Succession stars Matthew Macfadyen and Nicholas Braun tower over EW's digital cover shoot

Succession stars Nicholas Braun and Matthew Macfadyen (Gregory "Cousin Greg" Hirsch and Tom Wambsgans) took over a tiny city in October for their EW digital cover shoot (read the full story here).

Macfadyen was delighted to learn he had been cast as a character named Tom Wambsgans. "It's 'womb' and 'glands' all mixed together," says the British actor. "It sort of told me everything I needed to know about the character."

While shooting the Adam McKay-directed Succession pilot, Braun found himself improvising with an actor playing a taxi driver. "Adam was like, 'I'm just going to yell some stuff at you,'" says the actor. "He was like, 'Okay, the meter is at 15 bucks and you only have 10 dollars. How do you get to your destination? How do you convince the cab driver to get there?'"

Braun and Macfadyen immediately gelled while shooting the pilot as their characters attempt to impress Logan Roy (Brian Cox) while also sizing each other up. "I suddenly thought, 'Oh, it's going to be okay,' because I found Nick so funny," says Macfadyen.

Sarah Snook, who plays Tom's wife, Shiv Roy, is full of praise for Macfadyen. "When you're working with a scene partner as talented as he is, you feel intimidated at first," says the Australian actress. "But he's so lovely. He's a good proper British gent. Matthew's so brilliant and Tom's just so Tom. Shiv and Tom, it's enormously enjoyable to play."

Braun recalls instantly connecting with Macfadyen. "That was a good feeling to me, as an actor, to know, like, 'Okay, that's a safe space,'" he says. "If I want to interact with that actor, and that character, he'll be there for me."

Brian Cox, who plays Logan Roy on Succession, insists that Braun should not be confused with his rather feckless character. "I think that Nick suffers a little bit from people thinking, that's Nick," says the Scottish actor. "Well, it's not Nick. Nick is much cannier than that, much smarter than that, not as gauche as that. He's a very smart lad."

"I think Tom really likes Greg, because I think if he didn't like him, he wouldn't bother with all the poking and bullying," says Macfadyen. "The degree to which he bullies him is exactly the degree he likes him and values him and trusts him."

Macfadyen admits he and Braun sometimes find it difficult to keep a straight face while shooting Succession. "We struggle, Nick and I, because the scenes are so funny," he says. "We find that we just about get through the scene scene and then the writers will come in with a load of alternate [lines]."

"There is a sort of symbiotic thing with actors and writers where they put something in there and the actors either run with it or don't," says Macfadyen of the Succession team's enthusiasm for showcasing his and Braun's characters together. "There's a chemistry or there isn't. And if there is, then so much the better and it develops."

Macfadyen and Braun have become friendly away from the Succession set. "We get together for a coffee or dinner," says Braun. "We went and saw Othello at the New York Theatre Workshop together back pre-COVID. You know, nothing crazy!"

When the show eventually began filming season 3 in the fall of 2020, the pair realized they had no scenes together at the start of production and resolved to meet up in New York. "That was November," says Macfadyen. "Freezing cold and we walked around with masks."

In season 3 of Succession, the specter of jail time has hung over the pair. How would Greg handle life behind bars? "I was thinking Greg might join a gang," offers Braun. "If he can join the Roy gang, he can join a prison gang, you know? Fold right in. 'What do you guys need? Who do you want me to shank today? I'll shank somebody. I mean, I'm not going to kill them, but I'll shank them. I just want to help.'"

Macfadyen believes his character would not thrive in prison. "I think Tom would go to pieces actually," says the actor.

Braun is currently shooting the movie Cat Person, based on the infamous 2017 New Yorker story by Kristen Roupenian. "The film is more of a thriller than the story that it's based on," says Braun. "I'm really excited."

Braun reveals he is happy to play the role of Greg as long as Succession creator Jesse Armstong and his team keep on writing the show. "I love what they write and we all have a good time, so you don't want a good thing to ever stop," says the actor. "I've done movies [where] I'm like, 'Oh, I wish that movie was longer.' But this is, 'Oh, I wish it was longer and it will be!' It will be years and years of this hopefully."

"I guess this is a good moment to say, I love this guy so much," Braun says of Macfadyen. "I cherish our friendship and working with him. I shouldn't talk too much about it, because it will make me emotional. But I really do, I love him a lot."