Succession was a HBO show that got the world talking, and won a ton of Emmys throughout its run on the air. With that series (which is streaming with a HBO Max subscription) in the rear view, star Matthew Macfadyen has returned to television with Netflix’s Death By Lightning. And while both of those shows had him playing “weaselly” characters, he spoke to CinemaBlend about their differences.
The Succession cast was super strong, but I’ve got to say that Tom Wambsgans was absolutely my favorite character. I loved that Tom came out on top in the Succession series finale, and I had to bring him up while speaking to Macfadyen about his new series (which is streaming with a Netflix subscription). He compared Tom to Death By Lightning‘s Charles J. Guiteau, saying:
I think they’re both kind of ambitious and a little unreliable and a bit weaselly, maybe. But I didn’t really, no. Partly because I look so.. they’re worlds apart, really. And I felt very different. You know, I had a pretty big beard. We both did. It was a lot of facial hair on the show.
Some serious points were made. Because while I saw some similarities between these two characters, the shows are very different in setting and tone. While Death By Lightning is set in the 1880s, Succession was a modern-day satire of the ultra rich. The production design alone puts them in entirely different worlds, as did the costuming and hair styling for Macfadyen.
Indeed, the Deadpool & Wolverine actor is rocking a full beard in Death By Lightning. For many of his scenes he’s also pretty filthy, which stands in stark juxtaposition to Tom’s clean cut, expensive look. That discrepancy seemingly helped Macfadyen transform into Guiteau without having to specifically worry about distinguishing those two TV characters.
I’m curious is fans who watched both Succession and Death by Lightning see the similarities between Matthew Macfadyen’s characters. They’re both trying to use charm and gain power, without actually having all that much influence. Of course, Tom Wambsgans is a businessman while Charles J. Guiteau is primarily known for killing president James Garfield.
As someone who isn’t a history buff, I didn’t the story about Guiteau and Garfield prior to tuning in for Death by Lightning. Then again, this is part of why Michael Shannon returned to TV to play the late US President. The four-episode season is full of wild twists, and it’s almost hard to believe it’s based on a real-lie story.
Death By Lightning is streaming in its entirety on Netflix as part of the 2025 TV schedule. Fans of Matthew Macfadyen can also stream his tenure on Succession on HBO Max, which also features his iconic performance in Pride and Prejudice.