Exclusive Interview
Taylor Owen & James Neal on TV Parodies, Siblings Lore, and Being an Internet Power Couple
The reigning king and queen of SuccessionTok are the ultimate dynamic duo. James Neal and Taylor Owen aren’t just excellent onscreen partners in their growing vault of parodies; they’re also very much in love. Over the last four years, this power couple has garnered a massive following online — the REGS — as they spoof everything from Succession to Love Is Blind to Landman.
Owen and Neal rose to fame with their viral Succession parodies they shared on TikTok and Instagram. Owen stepped effortlessly into the vastly different roles of Shiv and Roman as Neal’s Kendall and Tom impressions would make even Jeremy Strong crack a smile. As they brought the world of Succession into real-life scenarios, the couple showcased their immense talent and chemistry no matter who they played.
In a serendipitous moment, the couple revealed they recently ran into Alan Ruck, aka the Connor Roy, at a premiere. With this twist of fate, they simply had to bring up their Succession parodies. Ruck doesn’t have Instagram, but he typed in their Instagram handles in his Notes app so he could watch them later.
The two, who are now engaged, have continued to evolve and expand their coverage of shows. They have their Yellowstone skits (Owen’s razor-sharp Beth Dutton impression is so good it’s scary) and Vanderpump Rules (Neal’s Tom Sandoval is spot-on) spoofs, among countless others, but they’ve also dipped their toes in original storytelling. Their fictional Bailey Jones and Jesse Lee Brown love story has captivated their fans — millions of views and counting — as they celebrate and riff on romance tropes.
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They keep reinventing the wheel for themselves, and their unyielding creativity has only made their relationship stronger. Owen and Neal spoke with Swooon to discuss how Logan Roy (sort of) played matchmaker for them, inspiring each other in their work, and how they really feel about the fans who think they’re siblings.
The following was edited for length.
How did you two meet?
Taylor Owen: We met at Chapman University. We both were in the Screen Acting program. He had transferred in, so I saw him in a leadership class, actually, that I ended up dropping because I thought it was dumb. But I saw him, I looked at him, and I was like, oh, that’s going to be my future husband. He ran out of the room. I thought I was never going to see him again, and then we were actually cast in the same play together that night by the guy who actually plays Logan Roy in our Succession videos.
James Neal: He was our professor for many years. He kind of played matchmaker for us. I was in another relationship at the time, but Taylor and I became super close friends.
Owen: Classic rom-com trope.
Neal: She played the long game.
Owen: Best friends to lovers.
Neal: That relationship ended, and then we just started dating. I think it’s been eight years.
When did you two realize you wanted to create content together?
Owen: I mean, we’ve always bounced creative ideas off of each other, about each other, and just whatever we were doing our whole relationship. But it wasn’t until our first Succession video that we were like, oh, we have to keep doing this.
Neal: That’s when it clicked. In school, we did a short YouTube series that didn’t go anywhere. It’s just kind of scratching our itch, and we had so much fun doing that together. That was before people were doing any sketches or anything on social media, really. Fast forward few years after that, and Taylor starts posting on TikTok more and Instagram, and we did a few videos together. But it wasn’t until we did the impressions that it really kicked off. And that was like, okay, this is going to be our bread and butter for a while, and it has been for a long time now.
Whose Succession impression gave way to SuccessionTok?
Owen: James is a crazy impressionist and will just pull out impressions all day, every day of random people. We were just binging Succession Season 2 and getting ready for the premiere of Season 3. We were just watching and watching and watching, and then I was just wondering, it would be so funny if it was in the stakes of Succession, but just talking about everyday things like making the coffee.
Neal: Our first video was Shiv and Kendall, which is why I think everyone thinks that we’re siblings.
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How do you two actually feel about people who think you’re siblings?
Owen: We think it’s so funny. The first time James got recognized right in the flower shop…
Neal: I was getting her flowers. I think it was Valentine’s Day because there was a lot of dudes in there, and this one guy comes up to me, and he’s like, “I am such a big fan of you and your sister. You guys are so funny.” And I was so taken back and corrected him quickly after, and he was like, “Oh my God, I could’ve sworn.” But we just roll with it. It’s funny at this point. It’s part of the lore. Real REGS, real fans know the inside joke.
What is your day-to-day like when you’re working together?
Neal: It’s a good mixture of both. A lot of it’s brainstorming, and then Taylor’s really great at just sitting down and hammering out scripts. She works best just kind of solo, locked in, and then I come in halfway through the process and read it and throw in my ideas, and then it starts blending together. When we first started off, it was just like, let’s do a Succession video once a week. That was kind of our cap. Once we started getting more successful with it, it really became a full-time focus. Every day, we’re just constantly trying to think of what we could be doing to push the needle, whether it’s content or the live show, whatever. So it feels like a full-time job. We’re constantly talking about it.
How does it feel to support each other and challenge each other while working in the same industry and often in tandem with one another?
Owen: It’s been incredible, honestly. I know a lot of people say never work with your spouse, and we’ve had the complete opposite experience. I think it’s only just made our love for each other grow even more and our relationship grow even in ways we never thought it would or could. And then in terms of our working relationship, it’s so nice being able to be with someone you trust completely, so they’re never going to let you make a fool of yourself or let you down, They’re always going to hold you to the highest kind of level of how they know you can be, and then also we just get to always be together and experience all the highs together and the lows together, so that’s really amazing.
Neal: We’ve been in LA for seven, eight years, and so there was a long period where you’re a struggling actor, you’re trying to break into the industry, and you get hit with COVID, you get hit with the strike, all these things. We’ve been so fortunate to experience the failures together and stick through it, and just be able to understand where we’re both coming from. And then, like Taylor said, now we’re experiencing some success, and it’s just great being able to be on this side of things and being able to do it together is super fulfilling and rewarding.
You’ve had such success with TikTok and Instagram. Has that success shifted your goals in terms of what you ultimately want your careers to look like?
Owen: I don’t think so. I think in the end our goal has always been the same, which is to traditionally act and write for movies and television. I think it’s only brought us closer to that goal.
Neal: It’s made us feel like our goal is more realistic. We’re producing so much at such a high clip that our goal has always been to write and produce and act and be in our own stuff. And now, it feels like that dream is now blossoming a little bit more.
Owen: But I will say, it’s a different path than I always envisioned. When I was a kid, I thought that I was gonna move to LA at 16, marry Justin Bieber, and be on Riverdale, and be on set. I didn’t think it was going to be this path, but I’m so grateful that it is this path because we get to be creative every day and kind of be in charge of our own fate.
Neal: I’ll tell you what I love about it. I like how, yes, we’re popular because of our impressions and stuff, but I do feel like we have a strong following based off of who we are as people. That’s really special. We get to connect with our REGS. We get to connect people on social media, and I think that’s super powerful. I never really saw that being a possibility when we first started dreaming about coming out to California and pursuing film and television.
Courtesy of Taylor Owen
What was your favorite romance of the year?
Neal: We watched Nobody Wants This on Netflix.
Owen: I will say a storyline that really broke us, it wasn’t a comedy, but in Industry, Yas and Rob, we were sobbing.
Neal: I had to take a pause.
Owen: So, romantically, I’d say they struck me the most this year.
Who had the hottest onscreen chemistry this year?
Owen: Probably the men in Challengers.
What was the best love song of 2024?
Neal: The first one that’s coming to my mind, it’s kind of topical, but “Please, Please, Please.” That’s the first one that comes to my mind right now.
Owen: What’s that country song where it’s “you’re all mine, and I’m all in?”
Neal: “You Look Like You Love Me.”
Owen: We’ll go with that one.
What other influencers do you admire?
Neal: We’re big fans of Jack Martin. He’s kind of a friend of ours.
Owen: We love Delaney Rowe’s rom coms. We love Veronika and Kyle.
Neal: Veronila and Kyle, they’re big friends. We’re big fans of them. We love Almost Friday, too.
Owen: Almost Friday kills us. I just did a video with them, and they’re great, great guys.
What makes you swoon?
Neal: A good dinner, dimly lit, a good table and ambiance.
Owen: This is true.
Neal: Maybe with some piano, like a live piano player playing.
Owen: This idea is making me swoon right now.
Neal: But honestly, like a good TV show, like Industry. That last season, we ripped through it,.
Owen: We love a highly-produced date or Industry.
Neal: Or just being on our couch.
