Kieran Culkin’s character on “Succession” had a wife and kid within the pilot episode of the series — who were never seen again.
Culkin, 40, revealed what happened to Roman Roy’s family in a recent interview with Variety, sharing, “Not his kid. Not his wife, either.”
“It was within the pilot, and after it was picked up, it was his girlfriend, and she or he had a toddler,” he told the outlet.
As for the marriage band the actor was wearing within the pilot, it’s his real one from his marriage with wife Jazz Charton.
But Culkin, who has two kids — daughter Kinsey Sioux, 3, and son Wilder Wolf, 2 — was delighted to play a father and was initially let down that it wasn’t going to play out that way.
“I used to be excited concerning the idea of getting a child, and the child was like 7 or 8. It was a bit of disappointing, but I believe the concept was that it might just give them more freedom to play with the character,” he said.
The “freedom” they were in search of with the Roman character was the flexibility to explore his sexuality.
“They’d mentioned to me, even before we shot the pilot, about questioning what Roman’s sexuality is — and we don’t know what it’s. But it surely put something in my brain, and I used to be like, ‘OK, but I’m married and have kids?’” Culkin revealed.
He continued, “They were toying with the concept she’s aware that you’ve gotten form of hangups sexually in relation to monogamy, and is likely to be more fluid, but we don’t know what that’s yet.”
The writers of the hit HBO show clearly didn’t go the married route, as viewers have seen Roman in untraditional sexual dynamics throughout the show, most notably his flirtation and sexual tension with Gerri Kellman (J. Smith-Cameron).
Recent episodes of the fourth and final season of “Succession” can be found every Sunday at 9 p.m. on HBO and HBO Max, with the series finale airing on May 14.
Seasons 1-3 are currently available to stream on HBO Max.
