These Stars of SUCCESSION Have Ties to the Stage

With Jeremy Strong making his Broadway return in An Enemy of the People this season, BroadwayWorld is exploring some of the others stars of the iconic series Succession, who have ties to the stage.

Succession is an American satirical black comedy-drama television series that aired for four seasons on HBO from June 3, 2018, to May 28, 2023. The series centers on the Roy family, the owners of global media and entertainment conglomerate Waystar RoyCo, and their fight for control of the company amidst uncertainty about the health of the family's patriarch.

The show (and its cast) have received several accolades, but did you know many of the stars have ties to the stage? Many Succession stars got their start in the theatre, or built a career on stage separate from their recognition on screen.

Below, learn more about some of the Succession stars who have appeared on stage!

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Jeremy Strong

Jeremy Strong, known for his role as Kendall Roy on Succession, actually began his career on stage in his early years of acting. He made his Broadway debut  in A Man for All Seasons in 2008, but appeared in various regional and off-Broadway productions throughout the early 2000s. He now makes his return to Broadway this year in An Enemy of the People. 

Peter Friedman

Peter Friedman, who played Frank Vernon on Succession, was recently seen in Job off-Broadway at the Connelly Theatre. The production will transfer to Broadway this summer. The production will begin performances on Monday, July 15 and open on Tuesday, July 30 at the Hayes Theater for a limited engagement through Sunday, September 29

Friedman is no stranger to the stage, having made his Broadway debut in 1972 with The Great God Brown. He has appeared in many, many, other Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, including The Visit, A Soldier's Play, Ragtime, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, Twelve Angry Men, Hamlet, and more.

Sydney Lemmon

Lemmon only appeared in 3 episodes of Succession, but she also has several stage credits to her name!

She appeared on Broadway in The Parisian Woman in 2018. Most recently, she was seen in Job off-Broadway alongside Peter Friedman. She will also star in the aforementioned Broadway transfer coming this summer.

Sarah Snook

Sarah Snook is currently playing all 26 roles in The Picture of Dorian Gray in London's West End, which is rumored to transfer to Broadway. She returns to the London stage following her debut in Matthew Warchus' 2016 production of The Master Builder opposite Ralph Fiennes.

Snook also starred as Cordelia in King Lear and Joan of Arc in Saint Joan in Australia.

Natalie Gold

Among the Succession stars that are currently starring in a stage production is Natalie Gold, appearing now in Appropriate on Broadway.

Her other theatre credits include Peace for Mary Frances (The New Group), Kill Floor (Lincoln Center) – both directed by Lila Neugebauer – Scarcity (Rattlestick), Distracted (Roundabout), The Language of Trees (Roundabout), and The Fever Chart (The Public). 

J. Smith-Cameron

J. Smith-Cameron has countless stage credits to her name, including award-winning off-Broadway roles in Sweet and Sad and Sarah, Sarah. Her many other off-Broadway credits include, most recently, Love Letters, as well as Peace for Mary Frances, Dear Elizabeth, Pen, God of Hell, Tartuffe, Desdemona, and many more.

On Broadway, Smith-Cameron appeared in Crimes of the Heart, Wild Honey, Lend Me a Tenor, Our Country's Good, The Play's the Thing, Night Must Fall, Tartuffe, and After the Night and the Music.

Brian Cox

Brian Cox has worked extensively with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre, where he gained recognition for his portrayal of King Lear. His Broadway credits include Strange Interlude, Art, Rock 'n' Roll, That Championship Season, and The Great Society.

Most recently, he appeared in a London production of Long Day's Journey Into Night. His previous London credits include The Weir.

Kieran Culkin

Kieran Culkin appeared on Broadway in 2014 in This Is Our Youth, as well as the special production, The 24 Hour Plays, in 2006. 

Alan Ruck

With a few Broadway credits to his name, Ruck is yet another Succession star with ties to the stage. His made his Broadway debut in Biloxi Blues in 1985. He then went on to replace Matthew Broderick in The Producers in 2001, in a role he also played on the subsequent U.S. tour of the musical. Most recently, he appeared on Broadway in Absurd Person Singular in 2005.

Arian Moayed

Moayed is the co-Founder of Waterwell, a civic-minded and socially conscious theater and education company, as well as a Partner at the for-profit Waterwell Films. 

He recently appeared alongside Jessica Chastain in A Doll's House. Other credits include Hamlet, The Humans, King Lear, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, and more.

Matthew Macfadyen

Macfadyen has several stage credits dating back to 1994. Most recently, he appeared in a West End production of Perfect Nonsense in 2013. His many other credits include Henry IV, Private Lives, Much Ado About Nothing, A Midsummer Night's Dream, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and more.

Dagmara Domińczyk

Dagmara Domińczyk has appeared on Broadway four times, in The Violet Hour, Enchanted April, Closer, and Golden Boy. Off-Broadway credits include There Are No More Big Secrets. 

David Rasche

Having begun his career with Chicago's The Second City, Rasche has performed often at MTC, mostly notably in Last Dance as well as Moonlight and Magnolias.

His Broadway credits include The Country House, To Be Or Not To Be, Getting and Spending, Speed-the-Plow, Lunch Hour, Loose Ends, and The Shadow Box.

Off-Broadway credits include Little Miss Sunshine, Warrior Class, Chekhov's The Seagull, Regrets Only, David Mamet's Edmond, David Mamet's Faust, and Mamet's No One Will Be Immune.

Most recently, he appeared in The Skin of Our Teeth off-Broadway in 2017.

Harriet Walter

While she only has appeared in 7 episodes of Succession, we would be remiss to leave out a mention of Walter, who has countless award-winning roles on Broadway, the West End, and beyond.

Walter began her career acting with the Royal Shakespeare Company in productions of Twelfth Night(1987–88) and Three Sisters (1988), for which she received the Olivier Award for Best Actress. She received Olivier nominations for Life x 3 (2001), and Mary Stuart (2006). Her other notable work for the RSC includes leading roles in Macbeth (1999) and Antony and Cleopatra (2006).

She made her Broadway debut in the 1983 revival of the William Shakespeare play All's Well That Ends Well (1983). She returned to Broadway in Mary Stuart for which she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. She reprised her roles of Brutus in Julius Caesar (2012) and the title role in Henry IV (2014), as well as playing Prospero in The Tempest, as part of an all-female Shakespeare trilogy in 2016.

Fisher Stevens

Fisher Stevens has not only acted on stage, but has directed many stage productions as well. 

He made his Broadway debut as David in Torch Song Trilogy. Other Broadway acting credits include Brighton Beach Memoirs and Carousel. Off-Broadway performing credits include A Perfect Ganesh, and Twelfth Night and A Midsummer Night's Dream at NYSF.

Stevens also co-founded Naked Angels, a theater company in New York City.

Rob Yang

Although best known for his work on screen, Rob Yang has also appeared in several off-Broadway productions, including The Shanghai Gesture, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Catch as Catch Can.

Honorable Mention: Nicholas Braun

While Braun does not have any notable stage credits, it was recently reported that he will soon star in Kenneth Lonergan’s Lobby Hero in the West End.  The production will be directed by Trip Cullman, who directed the 2018 Broadway production starring Michael Cera, Chris Evans, Brian Tyree Henry and Bel Powley.