Keeping a marriage joyful over decades can be difficult, and many couples struggle to find what truly works for them.
Brian Cox and his wife, Nicole Ansari-Cox, seem to have landed on an approach that suits them—one that doesn’t follow the usual expectations.
In a recent interview with The Times, the 79-year-old Succession actor spoke candidly about their relationship and what, in his view, has helped their marriage thrive.
Rather than believing constant togetherness is the key, Cox suggested that having space is what keeps their relationship steady and happy—starting with how they live day to day.
Although Cox is based in the UK, he and Ansari-Cox, 57, don’t share a single home. Instead, they live separately in Primrose Hill, London, in two places that are only around a nine-minute walk from each other.
They follow a similar setup in the US as well, with separate bedrooms across their two American homes—one located in Brooklyn and the other in upstate New York.
“By keeping things separate, we are responsible for our own mess,” he told the outlet.
“It’s as simple as that. Her space is very important for her, and my space is very important for me. I think if we’re thrown together, we feel locked together, and that’s not a good creative relationship.”
“You should be free,” he added, in an answer that would leave many couples aghast.
Beyond their living arrangement, Cox said their relationship is also supported by therapy, which they’ve built into the way they navigate life together.
“Nicole gave up a lot for me. It was tricky for her, but she gave up a lot, and I feel that she needs to be honored,” he said.
The pair married in Las Vegas in 2002, but their first encounter happened years earlier. Ansari-Cox first saw him when he performed as King Lear in Hamburg, Germany, in 1990.
They connected at an afterparty, but their relationship didn’t become official until eight years later, after they unexpectedly ran into each other in New York.
“We’re about to have our silver wedding,” Cox went on to share.
Together they have two sons, Orson, 24, and Torin, 21. Cox is also a father to daughter Margaret and son Alan from his second marriage to Caroline Burt.
Speaking warmly about Ansari-Cox, he praised her character and the way she shows up for others.
Admiring his current wife, Cox said of his wife: “She’s considerable. She’s one of the most generous and caring people.”
“The problem with Nicole, and we discuss this, is she’s got too many friends,” he continued jokingly.
“At my age, I’m trying to get rid of them. Well, most of mine are dying off,” he joked.
Cox has also previously looked back on their wedding day during an appearance on Live with Kelly and Ryan in 2023, describing how clearly he still remembers it.
“Well, it’s like, stuck in my brain,” he said.
“It was a very, very – my lovely wife and I decided to get married. We’d actually been apart for a while – she’d been traveling – and then we sat down, and we said, ‘Where do we go from here? Do we finish or do we go on?’ And we thought, ‘Well, let’s go on and get married.'”
“I think she agreed,” he recalled, before asking his wife, who was sitting in the audience at the time of the show. “You agreed, didn’t you, honey?” he asked.
The ceremony took place at the Little White Chapel in Las Vegas, although the couple didn’t initially see eye to eye on one detail: who should officiate.
“Nicole, I think, was reasonably keen on the idea of Elvis,” he explained.
“I said, ‘No [pretended to censor himself] way!’ “
Ultimately, their officiant’s mother played piano during the service, choosing the theme from Braveheart as the couple made their way down the aisle.