Brian Cox has done what Brian Cox does best, said exactly what he thinks about a number of Hollywood names, including Margot Robbie, Quentin Tarantino, Kevin Spacey and Donald Trump, with very little regard for the consequences.
speaks to The Times in an interview published on Friday, April 3, the 79-year-old Succession star weighed in on Robbie’s casting i Wuthering Heights adaptation, in which she plays Catherine Earnshaw opposite Jacob Elordi’s Heathcliff.
“Margot Robbie is way too beautiful for that role,” Cox said.
“I mean, I think there should be something more of the gypsy about her, but it’s wrong for me to judge. It could be a brilliant movie.”
He then proceeded to mock her Australian accent with an impression of what he imagined the film might sound like, saying: “Keith Cliff! It’s me, Cathy!” ‘How are you, Keith? Awright?’ “Yes, I’m wrong!” “
Cox then turned his attention to Tarantino.
Describing his own preference for directing, he said, “I like to honor the actor’s performance. With a Quentin Tarantino film, all you see is Quentin Tarantino. That’s not me. I don’t want to do that.”
He called Tarantino “meretricious,” meaning apparently attractive but lacking real value or integrity.
He also called Kevin Spacey, his co-star in the 1994 film Iron will“a stupid, stupid man,” and had sharp words for Trump: “Trump doesn’t care about the people. He’s only interested in the oil [in Iran]. There is only pure greed that motivates him, nothing else. The idea that he is freeing people is nonsense.”
On Jeremy Strong, his Succession Cox, whom he has repeatedly criticized, appeared to be trying to dial things back a bit.
“I don’t want to continue with Jeremy because I’ve gotten into a lot of trouble and he’s told me to stop talking about him. He’s a good actor, Jeremy.”
As for whether his honesty has cost him professionally, Cox didn’t care.
“My wife keeps saying, ‘Brian, be careful. Brian, be careful.’ I think, ‘F*** it, I won’t be careful anymore! I will be 80 this year. F*** I’ll say what I want to say.’ “
