Note: Spoilers for “Succession” Season 4 Episode 3 follow below.
“Succession” actor Brian Cox revealed he attended filming for Logan Roy’s funeral scene in an effort to keep the character’s shocking death in Season 4 Episode 3 a secret.
“They invented this scene that I was to play at the church,” Cox recalled during a Monday night appearance on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.” “I was on my way to film this scene and I got the call saying, ‘We are so behind and it is a scene that will never be used because it’s your funeral, so don’t come.’ And I thought, ‘No, I’ve got to go.’ I thought, ‘I better go because I know there’s going to be a lot of paparazzi there.’ I went there and as soon as I got out of the car they started clicking away. So immediately I was able to put off the fact that it was my funeral.”
Cox admitted that he is typically “hopeless” at keeping secrets and that keeping Logan’s death under wraps was an “absolute triumph.”
In a behind the scenes featurette, series creator Jesse Armstrong admitted he was nervous to tell Cox he’d be exiting the series in the third episode of Season 4.
“I was very nervous to tell him because there’s lots of anxieties about whether this is the right creative decision and there’s anxieties that someone who I love working with and has been at the center of the show will feel rejected on a human level for not being in it anymore when he’s been so central to the whole thing,” he said. “He took it like a total pro and he was professional and decent and kind enough to make it a pretty good meeting, but sad and significant one.”
Cox told Colbert that he was “fine” with the news, adding “it’s a job.”
“There’s another job. It’s one of many. I think I have done over 209 movies and stuff over the years,” he said. “It’s one of the great roles of all time, Logan Roy, you can’t knock it. It’s been fantastic. But I just knew that it had to come to a close and I admire Jesse Armstrong so much because it was a brave decision.”
Watch Cox’s interview with Colbert in the video above.
“Succession” Seasons 1-3 and Season 4 Episodes 1-3 are available to stream on HBO Max. New episodes air every Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.
