My worst moment
‘Succession’ star on his first big TV break slipping through his fingers
On HBO’s “Succession,” Brian Cox has played the billionaire media baron and bruising father Logan Roy to much acclaim. It’s a thrillingly profane performance that’s impossible to look away from.
It is the latest in an extensive career on stage and screen (the latter of which includes film roles in “Braveheart,” “Rushmore,” “The Bourne Identity” and more) and he details the ups and downs of it all in his new memoir “Putting the Rabbit in the Hat.” What prompted him to write about his life? “Well, I’m not getting any younger,” he said, “and while I’ve still got my memory, I thought I’d like to consign a few thoughts to a book. And really on the strength of my recent success, I was approached about this and I thought, well, this is as good a time as any. Except it wasn’t, because it meant I was filming ‘Succession’ at the same time I was writing the book.”
One thing both he and Logan Roy have in common: Difficult childhoods that forced them become independent and self-sufficient at a young age. By 17, Cox was living on his own and pursuing a career in theater.
He would eventually branch out into TV and film, but he found his very first opportunity for that slipping through his fingers before he could even step foot in front of a camera.
My worst moment …
“I was at Birmingham Rep, this would be around 1968, and there was this television series that was interested in me called ‘The Borderers’ and I was up for the lead and I was absolutely right for it. And so what happened was, I was performing ‘Othello’ and ‘Romeo and Juliet’ (in repertory) and the producers were going to come and see me in ‘Romeo and Juliet’ playing Mercutio.
“And I (laughs) sort of foolishly — though I didn’t think it was foolish at the time — I said, ‘I think the better show is “Othello” and you should come see me in that,’ where I was playing Iago. I thought, as I did in those days — and it’s always been a mistake — that people were interested in my acting. But no, they’re interested in my personality rather than my acting. So anyway, I told them to come and see ‘Othello’ and they did.
“In the meantime, the actor playing Othello is one of my oldest friends, Michael Gambon (who decades later would play Dumbledore in the “Harry Potter” films), and he’d had a row with the actor he shared his dressing room with, so he asked if he could come to my dressing room. So I said, ‘Sure, Mike, by all means.’
“So he took the card with his name that was on his door and he put it on my door. So of course then my name was obscured. Anyway, I’ve got these producers arriving to see me in ‘Othello,’ and after the show I said, ‘Mike, I’ve got this meeting with some people, do you think you can get out early because I really have to talk to them about this thing.’ And he said, ‘Of course,’ and he’s busily trying to get his makeup off and there’s a knock. So Mike opens the door.
“Now the door opens in such a way that I am actually stuck behind the door, where my dressing table is, so you can’t see me at first, it’s just Michael. So the door opens and this guy says to him, straight away: ‘Hi! We just thought you were wonderful, we love the show. I’m doing this TV show called “The Borderers” and we think you’d be absolutely right for the main role,’ — which was supposed to go to me, that’s why they came!
“And Michael was completely confused and he said (laughs), ‘I think you’ve got the wrong guy. I think you want to talk to …’ and he opens the door wider and I’m there and the guy goes, ‘Oh! Brian! Oh, yeah, wonderful! Great work! Bye!’ And he was gone.
“And it was relayed to me many years later that they were walking up the stairs on their way to talk to me about offering me the role, and one of the guys decided to knock on the door of Michael Gambon’s dressing room, which of course wasn’t Michael Gambon’s dressing room, and he made that offer on the spot — and everyone was just as shocked as I was! “So they gave him the part. “It was surreal. I remember thinking, this is not really happening, is it? But of course it was happening.
“Needless to say, Michael was embarrassed beyond belief and that was quite funny. But also, we’ve got the careers we wanted. So at the end of the day it was a little hiccup in the events of one’s life.
“But actually at the time it felt awful. I did not feel good. I was not happy about it.”
What did the moment feel like as it was unfolding?
“It was to be a big break for me and I did think, ‘Oh (expletive).’ That’s very much what came to mind. Because I knew this meeting had been set up, I was excited about it and … it all just came to nothing.
“I had just gotten married and I remember Mike was married and had a son and I kept thinking, ‘Well, this is good for Mike.’ I kind of justified it in a way, which is very odd, but that’s who I am. I can get angry and despair about certain things, but I’m also quite philosophical. I don’t let things affect me because I go back to something my mother used to say: What’s for you will not go by you. And it wasn’t for me. And it went by me.
“It was ironic because I remember Michael was also looking for a new agent at the time and I suggested my agent to him and my agent took him on, and of course one of the first things he did was Michael in this TV show (laughs).”
Did Cox end up watching the show or did it sting too much?
“Yeah, I saw a couple of episodes. He was OK (laughs).”
The takeaway …
“It just wasn’t meant for me. And it didn’t happen for the weirdest of reasons. This producer, on an impulse, offered the job to Mike. Everybody was shocked! They were on their way to see me and he said, ‘I want to pop in here for a second,’ and he knocked on the door and there was Mike and he launched in.
“I should have had them come see me in ‘Romeo and Juliet’ instead, that’s what I realized, because Mike didn’t have much to do in that.
“But then again, they might have offered the job to the actor who was playing Romeo.”