In a public interview at the Galway Film Fleadh the prolific actor spoke about his long career and the fact that he now has to filter himself through his most famous role.
It might be hard to imagine considering his prolific career, but before Succession, actor Brian Cox valued his anonymity. This, despite the fact, that he'd had stand-out performances in Braveheart, the Bourne movies and Zodiac, as well as playing Hannibal Lecktor in Michael Mann’s Manhunter.
Speaking to Kay Sheehy on RTÉ Radio 1's Arena in front of an audience at the Galway Film Fleadh, Cox admitted that he always enjoyed it when people couldn't quite place him.
"They said, 'Oh, you were in – no, you weren’t.’ 'Oh yeah, you were in that, oh yeah, didn’t you – no, you didn’t do that.’ That was my career, really and occasionally, they got it right. But Logan Roy just changed the whole thing."
He misses that anonymity, he explained. He can’t just be Brian Cox now, he has to filter himself through Logan Roy. But, he says, such is life and he insists at his age he shouldn’t complain.
Cox grew up in Dundee, Scotland. His father died when he was only eight years old and his family went through desperate poverty, something which left its mark on the actor throughout his career – and coloured his opinion of his most famous character.
"Poverty is like the Damaclean sword that hangs over my head, ‘cause I didn’t want to be identified with this kind of carefree Logan Roy, you know because he is the antithesis, the absolute antithesis of who I am as a man. He represents – I mean, he’s everything that I really don’t like, quite honestly. But he’s a joy to play."
When he became fully ensconced in screen acting, Cox made a huge number of film and television appearances, including starring in two British films shot in Ireland at roughly the same time – Rob Roy and Braveheart. Cox said that while he thought Rob Roy’s script was better than Braveheart’s, the latter film had a better director.
"Mel was amazing. He was amazing in the way that he ran the set, the way he spoke with the actors, the way he worked with the actors, he was just incredible. I mean, I have, I have a lot of time for Mel Gibson and he, he gets quite maligned, Mel, but he’s actually a really good man."
Although Cox won a Best Actor Golden Globe for Succession, he hasn’t exactly been garlanded with awards, despite some outstanding performances. In 2017 Cox played Churchill, as did Gary Oldman in a different film. Oldman was nominated for an Oscar – and won. Cox explains that, as far as he’s concerned, Churchill had a timing problem.
"The problem with Oscar season is, it’s a season. The thing is, if you get your film out in June, you’re screwed for the Oscars. No matter how good the film is, you get screwed because the Oscar season is between Thanksgiving and Christmas and everybody tries to get their film out at that time."
The people who made Oldman’s film – The Darkest Hour – made sure it was released during what Cox describes as the season.
"And then when that rather poor film got nominated and – I mean, Gary was alright, but I was better."
What about the fact that Anthony Hopkins won an Oscar for playing Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs five years after what Sheehy describes as Cox’s "definitive" turn as the serial killer in Manhunter?
"It’s a bit like Hamlet, we’ve had Mads Mikkelsen, we’ve had Tony Hopkins, we’ve had the boy who played the young one, you know, it’s going to go on. They’re going to do endless things and remakes about Hannibal Lecter, so it’s a bit like a part that you inhabit and you have your own view on. And Tony being Tony, that was an extraordinary performance and it hit the zeitgeist of the time. Our film, I still think is a better film because of Michael."
The discussion – inevitably – turned to Succession, the smash-hit HBO show that finished last year. Cox described how he kept asking creator and showrunner Jesse Armstrong to give his character less and less to say, allowing Logan Roy to be a little more mysterious and interesting.
"And it became an almost perfect part to play in that way because it was very spare and it worked. And it was also funny too. The great humour that he had. But the writing, it was the writing. You can’t do anything if you don’t have the writers. And Jesse, you know, his vision."
The character of Logan Roy loomed over the entire run of the show, even though – spoiler alert – he dies relatively early in the fourth and final season, something people complained to Cox about:
"People got very upset when I died. People said. ‘Oh, you left,’ you know and I kind of agree that I think that I left too early. But I did say to people that it’s called Succession."
Sheehy asked Cox if he was upset that he died off-screen, rather than getting an epic death scene. Definitely not, is the response.
"Because the possibility is he may not be dead. No, I love that because again, there’s a sort of an ambiguous thing about it, you know and of course it worked brilliantly because I mean, it was such a shock for the audience."
Logan’s early death, Cox says, and he maintains that Jesse Armstrong agrees with him, meant the show struggled a little with the focus exclusively on the children, leading to some repetition of themes and issues – something that may have been avoided by a later death for the arch patriarch:
"I think instead of dying in (episode) three, he should have died in five or six, you know. But he should have died. No question, he should have died."
But does Brian Cox have any plans to retire? One word: "None."
You can hear Kay’s full interview with Brian Cox – including him talking about his work with Irish writer Conor McPherson and some choice opinions on Steven Seagal – by clicking above.
Tune in to Arena on RTÉ Radio 1, Mon - Fri,, from 7pm
