“As you watch the rest of Succession, you’ll see that Jesse Armstrong ended it just at the right time. I think we have told that story of that time in this family’s life. I would like to continue doing work at this level of writing.”
-Alan Ruck, episode 330 of Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso
Today, we’re joined by actor Alan Ruck! At the top, we dive into the Election Day episode of Succession (4:00), the ensemble’s first table read during the 2016 presidential race (7:23), and how that fateful night shaped the arc of the series (8:59). Then, we walk through Ruck’s iconic role of Cameron Frye in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (9:54), memories on set with Matthew Broderick (12:05), and Ruck’s winding path that followed (17:19).
On the back-half, he describes a mid-90s stretch of performances in Speed, Twister, and Spin City (24:37), a serious medical emergency he endured (26:22), and how it shaped his new perspective on art-making, leading him to Succession (29:48). To close, we discuss Ruck’s process crafting the character of Connor Roy (32:27), a pivotal scene from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (37:50), and his hopes for the years to come (43:04).
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Show-notes:
- Watch Alan Ruck in Succession, clips courtesy of HBO.
- See his previous work in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Speed, Twister, and Spin City.
- Watch his memorable scene in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
- Read his recent profile in The New York Times.
- For more conversations, hear our talks with Bob Odenkirk, Michelle Williams, Padma Lakshmi, Ethan Hawke, Pedro Pascal, Cate Blanchett, Questlove, and Bill Hader.
- Order your Talk Easy mug in cream and navy or our vinyl record with Fran Lebowitz.
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Original illustration by Krishna Shenoi. Reference image by Andrzej Lawnik.
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