‘Succession’ Star J. Smith-Cameron: ‘Do Not F**k With’ Gerri

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Succession Season 4, Episode 3, “Connor’s Wedding.”]

In case you missed it, the dynamics of Succession are about to change drastically with former head honcho of Waystar Royco, Logan Roy (Brian Cox) out of the way.

Will long-held seats lead to positions of power for his former cohorts? Or will the Roy kids claim what they believe is a birthright? One individual is in a particularly tight spot as Gerri’s (J. Smith-Cameron) standing at the company remains unclear. Before Logan gasped his final breaths, he asked son Roman (Kieran Culkin) to let Gerri go, effectively firing her.

While the pair has the conversation at Connor’s (Alan Ruck) wedding, there doesn’t appear to be any finality to the situation as Gerri was called in to sit and talk with the kids following news of Logan’s death. With the man who wanted her ousted gone, what’s to stop Gerri from pretending the conversation never happened?

(Credit: HBO)

“The situation keeps changing in Season 4,” Smith-Cameron says of Gerri’s position on the metaphorical chess board. “The sides keep changing and changing and changing. It’s a very tumultuous season.”

As the actress points out, “At the end of [Season 3] she’s in the war room with them, but she’s kind of getting the cold shoulder from Logan from the start of Season 4. And that [had] been coming for a while.” Viewers may recall that Gerri was named interim CEO of Waystar Royco to divert potential legal action against Logan in Season 3, and Smith-Cameron’s remarks hint at the motivation behind Logan’s intention to can her: “Anytime someone in Logan’s world is elevated, even if he does the elevating, he begins to distrust them. She’s the odd man out and she’s broken ties with Roman and Logan is taking it out on her.”

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Although Roman delivered the firing blow, and Gerri was seemingly done with him, Smith-Cameron says, “there’s new dynamics between them, a lot of dynamics.” That remark, she adds, is “pretty bold of me to say. I shouldn’t say even that.”

“They still very much have a tumultuous thing going on, but it’s a new energy,” she clarifies. Could it have something to do with the fact that she has the power of damning text messages and photos that could hurt Roman and the company? As fans will recall, Roman accidentally forwarded a “dick pic” to his dad when he intended it for Gerri, something that he apparently did on numerous occasions.

While Smith-Cameron couldn’t say,’ she admits that Gerri’s “in a little bit of a free fall this season. It’ll be interesting to see how she manages that.” As for her approach moving forward? “She feels a little unsentimental about how roughed up she’s felt by both Logan and Roman. And so she’s a little colder than usual.”

In other words, watch out for Gerri, she’s ready to serve her own interests. “She’s always been very careful about who she trusts or doesn’t trust. And I think she’s even more hardened by the end of the story,” Smith-Cameron teases. “[She’s] very steely. Like, do not f**k with her.”

Trust us, we won’t.

Succession, Season 4, Sundays, 9/8c, HBO and HBO Max