Strife of Brian as two Coxes suffer hotel check-in mishap
AS ONE of the brightest stars of the small screen, Brian Cox must be used to being instantly recognised.
But when he tried to check in to a hotel in London recently, the physics professor who found fame presenting BBC’S Wonders Of The Solar System was bemused to be told he had already taken his room.
After investigating, he discovered that Brian Cox, the Scottish actor who plays Logan Roy in the hit show Succession, was staying at the same hotel, and that an IT quirk meant he had to use a different name to check in.
Speaking on BBC Breakfast yesterday, the two Brians explained the mishap that they had been involved in the previous day while attempting to check into a hotel ahead of appearing on the show.
After Charlie Stayt, the show’s presenter, said: “Sometimes sharing a name can be a bit confusing,” Cox, the 76-year-old actor, began to explain the incident.
“Well, last night was very confusing,” he said. “Because [Prof ] Brian arrived at the hotel and [they] said there are two Brian Coxes, so you’ve got two rooms.
“And he said, ‘no no, there’s only one, but I think there might be another Brian Cox’ and the hotel said to Brian, ‘we can’t have two Brian Cox’s’.”
To which Prof Cox, 54, added: “They wouldn’t check me in!”
The actor continued: “They wouldn’t check him in, so he had to use his assistant’s name.”
Prof Cox said: “I had to change my name. They couldn’t do it on their computer system. They didn’t believe me. And I got a picture up on my phone and said ‘Look, this is Brian Cox, he’ll be coming later, and then this one...’ and he said, ‘I know neither of you, I don’t watch television’.”
Cox, the actor, who first gained recognition for his work with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre, previously revealed he was initially “irked” by his namesake after the pair were almost mixed up on a restaurant reservation.
In an interview with both Brians for The Guardian earlier this year, the actor said: “It annoyed me initially – but it has been such a great lesson – to find someone who is extraordinarily successful with the same name as me.
“It irked me at first, then I thought, it’s not important.”
Prof Cox was on the programme to talk about his book Black Holes: The Key to Understanding the Universe. He is also midway through an arena tour that uses LED screen technology to fill stadiums with images of galaxies.
The physicist has previously set a Guinness World Record for the most tickets sold for a science tour.