Succession cast get MAJOR salary increase as negotiations for third

The cast of HBO’s hit media tycoon family drama Succession will be getting a handsome pay increase from season three onwards, it has been reported. 

As custom when a big show becomes a success, cast members can negotiate a higher salary. According to Deadline, the negotiations were made and finalised from February to March this year, before Hollywood shut down due to COVID-19.

Per the report, Cox – the main star of the show playing mogul Logan Roy – started out on a higher salary than the rest, and is now said be getting in the region of $400,000-$500,000 per episode.

Meanwhile The Hollywood Reporter claim the rest of the lead cast are said to have achieved increases of around $300,000-$350,000 per episode – though HBO and reps for the cast have declined to comment on the matter. 

Those cast members include Jeremy Strong (Kendall Roy), Sarah Snook (Siobhan Roy), Kieran Culkin (Roman Roy), Alan Ruck (Connor Roy), Matthew Macfadyen (Tom Wambsgans) and Nicholas Braun (Cousin Greg). 

According to the report, their earlier salaries were under $100,000 an episode, showing that they have had a major pay upgrade. 

THR also report that Westworld cast members Ed Harris, Evan Rachel Wood, Jeffrey Wright and Thandie Newton have seen their salaries increase to around $250,000 an episode after their season three negotiations. 

 Last August HBO revealed it had renewed the Cox-led series for a 10-episode third season. 

‘We are elated that Succession and its exploration of wealth, power and family has resonated so powerfully with audiences,’ HBO Drama Programming EVP Francesca Orsi said in a statement.

‘We cannot wait to see how the complex characters that [creator] Jesse Armstrong has created continue to navigate this captivating, ruthless world of the uber-rich.

‘In today’s world where the intersection of politics and media is increasingly prevalent, Succession presents an especially piercing look behind the curtain of this elite, influential, and cutthroat community.’ 

However, in late March HBO revealed it would be suspending pre-production on the upcoming season.

“We are looking forward to resuming preproduction when it is safe and healthy for everyone working on our shows to do so,” the network said in a statement back then. “Where possible, our writers are continuing to write remotely.”

Last December, Brian, who portrays brash media mogul Logan Roy, revealed that he was actually due to bow out of the critically-acclaimed show in season one, leaving the ensuing row over who would become his heir to play out in his absence.

Speaking on UK daytime show This Morning, host Holly Willoughby told the Golden Globe-nominated actor she’d heard that Logan was supposed to be a ‘one season character’ and was meant to be ‘killed off’ during the first series. 

Confirming the theory, Brian explained he had a conversation with Succession creator Jesse Armstrong and the show’s director Adam McKay, and they decided to save Logan after his dramatic helicopter stroke.

He told Holly: ‘Yes. It was a one season role and I was fine with that.

‘Jesse was in Italy on holiday, Adam was in LA and I was in London, and so we had this 20-minute conversation, I said “So it’s a one season role?” and then there was this pause over the Atlantic and Jesse said, “Oh, no I don’t think so!” And it wasn’t!’