The Reason Roman's Wife & Kid Disappeared in Succession Revealed by Kieran Culkin

By Season 4 of Succession, fans had grown to care about every member of the Roy family.

Not that we really sympathize with them — but the cast's brilliant portrayal of their characters surely makes us understand their feelings and motivations, while the beautifully written script also helps to delve into their personalities.

However, there have been many changes from the beginning of the first season to this point, and some of them were largely unnoticed by the audience. For example, Logan was initially supposed to be Scottish, but the creators decided to make him Canadian.

Another special case is that Roman Roy apparently had a wife and child. Where did they go?

At the start of the show, we saw that the younger Roy had a wife/girlfriend named Grace, as well as a daughter, whom Kendall described as a 'friend of his children' rather than his own niece. In Episode 5, Roman and Grace broke up, after which he has never really shown any interest in his 'daughter' or his ex-partner. Kieran Culkin recently addressed this detail about his character in an interview:

'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,' the actor explained.

While many fans thought Roman was the most unpleasant character in the pilot episode, by the end of the first season, he had become one of the most complex and profound members of the media mogul dynasty. And it turns out, another important detail of the character hasn't been revealed yet.

'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,' Kieran Culkin added.

Born into a family with an unhealthy tendency toward bullying, suppression, and toxic masculinity, Roman grew up a traumatized man with complexes that may have affected his sexual identity, among other aspects of his personality. His failed romantic story with Grace could actually be read as her guessing his sexuality, although Culkin himself said he did not see this interpretation as necessary.

Throughout the series, Roman seems to be unable to figure out what he really wants in his relationships. First, he tries to build a connection with Tabitha but is not sexually attracted to her (perhaps because he isn't used to getting emotional support from a partner), and then he develops an unhealthy relationship with Gerri, who is both a mother figure and a mentor to him.

As a result, we end up with a complex but confused character whose sexual identity and endgame romantic arc are yet to be discovered — that is, if the writers decide to focus on this aspect at all.

The next episode of Succession will be aired on April 30, 2023.

Source: The Variety