Succession star James Cromwell, who plays Logan’s brother Ewan, has only been in one episode of the show this season. But he certainly made that one appearance count.
In Season 4, episode nine, Ewan brushes aside a nervous Greg (Nicholas Braun) and walks to the front of the church to speak fairly bluntly about his brother. His eulogy touches upon Logan’s troubled past, giving an insight into why he was the way he was, before eviscerating his “meagreness” and lack of morals. Like the entirety of the show, it’s beautifully written.
This was the point Cromwell himself wanted to drum home when the took to Twitter on Monday to post about his Succession performance in relation to the ongoing writers’ strike.
“It begins with the words,” Cromwell wrote. “Nothing happens without them. Sometimes, the writing achieves transcendence, but, in every case, it’s seminal. I got to a give a brilliant speech recently, which not only explicated my and my brother’s characters, it illuminated an entire narrative.
“This is what great writers do. And they need to be compensated in accordance with their contribution. At the very least, they need to be able to provide for themselves and their families.”
Cromwell’s tweet comes as the strike organised by the Writers Guild of America (WGA) enters its fourth week. Film and TV writers are currently taking to the picket lines after the last deal between the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) – the organisation representing the studios – ended at the start of May. The two sides differ on issues of pay, streaming residuals, how TV shows are written, and artificial intelligence, among other things. As a new deal was unable to be reached, writers are now on strike until a new one can be struck.
“In this era of corporate greed and union busting, management seems to hold all the cards,” finished Cromwell. “Except for the most important ones: Unity; Solidarity; Fraternity. All of us win when the writers win. And we will win. Union! Strike!”
The series finale of Succession airs May 28 at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max.
