Brian Cox has taken aim at several major names in film and theatre, describing some as ‘stupid’, ‘overblown’ and ‘complete a***holes’ within the business.
The Succession star — best known to many as Logan Roy — has suggested he’s less interested in holding back as he approaches a milestone birthday, saying that turning 80 means he can now ‘say what he wants.’
Over a career that spans stage and screen, Cox has shared sets with top-tier talent, including Daniel Day Lewis in The Boxer, where he previously irritated the actor by dismissing method acting — something Day Lewis is closely associated with — as ‘American s***’.
Day Lewis, however, is far from the only person Cox has commented on. In a recent interview with The Times UK, Cox spoke about a range of well-known figures, including Johnny Depp, Edward Norton, Ian McKellen, Margot Robbie, Quentin Tarantino and others.
Speaking ahead of his June 1 birthday, the actor said he was glad he declined the role of the governor in the Pirates Of The Caribbean films, adding that he considers Depp ‘so overblown’ and ‘so overrated’.
The part ultimately went to Jonathan Pryce.
Cox also revisited his experience working with Edward Norton, branding him ‘a pain in the a**e’ after appearing together in the 2002 movie 25th Hour.
Elsewhere, Cox described Kevin Spacey as ‘a stupid, stupid man’. The two worked together on 1994’s Iron Will, and Cox had also defended Spacey last year in an interview with The i Paper, referring to the pair as friends.
He also addressed cancel culture in the wake of the allegations of sexual misconduct made against Spacey by multiple men in 2017.
On the theatre side, Cox said Ian McKellen’s acting was ‘not to his taste’, referencing their time working on productions of Richard III and King Lear.
Quentin Tarantino also came in for criticism, with Cox calling him ‘meretricious’. He additionally labelled director Michael Caton-Jones ‘a complete a***hole’.
David Hare — a playwright and screenwriter Cox collaborated with on Skylight in 1997 — was described as a ‘see you next Tuesday’ in the same interview.
Even long-running professional relationships weren’t spared, as Cox described Jeremy Strong’s method-acting approach as ‘f***ing annoying’.
Discussing what he sees as a shift in his own outlook, Cox told The Times: “I think, ‘F*** it, I don’t want to be careful any more! I’ll be 80 this year. F*** it! I’m gonna say what I want to say.’”
His comments also extended to Emerald Fennell’s upcoming Wuthering Heights adaptation, which stars Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi.
Compared with some of his sharper remarks about others, Cox’s words about Robbie were more teasing than scathing.
He mocked her Australian accent by putting one on himself and shouting: “‘Keith Cliff! It’s me, Cathy!’”
He continued: “‘How ya doing, Keith? Awright?’ ‘Yeah, I’m awright!’”
Cox then said Robbie is ‘far too beautiful’ to play Cathy, adding: “I mean, I think there should be something more of the Gypsy about her, but it’s wrong of me to judge. It may be a brilliant film.”
Representatives for the individuals mentioned, as well as Cox himself, have been contacted for comment.