HBO
HBO

Succession star Kieran Culkin has opened up about his character’s sexuality. 

Back in 2018, TV enthusiasts were introduced to the HBO family drama starring Brian Cox, Jeremy Strong, Sarah Snook and Kieran Culkin. 

Set in New York City, the series follows the affluent Roy family as they fight for control of their successful business Waystar RoyCo, navigate complicated relationships, and deal with the declining health of the family patriarch Logan Roy. 

Since its release, fans and critics have lauded the series for its dynamic storytelling, musical score, production value and acting performances from its talented cast. 

Succession has also gained a dedicated LGBTQ+ fanbase partially due to the various queer-coded fan cams of some of the show’s characters, including Culkin’s Roman Roy.

While the character is not canonically queer and has only been involved with women throughout the series, speculation regarding Roman’s sexuality has run rampant throughout the show’s four seasons.

One fan on Twitter wrote: “No one told me the real queer representation in succession was not Tom/Greg but actually bi Roman Roy.”

Another fan tweeted: “I just finished season 3 of Succession, and all I wanna know is if Roman Roy is bi.”

In an interview with Variety, Culkin opened up about the speculation and even cleared up his character’s nixed wife and kids storyline from the show’s pilot episode. 

“Not his kid. Not his wife, either. It was in the pilot, and after it was picked up, it was his girlfriend, and she had a child. I’m wearing my real wedding band in the episode,” he explained. 

While Culkin admitted to being disappointed over Roman not having a wife and kid, he said the change was due to the writers wanting “more freedom” to explore the character’s sexuality. 

“They had mentioned to me, even before we shot the pilot, about questioning what Roman’s sexuality is – and we don’t know what it is,” he revealed. 

“But it put something in my brain, and I was like, ‘Ok, but I’m married and have kids?’ They were toying with the idea that she’s aware you have sort of hangups sexually when it comes to monogamy, and might be more fluid, but we don’t know what that is yet.” 

Here’s to hoping that the last five episodes of Succession’s fourth and final season explore Roman’s sexuality.