As Succession's Willa Ferreyra, the kooky former sex-worker turned fiancee of oldest Roy sibling, Connor, Justine Lupe plays one of the most intriguing female characters in the smash hit cult HBO show. For three seasons, fans have seen Willa survive inside the most ruthless family on television, weathering their atrocious behaviour, conniving machinations for power grabs, backstabbing and treachery that makes the show so jaw-on-the-floor compelling. And she's done so with a rhinoceros-like thick skin. (Who could forget all the snide, sexist jokes aimed at her in the early episodes and how she never let them ruffle her?) And an astonishing ability to humour the hapless Connor through his various hopeless endeavours, such as his campaign to become President of the United States or the $500k purchase of the (fake) penis of Napoleon. But while she may come across as mere arm candy on the surface, Willa's also shown she's no idiot, playing the billionaire media dynasty for her own gain in supporting her aspirations to become a serious artist and playwright and - to the surprise of everyone - falling for Connor along the way. Season three ended with Willa finally accepting Connor's marriage proposal in Italy “Fuck it. Come on. How bad can it be?” she said.
As fans prepare themselves to devour the fourth - and (sob!) final - season of Succession, GLAMOUR caught up with Justine Lupe to chat sex-workers, sexism, feminism, pranks on set and just how bad the Roy family really are…spoiler, they're all really lovely IRL!
How did it feel filming the final season and the final scene?Well, we didn't know it was the final season until quite late. It was an amazing season, though. I'm so excited for people to see it, and I had so much fun. I think it's such a comfortable set now. Everybody knows each other so well, everybody's quite bound to each other. And so it was just a really good one where I felt like everyone was really in the groove and felt at ease and at home with each other. And then, once I did know by the time that I got to my final scene and I was an absolute wreck. It was devastating. I mean, not to be too dramatic, I was 27 when I started the show, and I'm now 33. Huge, huge life changes have happened during this time, and my adulthood has really come during this time, and I feel very close to everyone. We went through the pandemic together, so it was horrible. It was horrible. I was just sobbing a little kid that couldn't stop crying.
I have a picture of all the [Roy] siblings holding me... Because I got to say goodbye before the end end of my last scene. So everybody gave me this massive hug. I was talking to Alan [Connor Roy] about how sad it was, and he said, "You know what? It's the price of admission for love is losing." [Tearful]
Oh, no, I didn't want to make you cry!It's okay. It's going to blow over. It happens all the time. It's just an emotional time!
What can we expect in season four for Connor and Willa? Obviously, you teased on Instagram a picture of you on set in a wedding dress.Well, luckily, it was in the trailer, but still, I mean, I would've never posted it if I had not gotten approval, thank God!…I can't really go too far into it, but I think the show was so good. So I would just say trust... In terms of are they going to be disappointed? Are they going to be shocked? Are they going to be... I had the same questions myself going into the season, what's going to happen? And the great thing about this show is that we've had three seasons of consistent, just incredible material, and you can trust it.
What would you say has been the most fun standout memory of filming the show?Well, one standout is when we were in Croatia, we were doing a yacht [end of season 2] and it was just incredible. We'd wake up and Sarah and I would go swimming in the morning before we went to work, in the sea. And it would be five in the morning, we'd get a little swim in. Annabelle Dexter-Jones [Naomi Pierce] would do it too. And then we'd go and we'd work all day, and then we'd wrap and we'd jump off the boat into the ocean again!
And it was just like, what is my life? I'm in the most beautiful place with the most beautiful water. And then we'd go grab food at one of these coastal restaurants with the cast or writers, or we all get along really well and love each other. So we would hang after we wrapped and then eat this incredible Mediterranean food, and then go to bed and then do it all over again.
And offscreen, the cast are not like the Roy family. It's all harmonious?Yeah. It's a really sweet group. I was just saying Matthew's [Macfadyen] nothing like Tom. They're these kind, warm, loving, goofy sweethearts. I think that's what makes it all work so well, it's like we can really lean into the terrible nature of these people, because everybody knows we're just pretending, and there's so much love there.
Why do you think that Succession is so wildly popular when the characters are so mainly unlikable?Well, this is the thing is I have moments of compassion and empathy and love for all of them. I go through these weird rollercoasters. Last season with Roman, I was, saying, "This guy's such an asshole. This guy's such a prick." And then I'd be like, "Oh, wait, he's amazing. Oh, he's great. I love him." And then I'd be like, "Wait, no, he's a dick." I think as you get to know them, you see all these flickers of different elements, and you see their history, and you see what is going on with their father, and you see what he's gone through. You see how people get to be the people that they are, and all the things that make them behave in the way that they do. It allows you to feel compassion for them, even when they're terrible. And on top of that, I think people love it because they're all such juicy characters on top in their viciousness. It's so well-delivered and each of them have such clear identities that you could watch it all day. They're just fascinating.
Luckily, your character is probably one of the most likeable.Thank you.
Willa was originally only supposed to be in three episodes. Why do you think that she lasted the course?I think that they just kept on going, 'Well, maybe there's more. Maybe there's more.' Because that's how it felt. I mean, I don't know, because I didn't ever go up to Jesse [Armstrong, the creator] and question him keeping me around. I was like, "Great, great."
So I was supposed to leave in the Santa Fe episode, (season 1, episode 7) that was the end of my moment. And then there just kept on being these little steps towards revisions. It just kept on tweaking and tweaking and getting closer and closer to her staying. And then I stayed. And then I was like, "Well, when is she going to leave?" And she just kept on staying. So my guess is that they just felt well maybe we could try keeping her here and seeing where this goes. And then... Stuck and I was very happy to be!
Remarkably, Willa's relationship with Connor seems to be one of the most successful on the show. What do you think that is?I think that Willa really understands Connor and she really sees him. She sees what's happening with him, how he is the man that he is, what's happening with this family, what's happening with this dynamic. And I think that when you understand someone, you bind to them in some way.
In this situation, it feels like she's become a bit of a, I would say even a protector. She feels what he needs and she's been there for him. And he gave her something in terms of... She's clearly ambitious and she has an agenda, and she wants to be an artist, and she wants to be a writer and he's enabled that. And there was this power dynamic where he was her provider. And now you feel like her stepping into her power a little bit in this dynamic. And there's some scenes in the last season where you feel her really coming to his aid in times where he needs a little bit of a defender. He's been stomped on by this family for a while, or looked over or passed over in terms of responsibility and there's a few cool moments where she goes, ‘Well, what about Connor?’ Or, ‘Leave him alone’. So I think that that allows this relationship to work is they both help each other. You can see that she understands that he's a kook and that he's crazy.
Do you think there's any element of Willa's character that's feminist?100%. I do. I do because I feel like she's always had a real self-assuredness and she's always been very in touch with her femininity and also in touch with her power and I think that in itself is... I think that she's a feminist. And I think that we're exploring sex workers. As a culture, we're questioning the tabooness of it or our assumptions about it, or the way that we have judged it. It's like we're moving into a new awareness about these women and what they're doing. Willa has moved on past that, now she's just in a relationship. But that's where she started. And I always felt like there was no shame with her in regards to that. You never really felt like that was something to be looked down on at all in this narrative. She always owned it. And there was no weird energy around it from the very beginning with Willa. And I think that in itself is an act of feminism.
Often she and Connor would be the butt of family jokes because she was a sex worker. How do you think that reflected on the industry?Well, it's funny, I didn't even feel sorry for Willa. I was like, 'You know what? She's fine. They're doing their own thing. And you see that this is just a vicious family, they're vicious to everyone. No one's safe here.' From the very beginning. I was like, 'You know what? She's the fucking best date, she's the one who's able to deflect all of this, she can carry herself with such composure and ease.' I just felt like these guys are just dicks and it's toxic, and they will make fun of anyone and anything. And she's standing there in her power and unrelenting about just like, 'Say whatever you want. I really don't care.' You never see it get to her. I feel like she's really self-assured, and that's one of the things I really love about her, is that she is one of the few people that can float through this world that they are living in and you don't really feel her crumple aside from when she gets bad reviews from the theatre critic.
Sexism is something that features heavily within the story of Succession. Have you ever experienced sexism at work?Oh yeah. I don't know a woman who hasn't. And I'm sure there's more than I even know. I'm sure there's things that I don't even identify as this being related to my sex. That might be, or that they're unintentionally, there's an undercurrent or a subconscious element, the person, the interaction that might be sexist that isn't as obvious, but is inherently there. Normally, I feel like I haven't had anything that feels like a traumatic episode in this career. But I think that sexism, it's like there's just no way around it in this industry or in many industries there. It's there. I don't know anyone who hasn't run up against it. And I think it's obviously it's getting much better... now that there's the light shining on top of everything, but that takes a lot of time.
What are you going to miss most about working with Alan?Alan's just a dream partner. I really didn't take for granted how professional he is. Just kind, friendly, supportive, available, incredibly talented…
I think I'm going to miss his level of talent. I'm sure, I'll run into people who are incredibly talented, but I'm going to miss that. I'm going to miss his level of professionalism and kindness and having this, most of my scenes were with Alan, and I just felt excited every single time, he was a teammate the whole way through. And he's funny, he's so funny and quick.
Had you seen any of Alan's famous films, such as Ferris Bueller's Day Off, before you started Succession?I'd never seen it! At the end of first season, I decided to do an Alan Ruck marathon where I watched Speed, I watched Ferris Bueller's Day Off, I watched Spin City, I watched as much as I could get my hands on…I love Ferris, but I also love Speed. I bought myself a Speed T-shirt afterwards. And in Ferris Bueller, he is special. He's just so sparkly in that movie. He's incredibly lovable. I just remember his face from it so clearly you can't walk away not noticing it.
Oh Kieran [Culkin]. Without a doubt.
Has he ever played a prank on you?Oh my god, yeah. Here's two of them, first day, with Kieran, we were in the hospital in season one, second episode and he kept on sticking his fingers in everybody's food. Nick Braun [cousin Greg] would be going in to eat his dinner, and Kieran would just stick his finger right in the middle of his food. And then also this season, last episode, maybe even one of my last days, and this was crazy, but I heard someone saying my name, and then I was like, 'I don't know. Who's saying my name.' And I told him, I was like, ‘Did you just hear someone say my name?’ And he was like, ‘No.’ It wasn't him the first time. From that point on, throughout the day, I'm not even kidding, once every three minutes, I would just hear,(whispering) ‘Justine. Justine.’ He did it while we were shooting on my coverage, he'd be saying, ‘Justine.’ Very barely audible. And every time I would go, 'What? Who's saying that?' And it was amazing how I would keep on forgetting. I was just in innately, instinctually respond, and then I'd be like, ‘Kieran, Jesus.’
What next for you, Justine?I'm on another show that is very different. Very lighthearted, feel-good, in the vein of a Ted Lasso vibe.
As opposed to the devastating Greek tragedy, Shakespearian drama darkness of Succession?Yeah. Exactly that!
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Succession season 4 is exclusively on Sky Atlantic from 27 March.
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