I’m a great admirer of Claes, he’s like an old matinee idol and he was great fun to work with
When filming for the next series of Succession, the criticallyacclaimed drama for which Brian Cox won a Golden Globe earlier this year, was delayed due to the pandemic, the 74-year-old might have expected to enjoy a break from his hectic schedule.
But, instead, he says he was as busy as ever.
“I was in demand suddenly because people knew I wasn’t filming Succession, and quite frankly it was tiring,” he explained, speaking from his home in New York. “I was constantly Zooming, so I had to learn all the
Brian Cox as Hannibal Lecter
technical aspects, and I had a couple of voiceover commitments, so I had to create a sound studio in the cabin I have at the top of my property in order to earn my keep.”
As he continued to work, Brian was blissfully unaware he’d contracted coronavirus before going into lockdown. The Troy and X2 actor, who has diabetes, only received the diagnosis when he went to his doctor recently. “We worked out I had it in December, even though people say it wasn’t around then, but I had these unusual, endless bouts of sneezing for four or five days, and my doctor said she’d had three other patients who had Covid and they all had the sneezes. She said I had the antibodies.
“I came to my home in upstate New York on December 9 and my wife and boys didn’t arrive until the 20th, so it must have been during that period when I was infectious.”
During lockdown, Brian also starred as Rebus in one of the National Theatre of Scotland’s Scenes For Survival films, much to the delight of the fictional detective’s creator, Ian Rankin.
“Ian had always wanted me to play Rebus, but I never did – I’ve been playing this other detective, Mclevy, for the past 12 years on the radio. So he was happy I did it, even if it was during lockdown. I thought Ken Stott was wonderful as Rebus on TV – he was definitely the one for that.”
Also filmed during lockdown was Little Room, a comic mystery about six agoraphobics who are united when their therapist disappears. The project reunited Brian with his Bay Of Silence co-star Claes Bang.
“A wonderful Scottish producer called Maggie Monteith worked on it with three female directors,” continued Brian, who’s favourite to win an Emmy later this month for his portrayal of Succession’s media magnate Logan Roy. “The six actors each filmed from their homes, so we were all over the place – Denmark, New York, LA, London. I’m a great admirer of Claes, he’s like an old-fashioned matinee idol and he was great fun to work with,” he said.
“I saw his fantastic version of Dracula, which was so witty and funny. He’s a marvellous actor, and not an overnight success – he’s been doing this for a while, mostly in Germany. He’s the sweetest guy, and I adore him. His wife did the make-up on The Bay Of Silence, so it was a real family affair.”
Brian plays the stepfather-in-law of Claes in the dark thriller, and got involved in the project thanks to his friendship with Caroline Goodall, who wrote the script.
“Caroline played my daughter in a Royal Shakespeare Company production and is one of my dearest
‘ I saw this fantastic version of Dracula, which was so witty and