Stream It Or Skip It: ‘An Interview With Brian Cox’ On BritBox, Where The ‘Succession’ Star Talks About His Life And Career

While it seems like it was planned for the in-depth special An Interview With Brian Cox to debut right after his pivotal episode of Succession, it’s more a coincidence than anything else; this is an expanded version of an interview that aired on the BBC in 2022, where he sits down with presenter Amy Irons to talk about his life and career. So for those hoping for him to discuss the pivotal episode, you’ll be out of luck. But there’s plenty of other good stuff here.

AN INTERVIEW WITH BRIAN COX: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: Cox starts with his earliest days, growing up in Dundee, Scotland as the youngest of five children. His father was an abusive sort who ended up dying when Cox was 8; he recalls to Irons how his family stuck him in front of a television during his dad’s funeral, which is why he finds TV such a great comfort, even today. He then recalls the nervous breakdowns his mother suffered during his childhood.

Cox then goes into his early acting career, working in the Dundee Repertory Theatre, leaving school at 15. He then began attending the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts at the tender age of 15.

In interstitials, we see Cox in his old Dundee neighborhood, talking about the distance he walked to his school when he was 6, how, as a Catholic, he didn’t dare walk past the Protestant church because he’d get beaten up, and how the neighborhood where he grew up was segregated by religion.

There’s a fair amount about the stage roles he played early in his career, especially the leads in various Shakespeare productions, then discussion of his BBC work in the ’70s and ’80s. He talks about the differences between stage acting and acting on film, especially with regards to Method acting (a topic he’s discussed a lot lately). His feeling? It’s fine to be Method, just do your “work” in private.

A large chunk of the interview, of course, has to do with Succession and his role of Logan Roy; one of the intercut scenes is a montage of Logan saying his catchphrase, “Fuck off!” over and over.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: An Interview With Brian Cox is just that: A one-on-one interview, more along the lines of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction than a documentary.

Performance Worth Watching: Brian Cox, of course. This in-depth interview reminds us that not only has Cox had a remarkable career, but a pretty remarkable life, too. But it also shows that, while cranky, he’s a worldly guy who loves the craft of acting.

Memorable Dialogue: “I used to be very dismissive of her,” Cox says about Meryl Streep, whom he cited as the person he’d most like to work with, “And I realized I was jealous.” That’s one of a number of great quotes, including how the Scots are great at the f-word, while the Irish are great at using the c-word.

Sex and Skin: None.

Our Take: Even in an hour-long interview, it’s going to be tough to go over every aspect of a sixty-year career. So, given that Cox rarely sits down for such in-depth talks, An Interview With Brian Cox covers a satisfying amount of ground, despite skipping most of his career in the ’70s and ’80s.

You have to realize, he’s been in over 200 roles, between screen and stage. Even going over the major phases of his career would be difficult. It was fun, though, to see footage of a thirtysomething Cox, in the late ’70s and early ’80s, with the same voice and manner as the ruddy older guy we’ve been used to seeing over the last, say, 20 years. It was also fun to remember that Cox was the first one to play Hannibal Lecter on screen, in the 1986 film Manhunter.

Overall, though, it was good to see Cox talk about his philosophy of acting, of how he feels blessed that his career progressed without a lot of bumps in the road or struggling to find work, and how he feels about now being identified by his latest — and most famous — role.

Our Call: STREAM IT. An Interview WIth Brian Cox is an insightful look at Cox’s life and career, from Cox’s perspective. It has some interesting tidbits of information, but we were mostly taken in by Cox’s passion for his work, family and life.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.