Director Andrij Parekh channeled the energy of Adam McKays 2016 Election Night party into America Decides.
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Successions America Decides depicts several dramatic fractures.
Then, of course, that party went from boisterous and fun to very quiet.
This episode was a big one!Big, big, scary episode.
When you say scary, do you mean scary for you?
For the characters?I mean everything.
How did you tackle it all?There was a whole breakdown.
Then it was going through and choosing takes.
It was an undertaking.
It sounds like filming two separate episodes.Its two in one.
And I hope no one notices the work that went into it!
Thats what makes it feel real.
The ATN office building is that the CNBC building?CNBC New Jersey, yes.
Our access was basically weeknights after 6 p.m., the weekends, then before 6 a.m. Monday morning.
So we had that energy of probably too much coffee, then tootoomuch coffee.
How did you approach the overall tone of the episode?
It seems to have sparked some unpleasant flashbacks.We shot the pilot forSuccessionin 2016 around election time.
I think our second, third day of photography was the day after the election.
You had a sense.
That was the feeling I was hoping to capture in this.
Were running possibilities, blah blah blah.
So it was creating this world at ATN where that feeling exists.
Everything from which states report when to what would happen if something in Milwaukee actually burned down.
Then, immediately, Tom calls Kendall.
Hopefully, it feels very real.
I wanted to ask aboutwasabi choreography.
The scene where Greg gets wasabi in Darwins eyes is such a stupid, small moment.
Then it quickly balloons into this huge clownish thing that potentially tips them into calling an election.
What makes it infinitely watchable is the combination.
Were you futzing around with different takeout boxes?
Wed planted the drinks there already thats all there at the beginning of the night.
And, originally in the script, it was Sprite that got poured in his eyes.
But LaCroix just seems funnier for some reason.
With LaCroix, Greg can yell that its not that lemony.Oh yeah, it was a lot of fun.
But then youre shooting, and youre like,Oh man, did that go too far?
How do you know?
Instead of actions, reactions are pushed to the forefront.
Its not shot wide.
I often find that if Im laughing at the monitor, maybe it has gone too far.
Who knows how seriously hes taking this thing.
Did he really see himself as president?
He seems quite happy to be in the diplomatic corps and go wherever to serve the U.S. government.
He makes me laugh every time.
It does feel like Connor is direct and honest about what he wants and means.
Whereas for someone like Shiv, this episode is a bit of comeuppance.
At least I think she does?
Its where she puts her sense of self, I think.
Whether she actually believes in it, Im not 100 percent sure.
Kendall, tragically, feels like he can compartmentalize whats good for the country versuswhats good for business.
I think what the show has done is exposed the quid pro quo of politics and media.
But it was really important that, at that moment, Shiv does not know what Kendall knows.
Shiv does not know what Greg has told him about her.
Because she doesnt know, shes frozen in place.
It was about making her feel trapped, being guilty and not able to hide it.
What do you do in that moment?
I think its always great to have conversations that characters are watching but dont hear.
Its always ambiguous orin this conditional space.
Youre caught in uncertainty all the time.Thats what makes it super-interesting for me.
Ill read the scripts, and well block it, and suddenly youre like,Oh wow.
This is not what I thought it was going to be.
Everyone has a point of view, and everyone has a different understanding of whats happening.
That, to me, was more about her communicating with the audience than with Roman.
Its rare for the show to communicate with the audience that directly.
Was it in the script?
I wanted that moment to feel just a little bit different.
Is it a moment of clarity for her?I wouldnt say moment of clarity.
I think its more that shes pointing out what her brothers have done.
There are no consequences for them.
Maybe itll be inconvenient for Kendalls family to suddenly have a bodyguard all the time.
But Roman is fine.
Roman doesnt think twice about it.
But for Shiv, its suddenly this new awareness.I think so.
Im very curious about what happens in the finale.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
