How an improv moment sealed that curious Gerri and Roman chemistry on ‘Succession’

J. Smith Cameron’s “Succession” role had initially been written as an undefined male character. When “Succession” was showered with 14 Emmy acting nominations for the show’s third season, it not only shattered the drama series same-year record of 12 held by “The West Wing” — as well as the any series same-year record of 13 jointly held by “Roots” and “Rich Man, Poor Man” — it made a first-time nominee out of series regular J. Smith-Cameron, who plays Roy family general counsel Gerri Kellman and who’d previously been overlooked in Seasons 1 and 2. It helped us break the ice for all these weird scenes we had to play.” “She’s my mommy-girlfriend, and she calls me her baby-man,” says Culkin, phoning from the set moments before shooting a big Season 4 scene with Smith-Cameron in what he describes as a really tough episode. … She’s an absolutely amazing scene partner.” If the global phenomenon that is “Succession” has brought Smith-Cameron an alien level of fame she’s still processing, the Gerri-Roman coquetry has catapulted her into cougar/MILF territory. And so, I really think she was into channeling the sexual energy into being a formidable business partnership.” That said, Smith-Cameron also understands Gerri — who’d clearly requested Roman stop sexting her — feels newly betrayed by his mistakenly sending NSFW images of his anatomy, intended for her, to his father’s phone, which unleashed the elder Roy’s wrath.