Alexander Skarsgård has discussed the inspiration for his wacky tech billionaire on Succession.
In the show’s final season, which has just dropped its seventh episode, the Swedish actor plays Lukas Matsson, the head of GoJo, a company that is attempting to buy Waystar Royco.
The character is eccentric, to say the least: he sends half-litre bricks of his frozen blood to an employee he’s had an affair with, and has no qualms with urinating on rocks in the middle of business negotiations.
Musk meanwhile, has made headlines numerous times over the years for his unusual behaviour, for example: naming one of his children X AE A-XII and plotting to build a human colony on Mars.
In a new interview with Entertainment Tonight, Skarsgård was asked how he feels about the comparisons between Matsson and Spotify head Daniel Ek and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
“I drew inspiration from a lot of titans of the tech industry,” he said. “But it’s an amalgamation and I drew inspiration from a bunch of them, and then, obviously, sprinkled in some other components and ideas to create the foundation for Lukas.
“There’s definitely a singularity and eccentricity that some of them also have that Lukas shares, but he’s not modelled after one individual.”
When asked where Matsson will “end up this season”, Skarsgård remained vague and refused to give any indication as to whether the takeover deal will go through. “This season, Lukas ends up where he belongs,” he said.
Read our full recap of the latest episode here and our piece on how, in Succession’s world of toxic men, Skarsgård’s Matsson hits a chilling new low, here.
Check out our recommendations of what other shows to watch if you love Succession, here.
