Inside Succession star Matthew Macfadyen's fairytale love story with wife Keeley Hawes as his on-screen marriage to Sarah Snook implodes
- WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR SUCCESSION
Succession viewers have been left mortified by the brutal breakdown of Matthew Macfadyen's marriage to Sarah Snook.
The English actor, 48, has become a character that viewers love to hate in his role of Tom Wambsgans, the savage counterpart to Shiv Roy.
Even their wedding in the season one finale - what should have been the happiest day of their lives - was marred with scandal, with Shiv attempting to conceal an illicit affair and Tom receiving oral sex from a prostitute on his stag do.
After deciding to go along with Shiv's idea of an open marriage in season two things appeared to be near-smooth sailing until Tom's ultimate betrayal in the season three finale when he sided with Logan Roy in the Waystar/GoJo deal.
With their marriage officially on the rocks during season four, the pair opt for divorce, but even then another spanner is thrown into the works when Shiv finds out she's pregnant, with fans unable to work out if they'll be able to rebuild their relationship during the hotly-anticipated final episode.
Cute couple: Inside Succession star Matthew Macfadyen's fairytale love story with wife Keeley Hawes (pictured in 2022) as his on-screen marriage to Sarah Snook implode
A match made in hell: The English actor, 48, has become a character that viewers love to hate in his role of Tom Wambsgans, the savage counterpart to Shiv Roy
The Tom/Shiv dynamic is one of the most fraught, bitter and distressing on the show, no mean feat for a programme riddled with backstabbing, twists and drama.
Yet away from the screen, English actor Tom, 48, is happily loved-up with his former Spooks co-star Keeley Hawes, 47, with the pair married for 19 years.
The couple first met in 2002 when they co-starred in BBC spy drama Spooks (known as MI-5 in the States.).
At the time she was newly married to DJ Spencer McCallum, with whom she shares 23-year-old son Myles.
The couple's work friendship later evolved into romance, and she divorced Callum in 2004, before marrying Matthew later that year. They later welcomed two children: daughter Maggie, 18, and son Ralph, 16.
Speaking about the fairytale moment they first said the L word, Keeley recalled: 'Matthew just came straight out with it and said "I love you" in the rain one day. I thought, "Oh dear, here we go.”'
The couple have continued to work together and starred in 2007 comedy Death at a Funeral together before working on Stonehouse earlier this year, dramatising the life and times of disgraced British government minister John Stonehouse,
The series followed love cheat Labour MP John Stonehouse, who faked his own death before running off with his mistress and later being exposed as a spy.
Humble beginnings: The couple first met in 2002 when they co-starred in BBC spy drama Spooks (known as MI-5 in the States)
Cosy co-stars: The couple have continued to work together and starred in 2007 comedy Death at a Funeral together before working on Stonehouse earlier this year (pictured)
While playing the jilted wife in the show, Keeley insisted that her union was the complete opposite to that of politician John and Barbara.
She told the Mirror: 'We have worked together before, but not for several years. And so when this came up, it seemed like the perfect project on so many levels really, mostly because the Stonehouses are so different to Matthew and I and to our relationship.
'So it’s nice to see us, I think, and interesting for people who may know that we are married to see us as the "other" couple.'
She told Matthew: 'It was really wonderful. It was very jolly, wasn’t it?'
He responded: 'Yeah, it was very difficult working with Keeley.
'She’s... it was hard. It was hard. No, that’s a silly answer. It was joyful working with Keeley. It was nice, wasn’t it?'
Yet working together is rare for the pair, who revealed how they manage to keep their marriage spark alive when torn apart on shoots.
Matthew told The Evening Standard in 2021: 'Keeley and I have a three-week rule — neither of us wants to be apart for any longer. So after three weeks on my own, I started to go a bit mad.
'You start to think. "What am I doing?" I'd be walking around Brooklyn, thinking, "where do I live?" It was odd and hard.'
For the lovesick pair, they'll do whatever it takes to go the distance, with Keeley telling The Telegraph in 2010: 'I love being married to Matthew, and I know Matthew loves being married too.
'It ties everything up and it's a statement to each other and to the world. Marriage and being a mother are absolutely crucial to my happiness and my life.'
Staying close: Working together is rare for the pair, who revealed how they manage to keep their marriage spark alive when torn apart on shoots (pictured in 2005)
Cute: For the lovesick pair, they'll do whatever it takes to go the distance, with Keeley saying in 2010: 'I love being married to Matthew, and I know Matthew loves being married too' (pictured May 2023)
