Character Study
Tracing the evolution of our favorite TV characters from script to screen.
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TheSuccessionwriters first imagined Gerri as a man, though not one with many defining features.
We didnt really have a character, just somebody to help with exposition, Mylod said.
The sides read like a dark comedy to me, she said.
Smith-Cameron got a callback for the role but couldnt read again because her mother had just died.
Still, she got the part.
She had this presence that just felt real.
We needed to get that loose naturalism, Mylod said.
Those little choices started to fuse into a complete persona.
But J. was a perfect fit.
We, but basically J., evolved the character, and she made herself indispensable.
She takes off her glasses, for instance, and does her hair neatly for nice events.
For me, that was a revelation.
We spent the whole first season flirting, Culkin remembered.
I dont know why that started happening, but J. is a tremendous flirt, so Ill blame her.
But it was that specific moment of improv at the bar that brought their chemistry to the fore.
Im gonna fuck it I dont remember what it was, Culkin said.
Then she dismissed me and I walked away, and I turned and looked at her butt.
What are you doing at the other end of the phone?
Its encouraged to confuse us.
It would be very easy to take it into some sort of farcical place, Mylod said.
As the relationship with Roman began to unfold, Gerri started wearing her hair down more, Smith-Cameron said.
Its not that we plotted this out, but her look just evolved along those lines.
It was a way we could money her up without losing her integrity, Matland said.
That is her statement piece, Matland said.
Its where she feels she can play without being obvious, Matland said.
That guarded playfulness manifests in very different ways with the various Roy family members.
But the idea was that maybe after he died, thered been something.
Or before he died.
But all it served to me now was an unspoken bond.
There is such mutual respect between the two actors.
Both of them are so solidly professional that that dynamic happened organically, Mylod said.
Brian understands the status of J.s character, the power she has, and how much he needs her.
Im not sure that Logan likes her, but he certainly respects her.
Still, she has a better rapport with some family members than others.
The others treat her as a resource, even Kendall, Smith-Cameron noted.
Shiv doesnt and is always a bit competitive.
Its too bad because Shiv could use a mentor like Gerri.
Now the props team keeps olives and martini glasses at the ready for Gerri scenes.
I said, What if shes having a martini to decompress in her room?
And they were like,Whup, Here it is.
Theres also Gerris two adult daughters, figures Smith-Cameron slowly but surely conjured into the universe of the show.
Smith-Cameron brought the idea to Armstrong, who had assumed Gerri didnt have any children.
They said, How would you feel having them go on a Waystar cruise?
After they cut, Jesse came running out and said, You got the daughters in!
Whilefilming in Italyfor the end of the upcoming season, Smith-Cameron happened to look down at her prop phone.
Oh, those are my daughters!
She said, It just blows my mind because shes a mole woman.
I dont understand how anyone on the show has admirers, but Gerri is the least expected one.
Part of the appeal of the character, Smith-Cameron assumes, is that Gerri is a good audience surrogate.
In season three, we start to explore that characters personal ambition, he said.
In the season premiere, shes named CEO.
Even if thats nominally the default choice, maybe its something she really wants by now.
I think theres her own personal endgame as well.
