Bill Clinton apparently pitched Succession storylines to the show's Nicholas Braun

By Randall Colburn | August 2, 2019 | 2:47pm

Aux Features TV

Bill Clinton apparently pitched Succession storylines to the show's Nicholas Braun

Photo: Bill Clinton (Dylan Buell/Getty Images); Succession (Peter Kramer/HBO

There’s not a weak cast member on HBO’s excellent Succession, but the very tall Nicholas Braun made an indelible impression as Cousin Greg, a bumbling, aimless twentysomething who latches onto the wealth and power of his distant relatives. Braun swung by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert last night to chat about the show and some of the fancy friends he’s made along the way. One of them, it appears, is President Bill Clinton, who Braun says pitched him potential plotlines during a party in the Hamptons.

“He was pitching storylines!” Braun says near the end of his adorable interview, which, across eight minutes, highlights how the actor isn’t all that different from the awkward character he portrays. Adopting Clinton’s southern drawl, he impersonates the former president recounting stories of media families—none of which Braun remembers, having been “in a fog”—that “could be really funny.” When Colbert asks if Clinton had anything to say about the dynastic Murdoch or Redstone families—via their Fox and CBS empires, Colbert rightly notes that “they’ve given him a lot of hell over the years”—Braun says Clinton’s attitude was just that “they’re doing their thing,” which is totally something Cousin Greg would say. Colbert also can’t believe Braun called the former president “Bill.” “Did he like that?” Colbert asks. “I think so,” Braun responds, goofy grin on his face.

One storyline Clinton probably didn’t pitch? The Roys potential relationship with a troubled Jeffrey Epstein-like billionaire, the likes of which wouldn’t be out of place on a show about the ultra-rich and consequence-immune. Make it happen on season three, y’all.

Also, be sure to catch up on our ongoing Succession recaps ahead of the August 11 premiere of the second season.

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