How Succession star Sarah Snook learned to play her Trump card in devious Foxtel drama series

Playing the scheming daughter in the brilliant US drama series Succession, Aussie actor Sarah Snook reveals that the ‘First Daughter’ was an early reference point for her portrayal.

When Sarah Snook was first briefed on her role as the powerhouse daughter of a media mogul and corrupt corporate titan for the brilliant drama series, Succession, her reference point was a controversial and contemporary one.

With her father set to turn the White House upside down, and her hapless husband producing headlines of his own, Ivanka Trump was the producers’ choice as the perfect jumping off point to guide the Aussie actor’s performance.

Playing Siobhan, or ‘Shiv,’ Roy was a delicious departure for Snook, immersing herself in a world of mega money, excess and privilege.

Speaking from the show’s Long Island set, Snook tells News Corp playing her Trump card was just one of the ways she researched and built up her character — who has proved one of the most popular players in season one of this dark and devious dynastic drama.

Ivanka Trump was a source of inspiration for Sarah Snook’s character in Succession, but the actor says her role is a “Complete fabrication of a character”. Picture: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

Looking to forge “a brief outline” of her character, Snook said in the early stages of her preparations “that was [Ivanka]” — not entirely surprising, given the cast did their first script reading on the night of the sensational 2016 presidential election.

But rather than mimic the Trump heiress — or court the same kind of scrutiny Ivanka does — Snook decided to deviate and do her own thing.

“When I first read it, I said, ‘I’m not a person who could do a version of her or be in the same kind of world as her.’ I think she and I are very different, and so I decided to do a complete fabrication of a character instead.”

As the youngest of the scheming Roy siblings — and the only female in this duplicitous, cutthroat family — Siobhan rises as the underestimated dark horse, who fights tooth and nail for her place in the familial pecking order.

EARLIER: Sarah Snook’s great leap forward

In the decidedly testosterone-driven world her character finds herself in, Snook notes, “Shiv is closer to their father than her three brothers” (played by Jeremy Strong, Alan Ruck and Kieran Culkin).

But the most unusual of her relationships is the one she shares with her new unlikeable and often obsequious husband, Tom Wamsgans (played by English actor Matthew MacFadyen).

From outward appearances, they seem an unlikely couple, plagued by myriad problems — including infidelity and an obvious imbalance of power.

Succession has got viewers hooked with its portrayal of scheming family members.

In fact, many viewers were surprised the couple even made it to the altar at the end of season one; especially given Shiv’s affair with political strategist Nate Sofrelli (played by her Aussie co-star, Ashley Zukerman).

“Actually, I wasn’t surprised she went through with it,” Snook admits.

“Shiv is someone who has a very clear idea of what she wants, marking off particular things in her life in terms of achievements. She’s a strategist and she’s very controlling.”

From the outset though, the marriage is wildly unconventional.

“Yes, they have an open marriage,” she chuckles. “And I don’t think they do it particularly well so there’s a few moments of friction because of that.”

Sarah Snook and Kieran Culkin in a scene from season two of the TV series Succession. Picture: Foxtel

The 32-year-old star of A Beautiful Lie, Sisters Of War and The Dressmaker reserves judgment on the arrangement, even if she admits “I’m sure that’s a pretty hard thing to negotiate.

“I think the kind of woman who can be in an open marriage has a very strong sense of herself and a strong sense of their partner and what they both want to gain from the relationship and what they hope to gain from relationships they embark on outside of that. I imagine it comes with a lot of communication.”

She adds: “I understand that kind of communication. As an actor I think I could work out a way to understand it.”

Besides the familiarity of her friendship with another Aussie on set, Snook admits filming and living outside of Australia is a challenge in itself.

“It’s hard to find those patches of space that don’t have any sounds,” Snook says of life in the Big Apple.

“You can’t not hear cars, or machinery around you … that’s what I miss about Australia; the smell of nature, gum trees, eucalyptus.”

Sarah Snook and fellow Aussie Ashley Zukerman in New York. Picture: @sarah_snook/Instagram

Unlike many Aussie ex-pats who are quick to forget their roots, Snook is sentimental about her home country — taking a piece it with her everywhere she goes.

“I have a pillowcase with wallabies on it. It’s from Utopia Goods and I travel with it so that any hotel room or apartment I’m living in seems like my house.”

For now, Snook views her work in America as a means to an end.

“I’ve worked in a lot of TV and film in Australia, so it’s important to me to keep returning and working with fresh new directors. If there’s any kind of leverage gained by having a bigger profile in America, then perhaps it can be used to create work that I love in Australia,” she says.

“I don’t want to leave my home country. I am Australian, after all.”

* Succession, 8.30pm, Monday, August 12, Fox Showcase and streaming on Foxtel Now.

Originally published as How Succession star Sarah Snook learned to play her Trump card in devious Foxtel drama series