Succession’s Sarah Snook: ‘Money won’t make you happy’

When you play a character who has everything from private helicopters to summer palaces, you learn a thing or two about being rich.

“You don’t need money to be happy because those people certainly don’t seem to be.”

Australian actor Sarah Snook speaks these words down the phone line from New York, that shining beacon of capitalism, and the “people” she’s referring to are the Roys, the fictional billionaire family at the centre of acclaimed HBO drama Succession, which is streaming now on Foxtel.

Snook plays Siobhan “Shiv” Roy, the smart and ambitious daughter of patriarch Logan Roy who oversees a dynastic media empire. Shiv is the canniest of her siblings, who are all jostling for their cold father’s approval, love and power.

Succession is set in a world of mind-boggling riches, where there are palatial summer homes and European hunting lodges to go with the Manhattan penthouses. The characters think nothing of turfing platters of lobsters with a wave of their hand and take a convoy of helicopters for family outings.

Succession is Australian actor Sarah Snook’s first significant US role Picture: Lawrence Pinder

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But that world of opulence and excess holds no allure for Snook.

“Ohmigod, no!” she exclaims, laughing. “The thing about money is you have to maintain it. And then you have all these expensive things and they need a lot of expensive upkeep.

“I feel like there should be a ceiling or cap with most people. Say your wealth increases and you’re a hundred-millionaire — you don’t need to be taking private jets everywhere and suddenly you are. Well, you don’t need to. You don’t need to be eating lobster and throwing out half of it.”

Snook didn’t base Shiv on any particular real-life person despite the comparisons to Sharri Redstone or other privileged women, but she did look at dynastic families and what drives people that wealthy.

“It seems like a lot of hard work being rich. You’ve got more to protect and that’s when they become maniacal about protecting this wealth.

“Succession is about family, and what family can do to each other when there’s money involved.

“After shelter, food and a bit of money for entertainment, you don’t need much.”

You won’t find Sarah Snook throwing out uneaten lobster platters.

Snook was born and bred in Adelaide, and Succession is her first significant US role. Snook’s presence on the show has become so vital that American outlets called her the series’ breakout star after its first season.

Before that, she had built an impressive resume in Australia, from working with Kate Winslet on The Dressmaker to Ethan Hawke on Predestination. In between, there were roles on ABC miniseries The Secret River, an episode of Black Mirror and the indie dramedy Not Suitable For Children.

Snook has just returned from Croatia, where Succession shot its final episode for season two.

She described filming as a bit “like school camp”.

“You’re all out together and go out to dinner, hang out, just having fun as friends,” she said.

Sarah Snook says she enjoys the scenes between Shiv and Roman (Kieran Culkin) the most.

At least the cast can enjoy each other’s company much more than their on-screen counterparts, whose interactions are brimming with suspicion and subterfuge.

Perhaps it’s that potential for betrayal and dirty dealings in every moment of Succession that’s made the series such a delicious, must-watch show.

“There’s a glee in watching people who seem to have it all not have it all,” Snook says. “And seeing how fallible they are and how much they’re devastatingly at the mercy of their own flaws.”

For Snook, Shiv is a character that really lets her explore the different sides to the media scion, someone who changes depending on who she’s with.

“They’re all honest versions of herself, but she’s not a person who will reveal too much to one person,” she explains. “I think in some ways, Tom gets to see most of who she is, and you get to see this season what it is about them that works, and what’s keeping Shiv there. He’s an anchor for her, some sort of stability.

“But the most fun to play really is any of the brothers, particularly Roman. The Shiv and Roman scenes are always my favourite. I think what she’s like with Roman is what Shiv would like to be but can’t be all the time. Because you don’t get anywhere being snarky and silly, and she’s an ambitious person.”

Sarah Snook with fellow Aussie Succession recurring star Ashley Zukerman in New York. Picture: @sarah_snook/Instagram

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Despite her new-found American fame, Snook clearly hasn’t fallen for its trappings. She lives in New York now, where Succession shoots for more half the year and has just been renewed for a third season, but chose Brooklyn over Manhattan “because there’s more green space and I miss the nature that’s endemic to Australia”.

She says she’s not often recognised in New York but after a recent weekend in Washington DC where it happened a lot, she wonders if New Yorkers just don’t approach her.

“It made me think twice about schlubbing around in my ugg boots, no bra and a T-shirt! Maybe I shouldn’t be such a slob! Dress a little nicer,” she said.

Succession is currently streaming on Foxtel/Foxtel Now with new episodes broadcast on Fox Showcase on Mondays at 8.30pm

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