Alexander Skarsgard deserves an Emmy nomination for his role on Succession season 4.
On July 12 we’ll find out which TV shows and performers from the last year of television (June 1, 2022, through May 31, 2023) receive Emmy nominations. We don’t get to vote, but What to Watch has a few ideas about which shows and actors should be rewarded with nominations.
The final season of Succession provided a buffet of incredibly delectable performances from every single member of the cast. There were 19 submissions for Emmy consideration for the show, including three — Brian Cox, Kieran Culkin and Jeremy Strong — submitted in the Best Drama Actor category alone.
Given the tight competition amid a packed field of actors competing for acting, supporting actor and guest actor Emmy nominations, it’s hard to cheer for any one actor over another. But we’re going to give it a shot because Alexander Skarsgard’s performance as eccentric billionaire and tech mogul Lukas Matsson in Succession season 4 deserves an Emmy nomination.
Cool, calm and utterly eccentric
Lukas Matsson entered Succession in season 3 when Roy patriarch Logan (Brian Cox) contemplated selling his company to a rival tech billionaire. Skarsgaard’s Matsson debuted in an Italian villa on Lake Como, noting with disdain that he can’t handle the mansion’s opulence.
This was only a hint of what was to come, and a big reason why Matsson ended up with a larger role in season 4.
The Roy family weren’t the only billionaire moguls on Succession. Over the course of four seasons, viewers were introduced to all kinds of hedge fund kings and old money matriarchs who fall into their own special segment of the 1%.
With Matsson, though, all bets were off from the very start. He was coy and cagey, giving Logan glimpses of his genius and savvy while also displaying over-the-top lapses in judgement. (Late night tweets, anyone?)
Many of Matsson’s eccentricities come from decisions made on the fly, like using his own wardrobe and walking barefoot between personal jets. It’s the little details like these that helped Matsson make a huge impact on the show.
Shades of Eric Northman
Lukas Matsson might be a billionaire mogul, but he seemed awfully familiar to HBO fans and Alexander Skarsgard fans alike thanks to the similarities Matsson had with another Skarsgard character, Eric Northman, from the hit HBO series True Blood.
Eric Northman, an ancient and powerful vampire, spent a great deal of time on the series brooding. He was economic with his words, only needing a look or a raised eyebrow to deliver a point. Eric Northman towered over everyone in a room and knew that he was the most powerful creature around, for the most part.
In Succession, Matsson knows he has a lot of power and influence and he’s very aware of how he can manipulate a situation for personal gain. He’s been doing it with his business, fudging subscriber numbers to increase his company’s value, and he’s been doing it in his personal life, stringing along his communications director and former girlfriend by tormenting her with bricks of frozen blood. (On both points, and especially this last point, we know Eric Northman would approve)
Alexander Skarsgard has been stealing every scene he’s in for years now, but there’s something very special about how his performance as Lukas Matsson seems to dovetail so perfectly with Eric Northman. If you told us Matsson was a vampire, we’d believe you.
Succession season 4 wouldn't be the same without Alexander Skarsgard
By now you’ve probably heard that the patriarch of the Roy family dies early on in the fourth season, clearing the path for a battle for power between his children, WaystarRoyco’s board and Matsson, who had been in the final stages of a takeover with Logan prior to his death.
This makes Matsson the perfect villain of the season. While the GoJo deal was originally a Hail Mary strategy to protect the company, the Roy children came up with a plan to block Matsson and take over GoJo instead, keeping their family’s company and adding another feather to their impressive cap.
Matsson, naturally, wasn’t about to give up the deal he made with Logan prior to his death, which made him a roadblock that couldn’t be avoided. Grieving Roman Roy (Kieran Culkin) even went so far as to blame Matsson for his father’s death, saying that the stress from negotiations killed him.
In the end, though, Matsson was victorious, having manipulated enough people — including Shiv Roy (Sarah Snook) and her husband Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) — so that everything fell into place just as he’d hoped. Like an expert puppetmaster, Matsson pulled the strings so that Shiv blocked her brothers’ takeover attempt and paved the way for Tom to be the American CEO of WaystarRoyco after the sale.
It was dirty, but thanks to Skarsgard’s smooth stylings it was so much fun to watch.
There are a lot of very talented actors in the pool of candidates for Best Drama Supporting Actor nominations, but we feel that Alexander Skarsgard deserves a nomination for sinking his teeth into a delectable performance in Succession.
Check out some of the other shows and performances our WTW staff believed deserve an Emmy nomination:
