Life and Art from FT Weekend28 Apr 2023

Succession's Arian Moayed on how to play a good bad guy

This weekend, we meet actor Arian Moayed. You may know him as Stewy Hosseini from HBO’s Succession, a scheming private equity shark who loves money and fears no one. He's also currently in A Doll's House on Broadway opposite Jessica Chastain, playing Torvald Helmer, one of theatre history's most famous chauvinists. He talks to Lilah about the difference between a trope bad guy and a complicated person, and how to play unlikeable characters as fully formed people. Arian and his family fled from Iran in the 1980s. He says when he sees A Doll’s House, all he sees is Iran. We discuss how his culture informs his work as an actor.

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Want to say hi? We love hearing from you. Email us at ftweekendpodcast@ft.com. We’re on Twitter @ftweekendpod, and Lilah is on Instagram and Twitter @lilahrap.

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Links:

– Succession airs on HBO in the US and SkyAtlantic in the UK. The finale is on Sunday, May 28. Here’s the FT’s review of season 4: https://on.ft.com/3LdbxZA

– A Doll’s House, adapted by Amy Herzog and directed by Jamie Lloyd, is at the Hudson Theatre on Broadway through to June 10: https://adollshousebroadway.com/

– A column by the FT’s Jo Ellison on why the Succession wardrobe is so good https://on.ft.com/3VcfulE

– A profile of director Jamie Lloyd: https://on.ft.com/3Ldbyg6

– Our conversation with Michael Patrick Thornton: https://link.chtbl.com/ftweekend-mpt

– Arian is on Twitter and Instagram @arianmoayed. His non-profit, Waterwell, is at https://www.waterwell.org/

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Our US edition of the FTWeekend Festival is back! Join Jamie Lee Curtis, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Alice Waters, your favourite FT writers, and more on May 20 in Washington, DC, and online. Register now and save $20 using the promo code weekendpodcast at ft.com/festival-us

Special offers for Weekend listeners, from 50% off a digital subscription to a $1/£1/€1 trial are here: http://ft.com/weekendpodcast.

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Original music by Metaphor Music.

Mixing and sound design by Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco.

Clips in this episode courtesy of HBO.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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