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Alan Ruck Reveals Why He Thinks The Dropout and Succession Are Similar

Alan Ruck spoke about his role in Hulu's The Dropout and how it compares to playing Connor Roy in HBO's Succession.

By Cydney Contreras Mar 11, 2022 8:25 PMTags
Watch: Alan Ruck Dishes on "Fun" Role in "The Dropout"

For better or worse, Alan Ruck will always be known as the actor behind Succession's Connor Roy.

As such, it's hard to watch the Hulu limited series The Dropout without comparing his character, Dr. Jay Rosan, to the eldest Roy son. Both of the men seem to be overcompensating in one way or another, but Ruck recently told E! News that there's a major difference between the two: "Even though Dr. Jay Rosan may have behaved foolishly, in this particular story nobody called him an idiot, whereas Connor is constantly reminded that he's just not cutting it—mostly by his siblings."

In fact, episode four of the show is proof that, unlike Connor, the Walgreens Medical Doctor was respected among his colleagues. When the deal with Amanda Seyfried's Elizabeth Holmes nearly falls through, it's his character who pushes it through to the very end, unaware that the company was being sold a faulty product.

But Ruck doesn't fault the real-life Rosan, suggesting that the medical doctor was just "somebody having a midlife crisis and totally captivated by this young woman and her schemes, which he really wanted to believe we're true."

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As for the show itself, the actor said Succession and The Dropout are "interesting in that they're both [about] the orbits of powerful moneyed people." 

Beth Dubber/Hulu

And then there are the Dropout scenes which aren't necessarily similar but still remind people of Succession. Ruck noted that one viewer found Rosan's decision to turn The Romantics' "What I Like About You" into a song about blood was awfully reminiscent of Kendall Roy's overly confident performance of "L to the O.G." at Logan Roy's birthday party. 

"At the time, I didn't think anything about it," the star shared, before adding, "See, I'll never be a writer. I'm not observant enough."

He left the creative work to director Michael Showalter and Liz Meriwether, with the former telling him to lean into the comedic elements of the series. So, if you find yourself laughing at this true crime tale, it's ok.

The Dropout is streaming now on Hulu.

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