Actor Alan Ruck’s Road to ‘Succession’

Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

Lemonada Media

Society & Culture, Film Interviews, Tv & Film

4.8 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 21 May 2023

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Today, we’re joined by actor Alan Ruck! At the top, we dive into the Election Day episode of Succession (4:00), the ensemble’s first table read during the 2016 presidential race (7:23), and how that fateful night shaped the arc of the series (8:59). Then, we walk through Ruck’s iconic role of Cameron Frye in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (9:54), memories on set with Matthew Broderick (12:05), and his winding path that followed (17:19).

On the back-half, he describes a mid-90s stretch of performances in Speed, Twister, and Spin City (24:37), a serious medical emergency he endured (26:22), and how it shaped his new perspective on art-making, leading him to Succession (29:48). To close, we discuss Ruck's process crafting the character of Connor Roy (32:27), a pivotal scene from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (37:50), and his hopes for the years to come (43:04).

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Pushkin. This is talk easy. I'm San Francisco, so welcome to the show. Today I am joined by actor Alan Ruck. You of course know him from Ferris Buellers Day Off,
0:48.6	speed, Twister, Spin City, so much more, but he's most recently in HBO's succession in which he
0:55.2	plays Logan Roy's eldest son, Connor. He's the only Roy who's not particularly
1:00.8	interested in running the family business.
1:03.6	Instead, over these last couple seasons, he's fallen in love with an escort,
1:07.4	bank rolled her off-Broadway play,
1:09.8	while somehow finding the time to run for president. Of course as succession
1:15.2	showrunner Jesse Armstrong has made clear Connor Roy has been interested in
1:19.8	politics from a very young age.
1:23.0	I sat with Ruck this past week on the heels of episode 8 entitled America's Decision.
1:29.5	And as we near the end of this succession era, I wanted to celebrate not just Ruck's incredible performance as
1:35.9	Connor Roy, but his long road to landing this role. From his iconic turn as Cameron Frye to the fallout that followed Ferris. from his
1:44.0	work,
1:45.0	work work, Buehler's day off.
1:46.0	We discuss his work crafting the character of Connor Roy,
1:50.0	saying goodbye to this HBO hit,
1:52.8	how he grappled with alcoholism,
1:54.9	his turn to sobriety, a medical scare that renewed his sense of purpose,
1:59.7	and so much more.
2:01.2	Like last week's episode with Padma Lakshmi, I want to thank
2:05.1	Alan Ruck at the top here for not only coming on the show, but for sharing his
2:09.8	story in a way that is honest and vulnerable and deeply human.
	...

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