Cox: I’m a star... at long last!
From Z Cars to X Men, and now a ratings-topping TV drama, actor believes he’s f inally made it – at 73
AFTER almost six decades of screen appearances, Scots actor Brian Cox has revealed that playing the ‘long game’ is finally paying off – at the age of 73.
The Dundee-born performer is now one of the biggest TV stars in the US thanks to his lead role in Succession, a drama watched by millions and hailed by critics.
With the show being renewed for a third season, Cox has spoken of the ‘slow burn’ of his career – from his earliest days in 1960s BBC police drama Z Cars through to his latest starring role.
The star, who began his acting career with the Dundee Repertory Theatre when he was only 14, moved to the US in his 40s to make his mark in Hollywood.
Despite a number of roles in major blockbusters, it has taken him until his 70s to become a household name in the States.
He credits his rise to the top as a combination of ‘luck and hard work’ rather than ‘overnight stardom’.
Cox’s recognition comes long after he became the first actor to portray serial killer Hannibal Lecter on the big screen, in Michael Mann’s 1986 film Manhunter.
Other parts followed that role, but most saw him lower down the bill as a foil for better-known stars.
In the early 2000s, however, he enjoyed a co-starring role opposite Matt Damon in The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Supremacy.
He also landed a part as villain William Stryker in X-2: X Men United, alongside Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman and Halle Berry. Speaking exclusively to The Scottish Mail on Sunday, Cox said: ‘There are roles that have given me success and roles that have improved my work. I did things like Manhunter playing Hannibal Lecter, which had an accumulative effect because I was the first.
‘It kicked things off and I was being chased a lot to go to America. I kept saying no and eventually I did go a little late in the day.
‘But everything I’ve done is accumulative and has added to the whole picture. It really is staying the course that’s important. I knew it was going to be the long game and not overnight stardom.’
In Succession – broadcast on HBO, home of hits such as Game of Thrones, The Wire and The Sopranos – Cox plays Machiavellian and foul-mouthed media baron Logan Roy.
The satirical comedy-drama follows Roy and his four children, who angle to seize control of his empire – even by underhand means.
The Emmy-nominated and Baftawinning show airs in the UK on Sky Atlantic, and is being renewed for a third season after enjoying excellent ratings and rave reviews.
Despite similarities between the character Logan Roy and real-life billionaire businessmen, Cox insists his latest role is pure fiction.
‘Logan is just on his own,’ he said. ‘He’s not like Trump. He is the fifth largest media mogul in the world. He is different because he is a selfmade man and that makes him a looser cannon than people who have inherited wealth. It’s a more interesting dimension. It’s down to the script rather than saying he is Conrad Black or Rupert Murdoch. He is a wonderful creation.’
Regarding his long and winding road to success, the actor who is now based in New York, said: ‘I’d seen people come and go in this business both in terms of their careers and in terms of their lives.
‘People who have died young. So much of it is a combination of luck and hard work. I look at my CV and think, that’s not bad.
‘I’ve played Hermann Goering, Winston Churchill, Nye Bevan. I’m
‘I was chased to go to the US but kept saying no’ ‘In my early 70s I’m getting into my game’
playing [former US President] Lyndon B Johnson soon.
‘You can’t ask for more varied than that. I’ve been very fortunate in the scope of what I’ve done.’
Despite home now being the US, Cox remains a proud Scot and returns as often as he can.
‘I never left,’ he said. ‘I still come back to Scotland. I was rector of Dundee University for six years.
‘I have a home here in America and I have family here, but I spend a lot of time back in the UK. I really travel between the two places.’
He added: ‘I’m having a great time doing Succession and I feel that in my early 70s I’m getting into my game a bit.
‘It’s a hell of a cruel business. It picks you up and throws you down. It does everything to you and you have to keep focused.
‘Keep your eye on the middle distance, keep heading somewhere, and that’s what life is about.’