WARNING: Spoiler alert
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Alexander Skarsgard is "having a blast" playing tech mogul Lukas Matsson in 'Succession'. The character is portrayed as one of the richest and most powerful men in the world, who is on a relentless pursuit to outmaneuver the Roy boys.
Matsson, who has been compared to real-life tech tycoon Elon Musk, has a personal motto, "Privacy, pu**y, pasta," and he appears to have a special connection with Siobhan "Shiv" Roy, the only daughter in the Roy family played by Sarah Snook. At the conclusion of 'Succession's penultimate episode, he promises her the position of US CEO if the acquisition goes through.
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'Lovely, sweet girl'
“I’m havin’ a blast,” Skarsgard admitted in an interview with Rolling Stone about his role on the show, before chiming in on the "incredible chemistry" between Lukas and Shiv. "I met Sarah a few times last season when we shot the stuff at Lake Como, but we didn’t have any scenes together," he told the outlet. "I was bummed over that because I think she’s extraordinarily talented and also just a lovely, sweet girl." He continued, "I was thrilled when I talked to Jesse before Season Four, and he laid out the plan for Matsson this year and told me I’d have a really strong storyline with Sarah."
According to Skarsgard, the pair "hit it off" immediately. "I can’t speak for Sarah, but I feel like we hit it off immediately," he said. "We have a very similar process where we would sit in the makeup trailer in the morning and not overanalyze or overdo the scene, but we would basically read it a few times to find the cues and the right rhythm of it. Then we would leave it for a bit, return to the set in front of the cameras, and jump straight into it. It was incredibly easy because she’s so spectacularly talented and you just play off of that."
'We wanted to leave it open'
The towering Swede said they "wanted some ambiguity" in the relationship between Lukas and Shiv. "In the relationship, it became obvious early on that we wanted some ambiguity. We wanted to leave it open to interpretation from the audience as to whether it’s a sexual connection, whether they’re playing each other, whether he’s manipulating her or testing her," he explained. "The writing is so spectacular that it’s never on the nose."
'Privacy, pu**y, pasta'
In the wide-ranging interview, Skarsgard was also asked how he felt about his character's life motto, "Privacy, pu**y, pasta," and who came up with it. "I believe it was Jesse [Armstrong]," he said. "I’m not sure, so don’t quote me on that. But it was basically the introduction to the character — the first time you meet Lukas at Kendall’s weird birthday party, and he’s really bored, and he’s surrounded by sycophants that he finds incredibly boring. All he wants is to sit in the corner, eat pasta, and find some pussy. That’s kind of what he’s after there," the star divulged.
