'Succession' star Brian Cox gets into character at final season premiere

"Succession" actor Brian Cox briefly turned into his commanding patriarchal character Logan Roy on the red carpet on Monday, as the cast of the hit HBO drama premiered its fourth and final season.

Swearing just like Roy regularly does in the award-winning show about a family jockeying for control of a media empire, Cox playfully shouted as he and his fellow cast members posed for pictures together.

Season four will see Logan edge closer to selling his company to tech boss Lukas Matsson, creating more family divisions and power struggles.

Logan's four children, all vying for control of the family's vast media holdings, are played by Jeremy Strong, Kieran Culkin, Sarah Snook and Alan Ruck.

“We're going to see a lot of fascinating rides and it's a bit like a roller coaster," Cox told Reuters at the New York premiere.

"I think it's... finishing in the true 'Succession' style... I think people are going to love it... A lot of American shows go on well past their sell by date. That would never happen to our show."

Widely lauded by critics and audiences, "Succession" has picked up Emmy Awards and Golden Globes as a series, for its writing and its actors since it first premiered in 2018.

It has been compared to media mogul Rupert Murdoch’s dynasty, however show creator Jesse Armstrong said it was not based on one family.

"It's weird how many times we hear like, 'oh, it's based on this family' that sometimes you've never even heard of and you're like, 'oh it's just like their dad and this happened'," he said.

"So occasionally we get some feedback filtering through, but I've never heard anything that's come from the Murdoch clan."

Armstrong said he was sad to end the show, but adamant he would not bring it back.

"Creatively it was the right decision. But yeah, it's really hard when I see my fellow writers and the cast and crew," he said.

Asked to describe season four, actor Alexander Skarsgard, who plays Matsson, said: "It's about finding your alliance and figuring out, strategizing on making sure you have enough people on your side so you can see how to leverage when you go in to negotiate."