, which scored 18 Emmy nominations last month, is one of the biggest TV hits in recent years. Unfortunately, as TV and film production remains shuttered as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, fans will have to wait a bit longer for the continuing adventures of the Roy clan.
Maron, who’s a big fan of the series, pressed Culkin on details for when filming on Season 3 will get underway. “I think the plan is loose,” revealed the actor. “There’s nothing concrete. That’s one thing they asked us not to talk about, but fuck it. The loose plan is to start shooting in late October, but who the fuck knows?” Fans of Succession should be delighted by both the news of the start date and the fact that Culkin is just as profane as the character he plays.
As for how production can safely resume, Culkin noted that the cast and crew will self-quarantine in a hotel together prior to shooting. He also believes “daily tests” will be administered on set. “There are teams of people working on that and I’m sort of trusting that,” he said. “We have some people in our cast that are in a high risk [category] so we have to be extra safe.” Despite the potential for Succession to start shooting in just two months, Culkin is remaining cautious: “The thing is if one motherfucker goes out and decides, ‘I’m just gonna go get a drink at this bar one night,’ and comes back and tests positive, you shut down the whole production.” Roman Roy couldn’t have said it better himself.
Last month, Culkin’s co-star Matthew Macfadyen, who plays Tom Wambsgans, was apprehensive when asked about a potential start date for Season 3.“There’s no point in starting unless we can do it safely,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “It will be no fun if cast and crew get sick and then everybody has to stop again.”
Meanwhile, Succession creator Jesse Armstrong told Variety earlier this month that that the current plan is to start shooting the show “before Christmas.” It’s possible those plans have since been pushed to late October, but it’s also possible that Culkin is jumping the gun. After all, he admitted the arrangements are still “loose.”
Listen below to Culkin’s full interview on WTF with Marc Maron. Their conversation about the third season of Succession starts around the one-hour and six-minute mark.
