Brian Cox
Brian Cox
Brian Denis Cox, CBEis a Scottish actor who works with the Royal Shakespeare Company, where he gained recognition for his portrayal of King Lear. He is also best known for appearing in The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, X2, Braveheart, Rushmore, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Troy and Doctor Who. He was the first actor to portray Hannibal Lecter on film in the 1986 feature film Manhunter...
ProfessionMovie Actor
Date of Birth1 June 1946
CityDundee, Scotland
life meaning mistake notion people relate separate talk theatre
People always make that mistake when they talk about theatre - the notion of the 'theatrical' meaning something separate from life. If it doesn't relate to life, it doesn't relate to anything.
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Actors in general have become very spoiled in the roles they choose these days. When I first started in this profession - about a hundred years ago in the last century - it was all about taking risks, it was about doing the job and honing the craft.
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I was living in London and I thought, 'There's nothing here for me anymore.' I don't want to become this actor who's going to be doing this occasional good work in the theater and then ever diminishing bad television. I thought I'd rather do bad movies than bad television because you get more money for it.
eastern though
I come from a working class community in eastern Scotland, and I've always been a populist, though not a patronising populist.
leading responsibility
I didn't have this feeling that I should be a leading actor in the cinema. And I wouldn't want the responsibility of the opening weekend.
directed
I've directed a couple of times in the theater, but I wouldn't make a habit of it because it's too consuming.
family happened history mental others
There is a history of mental breakdowns in my family. It will never happen to me but it has happened to others in the family.
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I did a film in which Andy Garcia and Michael Keaton both played the leads, 'Desperate Measures,' and interestingly enough it was their biggest payday. The film didn't do well, and it kind of marked their careers. They've done less since. It all changed.
difficult enjoy hard later lots realise thwarted tied until work
I enjoy acting now more than I ever have. I've had lots of difficult times when I was younger, but that was all tied up with thwarted ambition. It's hard being a young actor, because you don't realise until later that it's only ever about doing the work.
came finding home interested means movies scottish theater
As a boy, I was never interested in theater because I came from a working-class Scottish home. I thought, 'I want to do movies.' Then it was finding the means to do it.