[VIDEO] ‘Succession’ Ending, Final Season on HBO: Cast Reaction

Succession fans may have been devastated to hear that HBO’s Emmy-winning drama is ending after this season — but one cast member admits he was actually relieved.

“I was ready for it to be over,” Jeremy Strong, who plays Kendall Roy, tells TVLine in the above video. “Which doesn’t mean that I don’t experience it as a huge loss, and that I won’t miss what a gift that this has been.” But “I feel, in the best possible sense, a feeling of completion, and a feeling of the arc having run its course,” he shares. Strong also remembers it was “quite emotional” when the cast learned it would be the final season during a table read for the final episode.

Strong’s co-stars, meanwhile, had quite a different reaction to the final season news. J. Smith Cameron, who plays Waystar attorney Gerri, says: “I was so upset. I was mad, and I was crushed.” She trusts series creator Jesse Armstrong’s judgment in his decision to end the show, she adds, “but just from my own selfish point of view, I would be happy for it to have gone on and on.”

The cast also reveals what they’ll miss about their characters: Sarah Snook says the role of Shiv Roy has “been really meaningful for me to play… she’s really fun. She’s an observer, and she’s funny, and she’s pretty direct and bold, and yeah, it’s been pretty fun to step into those shoes.” For Nicholas Braun, who plays hapless cousin Greg, “playing clueless is kind of really fun.” But he hints that there’s still plenty of drama left to enjoy in the final season: “There’s so much story packed into a single episode… We’re about to give people a massive amount of good stuff.”

Braun hopes that viewers find the show’s ultimate conclusion satisfying… and not infuriating: “Hopefully, everyone’s OK at the end of this. They’re not arguing with us for the rest of time. We’ll see if we’re one of those types of shows.” Uh-oh… so should we brace ourselves for a Sopranos-esque cut to black? (Additional reporting by Nick Caruso)

Press PLAY above to see the Succession cast’s reactions to the show ending, and hit the comments and tell us: Is this the right time to end it?