We ask a celebrity a set of devilishly probing questions – and only accept THE definitive answer. This week it’s actor Brian Cox Brian Cox: 'I was left on my own at an age when a child shouldn’t be expected to deal with things'
The prized possession you value above all others…
A little statue of Ganesh, the Hindu elephant god. I’ve had it for about ten years and it travels everywhere with me. It’s a talisman that helps knock down obstacles in life.
The unqualified regret you wish you could amend…
About 15 years ago I was disparaging about another actor to a woman and told her he was no good for a certain role. She then told me that they were engaged! It was a very uncomfortable moment and I apologised, but the damage was done.
The way you would spend your fantasy 24 hours, with no travel restrictions…
I would need a day of calmness. I’d watch the sun come up on the east coast of Scotland, then have a massage on a beach in Hawaii. My wife Nicole and our children, Orson, 11, and Torin, eight, would join me for a play in the surf. We’d have lunch in the Tarn region of the South of France with Alan and Margaret, my grown-up children from my first marriage, then walk it off with a stroll along the Silver Sands of Morar in Scotland. I’d end the day watching the sunset in Tahiti while sharing a bottle of champagne with Nicole.
The temptation you wish you could resist…
Sweets and desserts, especially big puddings like baked Alaska. I’m 66 and diabetic, so I have to be very careful about my sugar intake.
Brian Cox will play the BBC’s Head of Drama, Sydney Newman, credited with the creation of the show, in a new drama to mark the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who.
Interview: Brian Cox on what keeps him coming home
Brian Cox. Picture: Frank Micelotta/Getty
Brian Cox, son of Dundee, has
got brilliant recall of the first time he represented the city on
screen.
“I was 20, a young actor with the Lyceum in Edinburgh, when I
got asked to go back up the road to narrate a wee film about the opening
of the Tay road bridge,” he says.
“I was speaking Dundonian, giving everyone the
benefit of my expertise in the dialect: zalow the stairs… gupty yer
ganny’s for yer tea. That’s ‘below’ and ‘go up to’ for the uninitiated.
Only the bloody prompter stuck, causing me to repeat these strange words
on live television. Not my finest hour.”
I say brilliant recall
because I was there that day in 1966 – my father was the BBC Scotland
producer – and I can’t remember his blooper. It’s possible I was more
interested in the yards of cabling – this was my first location shoot,
aged nine – although I’d like to think that Cox’s voice held my
attention, just as it’s doing today. He tells good stories and,
crucially, he’s wearing a cravat.
Cox would have many fine hours
later – King Lear and Titus Andronicus on the stage; the original
Hannibal Lecktor leading to a slew of Hollywood bad guys – but if there
was a feeling the new bridge might enable Dundee to show a bit more of
itself to the world, most particularly its sense of humour, then that
didn’t happen. Until now. For here comes Bob Servant Independent, a
bunneted chancer with much to say for himself, just like the man playing
him.
“What’s projected as Scottish humour is usually Glasgow
humour. There are the greats – Billy Connolly and Rikki Fulton – but
Glasgow humour is typified by Rab C Nesbitt: oppression, the lower end
of the social scale, battling the dreich.” So what’s Dundee humour?
“It’s optimistic rather than pessimistic and it’s about light and
fantasy. Dundee is one of the sunniest places in Britain. You can be out
the house at eight in the morning and not come back till 11 at night,
you can go to the Ferry [Broughty Ferry], Baxter Park and the Swanny
Ponds, and a lot of the time you’ll just be sitting there in your
fantasy. The humour is also about survival, being indomitable, and
that’s certainly Bob.”
Servant was first “played” by Dundee author
Neil Forsyth, who created the character to answer the begging emails
from spammers that you and I fire straight to the bin. The results
became a cult book then a radio comedy, voiced by Cox. Now, to bring
Servant to the screen, for a six-part series about deluded political
ambition, the actor has leaned on his late brother.
“Small world,” he
smiles. “A friend of Neil’s had been saying the real Bob was Charlie
Cox, the Monifieth newsagent, before I got involved. It might have been a
wee shop but Charlie was his own kind of tycoon, diversifying into
rowies [rolls] for the factories. Like Bob, who talks of running away,
getting a job in a hotel as a handyman and having a torrid affair with
the manager’s wife, Charlie had the fantasy thing and with him it was
the Wild West. When the VAT man was coming he’d say: ‘The Injuns are
circling the wagon train.’ ”
Cox, now 66, has stopped off in
Glasgow for this chat, en route from his home in Brooklyn to Bucharest
where he’ll play J Edgar Hoover in a French-American co-production.
That’s a typical sojourn for this always-in-demand actor. Recently he
was in Mexico, feeling a bit underwhelmed.
“I said to my agent: ‘This
isn’t a very good film, you know. Let’s ask for three times more and see
what happens.’ ”
Cox got it, and the flick subsidised a poorly paid but
artistically rewarding stint on the London stage which came next. “I’m
an actor; I work,” he asserts. “As my old pal Fulton Mackay used to say:
‘Follow your mercenary calling and draw your wages.’ ”
Increasingly,
the road and the miles are returning Cox to Tayside.
“I left Britain
in the mid-1990s when TV was going down the cundy – another good Dundee
word – because I wanted a film career. But as I get older I find myself
being drawn back to my roots and I’m loving it.”
His campaign hustings
for the rectorship of Dundee University had to be various movie
locations in Canada. Via Skype he won, and he’s just been re-elected
unopposed for a second term. He’s also absorbed by the independence
campaign.
“I want it for Scotland, not because I’m SNP, rather a
democratic socialist. It’s about no longer being seen as second-class
citizens and the sense of freedom we can trace all the way back to
William Wallace.”
Dundee is also feeding into his work. He used
parts of his family story for a Beeb documentary on addictions and
there’s another upcoming called From The Workhouse where he reflects on
the sad life of his maternal great-grandfather in Glasgow.
“After the
deaths of his wife and five of his eight children from pneumonia, he was
admitted to the poorhouse, as it was called in Scotland, on about 20
separate occasions. He died in Gartcosh Asylum.” The move across to
Dundee soon followed, but things were hardly any easier for Cox and his
siblings and their childhood sounds positively Dickensian. When his
mother gave birth to him, her womb almost came out with the baby, and
following a rushed hysterectomy, she nearly died. His father, a
greengrocer, died of cancer when he was eight.
“Everyone was
worried about me, being the baby, but it was Charlie who was more
traumatised and that’s why he joined the army. My three sisters were all
starting their own families; meanwhile, my mum – mad Molly – was
undergoing electric shock treatment. I became very self-reliant, maybe
too much so, and probably that’s been the theme of my life. Recently I
found a message I’d scribbled to my sister Irene on a Catholic funeral
card: ‘I’m not going to be running any more errands for you – you don’t
look after me probably.’ I meant properly.” Eldest sister Betty then
took over the job.
“Betty’s 83 and, in the finest Dundee
tradition, indomitable.” She came to a preview of Bob Servant
Independent, and although for its star this was the kind of gig that
might necessitate another well-bargained visit to Mexico, the show has
sunshine and humour aplenty. Her verdict?
“‘Well now yes no oh aye…
good.’ High Scottish praise!”
• Bob Servant Independent starts on BBC4 on Wednesday at 10pm
By Aidan Smith
Published on Sunday 20 January 2013
Hollywood star Brian Cox sees Glasgow as city of darkness
The very idea of screen legend Brian Cox's move into television
comedy with a new BBC sitcom is without doubt a cause for celebration.
But it has caused the nation's collective eyebrows to raise.
The classical actor has long stunned the theatre world with the likes
of his King Lear, taken cinema audiences aback by stealing the
limelight from Brad Pitt in Troy or scared us senseless with the menace
of his original Hannibal Lecktor, as the name was spelled in Manhunter.
Yet, now the Hollywood A-lister has committed not only to sitcom –
he's the star of Bob Servant Independent, the story of a larger-than
life Dundonian eccentric – he's appearing on a relatively low-profile TV
platform and the is show filmed in Dundee.
In terms of career surprise moves, it's right up there with Sir Ian
McKellen turning up in the Rovers Return and ordering up a plate of
Betty's hotpot.
"I've been living in New York and I guess making this comedy show is
about me realising it's time to come home," Dundee-born Cox explains at
the BBC Scotland HQ at Pacific Quay.
"But it's also about returning to the light."
The light? Cox, now 66, is speaking literally and figuratively. Brought Ferry, he explains, has great light.
And he rewinds on summers as a boy waking at 4am to welcome the
sunshine. But the figurative light he's moving towards is a direct
reference to the darkness of his past, the time spent by his ancestors
in Glasgow.
"My family are Irish – my grandfather came from Derry, and then came
to Glasgow," he reveals. "And when I look at my family history the
hardest time of their lives was when they all lived in the city. They
were miserable, mad, and they all lost children.
"My great-grandfather on my mother's side died in an asylum in Gartcosh in the most appalling circumstances.
"And he lost five of his eight children. My grandfather lost his
wife, his mother and five siblings, having watched his father being
consigned to the poor house, with his younger brother going into a
reformatory and the other brother go into care.
"So in my DNA there are very bad memories."
Cox 'loves the people of Glasgow'. But he believes Glasgow has
demanded a great deal from its inhabitants; economic repression, the
religious divide, and the vast gap between rich and poor.
"My great-grandfather's mother-in-law lived on a stair – literally –
in Cowcaddens," he reveals. "Yet, at the same time, Glasgow was a city
of great wealth and built on slavery."
He adds, in soft voice; "Look, I have respect for the city. The
Glasgow Art School is the greatest art school in the world. But we (his
family) had to visit Glasgow in the fifties and it scared the bejaysus
out of me. The city glowers.
"You only have to look around the city to see the homes of the
tobacco merchants who bought and sold people. Did you know families in
Ayrshire had black slaves who were made to serve their masters wearing
kilts?
"And did you know that in Glasgow in the 1950s, neighbours were
deliberately split up in a form of social engineering to recreate
communities?
"Of course, town planners claimed to have positive reasons for doing this, but can you imagine what this did at a human level?"
The socialist actor's critical appraisal of Glasgow (he supports
independence, but not the SNP) isn't directed against its ordinary
people.
"Look at Billy (Connolly)," he says. "He's amazing. And I love his
comedy but his storytelling comes from the darkness of the city he was
born in.
"It's the comedy of oppression. I'd be a completely different creature had I been brought up here."
He adds, with a wry smile; "That's why my sitcom character Bob
Servant (a hamburger seller-turned politician) has to come from Dundee.
He's buoyed by the east coast light of optimism.
"His comedy is upbeat, not like the miserable Glaswegians we see in
sitcoms such as Rab C. Nesbitt, which is a very funny show. But it's a
different funny."
Cox wants to live towards the light of laughter. "Absolutely," he
says, smiling. "I love comedy, I was a Jerry Lewis/Dean Martin fan as a
kid, and as I've got older I've been looking for more light relief.
"But until now I've never really performed it, even though I've always felt I had a natural comic bent."
"My favourite show on television is The Big Bang Theory (C4). It's brilliant."
He adds, grinning: "Having said that, in the past I've tried to bring
comedy to my serious roles, even King Lear (a tale of madness and
betrayal), because I look for the absurdity in life rather than the
drama mask."
Cox clearly loves comedy, but can he take a joke?
Here goes. Perhaps he's been a little harsh on Glasgow? It can't all be down to ancestry. Was he once dumped by a Glasgow girl?
"Not at all," he says with a booming laugh. "I was once dumped
unceremoniously by a girl from Pitlochry, but no, not Glasgow. And while
I've always loved the Glasgow humour, the city is just not for me."
He can't resist a final pay-off. "Did you know it was a Dundonian,
Will Fyffe who wrote I Belong To Glasgow? You see, only a Dundonian
could take Glasgow and all it's darkness and write such an upbeat song
about it."
Source (including photo): Evening Times
Bob Servant Independent: the don of Dundee
It
started as an email prank: a way of out-scamming the scammers. Then it
became a book, and a radio play. So when Neil Forsyth was asked to turn
his alter ego Bob Servant into a TV character, he fantasised about
casting his hero Brian Cox. Then came a chance meeting …
Read how Bob Servant Independent began as a prank and resulted in a TV series at The Guardian
Vale actor, nine, stars in BBC show
A Vale schoolboy is set to make his TV debut alongside some of Scotland’s top actors.
Christie Park Primary pupil Andrew McGunnigle, who is just nine
years old, bagged an extra role in the BBC’s Scottish comedy Bob Servant
Independent.
The show, which features Only An Excuse mastermind Jonathan Watson,
Gary: Tank Commander creator Greg McHugh and Brian Cox from the Bourne
trilogy, will be screened on BBC4 next Wednesday at 10pm.
Proud mum Helen said: “Filming was almost a year ago when Andrew had only been attending theatre school for five months.
“He has had a few other auditions including two for big movies
having reached the last three boys for one of them but not getting the
part. It is all good experience for him though.
“He was recently on stage at the annual panto and pre-show of the UK
Theatre School, which he attends, held in the Mitchell Theatre.
“He had a minor part in the pre-show as Josie from Francie and Josie and took part in the group singing and dancing routines.” Bob Servant Independent follows the fate of a cheeseburger tycoon who turns his hand to politics.
Source: Lennox Herald
Also reported by Dumbarton & Vale of Leven Reporter
Dundonian actor Brian Cox is back on screens (photo courtesy of Herald Scotland)
The thesp is playing the title role in Bob Servant
Independent - the new TV comedy about the ridiculous, larger than life,
local businessman, which follows on from the popular books and radio
series written by Neil Forsyth (no relation).
In the TV series, the self-aggrandising Dundee Mr Big launches himself
into the world of politics by running as an independent candidate in the
local by-election. The problem is that the so-called 'man of the
people' doesn't actually like people. Not like real-life politicians at
all, then.
In the way that Ken Stott is a perfect fit as Ian Rankin's Rebus, it's
hard to imagine anyone other than Cox play Servant - and he has a
perfect sidekick in his hapless campaign manager, Frank, played by
Jonathan Watson. Neil Forsyth's script is cracking, but another factor
that sets the show apart from the majority of TV comedies is its setting
- Broughty Ferry.
It's so refreshing to watch a Scottish TV show that's not set in
Glasgow or Edinburgh; just brilliant to have a scene where the main
characters walk down a street that's not lined with tenements, and where
the view at the end of it is of a bright orange RNLI lifeboat. What a
pleasant change from the usual Central Belt fare - the Taggarts, Rab C
Nesbitts, Lip Service, and a bunch of comedy sketch shows which are
invariably set in Glasgow.
At a preview screening at the stunning Gardyne Theatre this week, the
Bob Servant producer revealed that when he was pitching the idea to
southern commissioners, they presumed that Broughty Ferry was a
fictional town. Jings, these Londoners are so provincial. After all,
part of the joy of Danish dramas such as Borgen or The Killing is to be
immersed in a new culture, a different land or cityscape.
More off-the-beaten track drama please - how about a murder mystery in Melrose or a thriller in Thurso?
Read more at Herald Scotland
Brian Cox: Playing the man who betrayed Rob Roy was more uncomfortable than Hannibal Lecter
The Dundee-born star admits he felt more at home playing the famous movie psychopath than he did in the part as Killearn in 1996 film Rob Roy.
Brian Cox
He's played some of the scariest psychos on the big screen.
But veteran actor Brian Cox has revealed the role which has haunted him for life – the man who betrayed Rob Roy.
In an interview in Australia, Cox said he had been able to shrug off playing psychos like Hannibal Lecter.
But
the Dundonian admitted his small part as Killearn in the 1996 film Rob
Roy with Liam Neeson still sent shivers down his spine.
He said: “There are characters that have made me uncomfortable.
“In
Rob Roy, I played Killearn, who was this sort of greasy, fallen-angel
character, who was voyeuristic and sleazy and really unpleasant.
“It was a great role but I didn’t especially enjoy living with this awful man for the length of time it took to make the movie.
“Lecter is just psychotic. He didn’t leave a bad taste in my mouth like Killearn.”
Killearn was a factor for Rob Roy’s rival the Marquis of Montrose and plotted against him.
Cox won critical acclaim for the role but went on to much bigger things in The Bourne Supremacy and the Deadwood TV series.
The actor plays a lighter role in BBC Four’s new comic series, Bob Servant Independent, to be shown next month.
It’s based on the books by Neil Forsyth about a man, played by Cox, who delights in answering spam emails.
Set in Broughty Ferry, near Dundee, it charts his bid to get elected following the sudden death of the sitting MP.
Source (including photo): Daily Record
Q&A: Brian Cox on The Straits and Villains By Eric Spitznagel
Brian Cox in The Straits. "With most characters, no
matter how vile they are, it's just about remembering that they're human
beings, ultimately. Hitler was a human being."
Name a contemptible human being, and Brian Cox has
probably played him in a movie. Socialist dictator? Check. Nazi military
leader? Check. Pedophile? Check. Charming cannibal? Check. From his
pre-Anthony Hopkins take on Hannibal Lector in the 1986 cult classic Manhunter to his love-to-hate-'em super-villains in films like X2, Troy, and The Bourne Supremacy, Cox has cornered the market on bad guys with furry furrowed brows and booming Shakespearian baritones.
Cox proves his villainous expertise yet again in the ABC1 series The Straits, now in its second season (available exclusively on Hulu and Hulu Plus,
with new episodes every Saturday), on which he plays the head of a
drug-smuggling family in Australia. I called Cox to talk about his
latest goateed baddie, and we ended up discussing carnivorous
crocodiles, cinematic facial hair, why children are smarter than method
actors, and how even the monster who went on a murderous rampage in a
Connecticut elementary school is still a human being. ERIC SPITZNAGEL:The Straits was shot in Queensland, Australia. Isn't that part of the country lousy with man-eating crocs? BRIAN COX: Oh, yes, they're everywhere. Queensland
has the most incredible beaches, but you can't swim in them because of
the crocodiles. You can swim in the water holes. ES: Water holes? BC: There are these water holes up on the hillsides.
Unless it's been a particularly bad monsoon season, the crocodiles
don't get up there. I remember on the first day of our read-through [for
The Straits], we were sitting in the production office, which is
next to a little stream, and I looked out a window and there was a baby
crocodile. It was like twenty-five feet away from where we were. ES: At least it was just a baby. BC: Yeah, but they're bold. They've been known to
walk down the main street of Cairns [a city in Queensland]. And when
they get big, they get really big. Unlike New Zealand, which has nothing
especially predatory, Australia is full of spiders and crocodiles and
all kinds of animals that will eat you and sting you. ES: Yikes. BC: Oh, and the most incredible collection of snakes. The brown snake in particular is quite deadly. ES: You've convinced me to never, ever visit Australia. BC: Oh, no, no. It is actually a beautiful country.
Even the Australians don't know how beautiful their own country is.
Particularly where we were shooting The Straits. Most of my stuff
was done on an aboriginal settlement on the south shore, opposite
Cairns, which I believe was the site where the last person was eaten in
Australia. ES: By a crocodile? BC: By a cannibal. He was eaten by a warrior foe, I believe. ES: That's kind of poetic. Your breakout role was
Hannibal Lector, and, now, here you are twenty-five years later, making a
TV show in the land of the cannibals. BC: Huh. [Laughs.] I never thought of that, actually. ES: Your career has come full-circle. BC: I guess it has. ES: You're playing a villain in The Straits, which really isn't new terrain for you. BC: Not at all. ES: The majority of your career has been playing bad
people. Are they bad to you? Or do you have to sympathize with a
character to really get inside their skin? BC: You empathize rather than sympathize. Like the
guy in this show, Harry. He's a gangster, and they have these kinds of
curiously spurious moral codes. For instance, he won't touch child
prostitution, but he has no problem dealing in drugs and stuff like
that. ES: Have you ever had to play somebody where you thought, "This guy's an asshole. I can't identify with him at all." BC: There are characters that have made me uncomfortable. I did a film called Rob Roy,
and I played Killearn, who was this sort of greasy fallen-angel
character who was voyeuristic and sleazy and really unpleasant. It was a
great role, but I didn't especially enjoy living with this awful man
for the length of time it took to make the movie. ES: If I had a thousand guesses, I never would have guessed Killearn. BC: Really? ES: I would've said Hermann Göring. Or Stalin. Or Hannibal Lecter. BC: Lector is just psychotic. He didn't leave a bad
taste in my mouth like Killearn. With most characters, no matter how
vile they are, it's just about remembering that they're human beings,
ultimately. Hitler was a human being. Stalin was a human being. We have
this terrible tragedy that just happened in Connecticut. ES: The school shooting. BC: The boy who did those horrible things, walked
into that school with all those guns — he was clearly an outsider and
clearly had personality disorders of a very deep kind. But he was still a
human being. He was alienated and sad and very damaged, which is a
uniquely human condition. That's what's interesting about these roles,
playing somebody who seems so one-dimensionally evil. How does somebody
get to that point? ES: I've heard that you don't subscribe to method acting. BC: No. I find that all nonsense. ES: So you were never like, "To truly understand how Hannibal Lecter ticks, I have to taste human flesh"?
BC: Goodness no. There are actors who do that. I
don't know if they'd go as far as tasting human flesh, but they might
walk up to that line. For me, it's just acting. It's pretending. The
best actors are children, and children don't do research. You never see a
child going, "I'm wondering about my motivation here. How can I do this
toy? How can I do this train? I don't feel train." I did a video — you
can look this up on YouTube — called "Brian Cox Masterclass with Theo" [above]. ES: I've seen it. BC: Where I teach the Hamlet soliloquy to a two-and-a-half-year-old? ES: It's freaking brilliant. I would pay Broadway prices to see that Theo kid do Hamlet. BC: I would, too. That's the lesson there, I think.
You can give children the germ of an idea, and they'll run with it.
They'll take it. Their imaginations are untrammeled. I trust the child
in me. I'll always go back to that. All these dark people I've played,
if I think about them too much, if I try to identify with them, they'd
carry me away in a straightjacket and load me into a funny-farm van. ES: What's the most ridiculous thing you've done to prepare for a role? BC: I try not to do anything unless a director asks
me. And most of what they ask me is ridiculous. I once had a director
send me a questionnaire about my character. I just replied, "Too old,
too tired, and too talented." If we're going to sit down and answer
these questions, then you don't know what you're doing, and I think by
this time I should have a good idea what I'm doing. Do you think I just
fell off the turnip truck? ES: Have you seen the Hitchcock biopic with Anthony Hopkins? BC: Not yet, no. ES: Some critics have claimed the prosthetics look
too obviously fake. Do you think Hopkins made the right choice, rather
than gain a lot of weight, which is the usual method-acting way? BC: From a health perspective, yes, it's certainly
better to use prosthetics than gain the weight. I've just been working
with Tony — we did the sequel to Red. I think Tony is a magnificent actor, but I don't think he looks very much like Alfred Hitchcock. ES: Even with the prosthetic jowls? BC: Hitchcock was round in the face. I've only seen
pictures of Tony as Hitchcock — I haven't seen the film, so I don't want
to judge him. It's a fantastic makeup job, but he looks... rather
square. Physically, he's square. You know what I mean? Hitchcock had
this rather round, baby look about him. ES: The best movie magic can't change an actor's facial structure? BC: It can't, no. But this happens. I'm old enough to remember King George VI. When I saw The King's Speech,
I had to suspend my disbelief. I thought it was a very good performance
by Colin Firth, but he didn't look anything like George the VI. George
was very skinny, with a nervous disposition, and kind of
etiolated-looking. It's very hard to recreate that. ES: That may be a tall order even for CGI. BC: I do have a fondness for the prosthetic element
of this profession. I once did a role and told the director, "Just tell
me what to do." I wasn't interested in the script. I didn't have a lot
of lines and didn't want to argue with him about character. I was like,
"I'll do whatever you tell me. The only thing I want to be in charge of
is how the character looks." I wanted to look like a cross between John
Carpenter and Jerry Garcia. ES: And that felt like enough creative involvement for you? BC: It's very liberating as an actor to sacrifice
control. The director says, "Come through here, look at that, turn on
that, go there, look under the bed, take out a gun, load it." And you
just go through that series of actions. And by doing that, you're
letting the character take over. You're not overthinking it. You're not
going over the script and making notes and creating backstory. ES: Your only responsibility is to grow a really awesome Jerry Garcia beard. BC: Exactly, yes. ES: It's funny you mention that. Whenever I look at
your films, I always notice the facial hair. There have been a few
goatees, a few mustaches, a few full-on beards. Does the facial hair
help you define what a character is? BC: It does to a certain extent. The beard makes a
great statement, especially as I've gotten older. I've got a beard at
the moment, and I'm actually toying with the idea of shaving it off.
Part of the reason I've kept it for so long is I'm lazy and I don't like
to shave. ES: That really is the raison d'être of any great beard. BC: I like to play with color as well. If I kept my
natural hair color, it would be incredibly white. But I find that white
onscreen is kind of dead and translucent. You want something that has
life to it. And that's why I've sometimes gone dark or gray with my
beards. People think I dye my hair because I want to look younger. It's
not about that at all. ES: You were part of a golden age of British theater
during the '70s and '80s. You've done Shakespearian plays with legends
like Laurence Olivier and John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson. BC: Those were wonderful times. I was very lucky. ES: Everything I've heard about that era — it seems
like everyone was drunk all the time and there were constant onstage
shenanigans. BC: We had some laughs. I remember one time — probably my favorite memory — Gielgud was playing Caesar in a production of Julius Caesar,
and we had one of these mobile sets, where they could change scenery
and different set pieces would come on and off the stage. So one night
it didn't come on as planned, for the scene when Caesar is murdered.
Gielgud felt that since we were all inexperienced — and we were,
relatively, although I think I was thirty at the time — he was worried
that we wouldn't find him to kill him. He was like, "These poor boys,
they won't know where to go because the set isn't right. I better help
them." So he sort of obliged by almost committing harakiri on our
daggers. ES: He threw himself on your blades? BC: He did. They were stage daggers, but they were still sharp. It's a miracle he wasn't impaled. ES: Do you miss doing live theater? BC: I do, I do. All the time. I still try to make
time to do it, occasionally. It's very close to my heart. I can still
remember the first day I entered the theater as a kid, literally walked
into a theater for the first time, to get a job. I was a working-class
kid from Dundee, Scotland, very unaccustomed to the ways of actors. I
walked into the theater, and there was a fight going on. ES: A staged fight? BC: No, an actual fight. With fists being thrown. It was Nicol Williamson,
and he was punching the hell out of the stage manager. They were both
drunk. This was ten o'clock in the morning, and they'd been there all
night. I'm fifteen years old, and I walk in and there's these two grown
adults fighting on the stairs. ES: Did you try to stop them? BC: No, no. Another actor pulled me aside. He was
the first actor I ever spoke to, and he said to me, "It's alright,
darling. A night on the tiles. You'll want to go this way." That was my
initial impression of the theater: Two people beating the hell out of
one another, and a man calling me darling. So I thought, "I'm home! This
is the life for me, obviously."
Source: Esquire
Bob Servant Independent, a new comedy for BBC Four
BBC
Four’s new comedy series, Bob Servant Independent, follows the trials
and tribulations of Bob Servant (Brian Cox) as he endeavours to sell
himself, relentlessly, to the good people of Broughty Ferry.
The
series stars Brian Cox with Jonathan Watson, Pollyanna McIntosh, and
Rufus Jones and will transmit on BBC Four from early January.
The
Scottish town of Broughty Ferry doesn’t know what’s hit it. The sudden
death of the sitting MP has resulted in a by-election that could change
the political map of the UK. Bob Servant (Brian Cox) has been waiting
his whole life for this level of attention and he’s willing to do
anything to keep it.
Bob sells himself as a man of the people but
doesn’t really like people. He also has absolutely no understanding of
the political process and uses the by-election campaign as a heaven sent
opportunity for self-promotion.
His campaign manager is Frank
(Jonathan Watson), Bob’s long-suffering best friend and neighbour, and
their love-hate relationship is a central aspect of Bob Servant
Independent.
Brian Cox said: “As a Dundee man I am very excited to
be in this comedy set in Broughty Ferry. With the comic writing skills
of fellow Dundonian, Neil Forsyth, and the audacious spirit of Bob
Servant it captures the very essence of the unique East Coast humour.”
As
the series progresses, Bob has an increasingly fractious relationship
with the favourite to win the seat, a slick professional politician
called Nick Edwards (Rufus Jones). Bob also struggles to deal with
Edwards’ campaign manager (and wife), Philippa Edwards (Pollyanna
McIntosh), a smart, no-nonsense woman, always two steps ahead of Frank.
The two campaigns jar markedly while the series builds to the natural climax of election night.
Writer
and creator of Bob Servant Independent, Neil Forsyth, added: “It’s
hugely exciting that Bob is making it onto the telly, and that Brian is
once again involved and leading a brilliant cast. He’s been a supporter
of the Bob Servant cause for a long time. To be honest, Bob would
probably be disappointed that he’s been overlooked to play himself, but
even he would reluctantly accept Brian taking up the challenge."
Bob Servant Independent is written by Neil Forsyth and produced by Owen Bell.
It
was commissioned by BBC Four and Cheryl Taylor, former Controller,
Comedy Commissioning, and Mark Freeland (BBC Four) and Ewan Angus (BBC
Scotland) are the co-executive producers.
In
2006 I read about scam-baiters, people so frustrated with spam that
they reply offering similar frustration to the spammers. I opened an
email account in the name of Bob Servant, choosing the name so I could
sign off emails “Your Servant, Bob Servant.”
That was the
beginning of a seven year journey to Bob Servant Independent being
broadcast by the BBC in January 2013. It’s been a process that has
stuttered and apparently ended on a few occasions but, one way or
another and often down to blind luck, has led to this six-part BBC Four
series that will introduce Bob Servant to the nation.
I wrote
three Bob Servant books (including his autobiography Hero Of Dundee) and
a radio series (The Bob Servant Emails) which transmitted on BBC Radio
Scotland and Radio 4. However, the television adaptation was itself a
four year quest for me and producer Owen Bell. Owen had been given one
of the books by a friend’s girlfriend and contacted me asking if I’d
considered adapting the character for radio or TV.
We completed
the radio series first and managed to persuade Brian Cox to play Bob
after I met a mutual friend in a pub. The fact that both he and Bob are
Dundonians undoubtedly helped.
Getting Brian on board was the
first step, the next was finding a premise that allowed Bob’s pompous,
self-regarding character to be given free reign without taking him out
of the confines of his hometown, the Dundee suburb of Broughty Ferry.
I
decided a by-election, with Bob standing as an independent candidate,
would give us what we needed. A lot of writing and re-writing from me
and skilful script development by Owen eventually led to BBC Four
commissioning this series with BBC Scotland.
We shot in Scotland
in 2012, with Brian padding about Broughty Ferry in Bob’s distinctive
leather jacket and bunnet combo, ably assisted by his sidekick Frank
(the hilarious Jonathan Watson). Watching it unfold was a thrilling
conclusion to a long journey.
Ten things you didn’t know about Bob Servant
1.
Bob Servant is a business tycoon. Many in Scotland remember his
victorious role in Dundee’s notorious Cheeseburger Wars, when his
“Armada” of cheeseburger vans scoured the city to sell their
questionable products to a delirious public. His enemies point out
Servant singlehandedly brought back scurvy to the city’s hospitals, a
claim Servant dismisses as “typical boo boy material.”
2. Before
the cheeseburgers came a window-cleaning round described by Bob as being
“the largest in Western Europe”. In both endeavours he was eagerly
assisted by right hand man Frank. On the vans Frank was Director of
Sauces, with the window-cleaning he was Bucket Chairman. Frank was also
briefly Manager of Sponges but lost the role within days in a situation
for which Frank readily admits he “only had himself to blame”.
3.
Bob’s house bears an extension that is testament to both his success
and ambition. A large glass extravaganza, described by the Council
planning committee as a “carbuncle dripping in arrogance”, Bob refers to
it more warmly as the “Anything Goes Annex”, an area where he
encourages people to “be themselves and let their worries drift away
like geese”.
4. Bob’s age is a matter for some debate. He claims,
with fool-proof logic, that he “can’t fully remember” the day he was
born and therefore doesn’t know his date of birth.
5. Bob is a
respected man of letters. The three Bob Servant books have been
published in the UK, North America and, most impressively of all, in
Dundee where they famously outsell the Bible. They have been called “a
Dundonian Lord of the Rings” (by Bob) and “absolutely terrific” (by
Frank).
6. Bob has also worked as an Agony Uncle. In the two
years that he answered readers’ problems for a Scottish magazine he
advised over 20 men to divorce their wives “with immediate effect” for
crimes including winking and having arrogant walks.
7. The
arrival into politics isn’t something that Bob decided on a whim.
Absolutely not. As long as he can remember he has walked around Broughty
Ferry looking at the punters, and their “sad little faces” and
wondering what he can do to help them. This is his chance.
8.
Frank is extremely proud of his role as Bob’s campaign manager. More
than anything, he is proud of his special notebook which he currently
sleeps with, cradling it like a baby. He’s also invested in a new suit
and the shortest back and sides in Broughty Ferry.
9. Bob is
currently single despite extensive efforts to the contrary. His
autobiography contains a chapter entitled The Great Skirt Hunt which
shows both the depth of his attempts at gaining a girlfriend, while also
hinting at the attitude that has perhaps handicapped them.
10.
Bob is greatly looking forward to the transmission of the TV show. He
believes it will be “permanent Beatlemania” for him in Broughty Ferry.
He has printed off a thousand close-up photos of his face that he will
be offering for signature (for a fair price) and is also planning to
market “Bob cameos” where he will attend social events for five minutes
during which time he will tell “a couple of belters and have the punters
laughing like penguins”. He is targeting birthdays, retirements and
funerals.
Actor Brian Cox stars as Scrooge in A Christmas Carol: A Radio Drama
From The Greene Space:
Gather 'round The Greene Space with the hosts of WQXR and WNYC for our annual reading of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol: A Radio Drama.
The beloved holiday tradition returns with the help of Emmy
Award-winning actor Brian Cox, who stars in the role of Ebenezer
Scrooge. Listen to him talk with Kristen Meinzer on The Takeaway about how he'll get into character for the performance.
The story will be brought to life in The Greene Space with a stage
reading performed by WQXR and WNYC personalities and reporters,
including: Naomi Lewin, Terrance McKnight, Midge Woolsey, Robert Krulwich, Brian Lehrer, Bob Hennelly and Arun Venugopal. Directed by WQXR host Elliott Forrest and adapted by award-winning playwright Arthur Yorinks.
Addicted to Pleasure
Episode Two: Opium
Scotland is plagued with over 50,000 drug addicts and one of the roots
of this addiction is the opium poppy. In this second episode, actor
Brian Cox travels to China to discover how the seeds of this modern-day
addiction were planted during the height of Britain's trading empire.
Since then opium has fuelled the world's largest drug-smuggling
operation, earned vast fortunes, triggered war with China and inspired
medical breakthroughs. Brian Cox reveals how Britain unleashed the most
dangerous of addictions on the world, and how the consequences still
haunt us today.
Read more, and watch on iPlayer, at BBC
Actor Brian Cox on new show Addicted to Pleasure and why drugs in Scotland should be legalised
Dundee-born Cox admitted he smoked opium on a trip to India in the 1980s, and that he enjoyed taking the highly addictive drug.
Actor Brian Cox presents new BBC programme Addicted to Pleasure.
Scots actor Brian Cox has revealed he smoked opium and called for the legalisation of hard drugs in Scotland.
The Dundee-born Hollywood star says “everything” should be legalised
if the government has any hope of getting on top of the country’s drug
problem.
Cox admitted he smoked opium on a trip to India in the 1980s, and that he enjoyed taking the highly addictive drug.
He said: “I used to be very down on drugs. I tried marijuana
occasionally, but I was never really into it. I was in India touring
with a play and I thought I would experiment and see what it was like.
So I went to an opium den.
“It was great, very beatific. I got my feet massaged and had two
great hours there. But I never did it again because what eventually
happens is that pleasure decreases as want increases. Want becomes the
thing that drives you, not the pleasure. You can never recreate that
first fix. Once it’s over it’s over. But that’s why people get into a
spiral, especially with heroin.”
Brian Cox looks at addictions of all kind in the new programme.
Cox was speaking ahead of Addicted to Pleasure, a four part
documentary series he’s presenting on BBC Scotland. It addresses our
nation’s addictions to sugar, alcohol, tobacco and opium.
The X Men II star blamed Scotland’s addiction issues on the
relocation projects of the 1960s, which saw whole communities decanted
from city centre environments to housing schemes.
He said: “Environment and drugs go hand in hand. We have created
these appalling environments for people to live in, especially the
housing schemes which are a hotbed for drugs.
“We took people away from towns with structure to schemes with no
structure. Now there are four generations of addicts. We moved people
into these areas and they have a lack of functionality, which leads to
negativity, loss of self esteem and self worth. They’re thwarted people,
and they take drugs for the lack of something.
“Taking something like heroin helps them deal with that.
“Everything should be made available, but monitored, of course.
Prohibition is a problem. Look at any prohibition era in history. Al
Capone and the rest made a lot of money there. It’s the same today with
drug dealers. We need to try to get people’s self worth and sense of
empowerment back again.” Addicted to Pleasure is on Monday, 26 November BBC at 9pm on BBC1.
Brian Cox, CBE, named Honorary Patron of The Royal Lyceum Theatre Company
The Lyceum Theatre Company announced today that internationally renowned Scottish actor Brian Cox,
CBE has agreed to become its Honorary Patron in support of its future
development and cementing his long history with the company.
Brian Cox’s links with The Lyceum go back to 1965 when he joined the theatre’s first Acting Company after completing his training at The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). He went on to play leading roles at the Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre,
amongst others. The Dundee-born actor has retained a strong affection
for the Lyceum and has returned to its stage, most recently playing the
lead role in Uncle Varick in 2003.
Cox has a successful and prolific career on both stage and screen.
Some of his most famous film appearances include Rob Roy, Braveheart,
The Ring, X2, Troy, Adaptation and The Bourne Supremacy. He was the
first actor to portray Hannibal Lector on film in Manhunter. He has
appeared in numerous successful TV series, winning an Emmy Award and
nominated for a Golden Globe Award for his portrayal of Hermann Göring
in the television mini-series Nuremberg in 2001.
Brian Cox says:
“As
one of Scotland’s largest producing companies, The Lyceum enriches
lives and our culture. I feel passionately about engaging people with
the performing arts, and will do all that I can to support the vital
role The Lyceum plays in developing the talent of Scotland. We owe it to
generations past, present and future to continue the great work that
The Lyceum has been doing since 1883, and playing any part in supporting
the development of the Company seems incredibly worthwhile.”
Mark Thomson, Artistic Director of The Lyceum says:
“I can't think of anyone I would rather be our founding patron than Brian Cox,
he was the first person I thought of. As we approach the company's 50th
anniversary we have someone who helped launch it and who has shown his
belief in the company by returning several times, most recently playing
the title role in Uncle Varick, John Byrne's
adaptation of Chekhov's Uncle Vania. This despite a demanding career on
international stages, radio, television and Hollywood. Most of all I
know how seriously Brian takes his commitments, so evident in his work
as patron of Scottish National Youth Theatre
and as Rector of Dundee University. I'm delighted to have such a
talented artist and man of integrity dedicating his time in support of
The Lyceum.”
As Honorary Patron, Brian will spearhead individual philanthropy for
The Lyceum which aims to establish a network of Patrons who recognise
the value of The Lyceum's work and will support the aims of the Company
by providing vital funds for talent development, producing and staging
new work, and community outreach and participation through the Lyceum
Creative Learning programmes.
Brian Cox: A Viewer's Guide The highs (and lows) of the actor’s career Brian Cox has many things to commend him. A proven character actor with a
gift for lighting up films like Spike Jonze’s Adaptation, David
Fincher’s Zodiac and Spike Lee’s 25th Hour in even short bursts, the
Scotsman is equally accomplished in meatier on-screen roles, and on
stage.
His political leanings mean he’s capable of taking academics down a peg or two.
We think he’s also a nuclear physicist and may have also been in
D:Rream, although that may need checking (ED: Are you perhaps thinking
of Professor Brian Cox?).
Read on for our guide to his finest film moments.
Brian Cox, Mark Strong & Taissa Farmiga join Jaume Collet-Serra’s ‘Mindscape’
Spanish filmmaker Jaume Collet-Serra, best known for the 2005 remake of "House of Wax" and 2009's "Orphan" (a very respectable $76 million worldwide) is turning into quite the B-movie cottage industry force.
He's got a "Taken 3" aka "Non-Stop" coming up (Liam Neeson growling on a plane), he almost directed the “Akira” adaptation before it was shuttered, and potentially on deck is a thriller called “Here There Be Monsters,” which may star Bradley Cooper. He’s also moving into the world of producing, and along with Peter Safran (“Disaster Movie,” “Meet The Spartans") is shepherding the project "Mindscape” to the screen.
Focusing on a man with the ability to enter people's memories,
“Mindscape” has a strong cast that includes great character
actor/well-cast villain Mark Strong ("Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"), Brian Cox ("The Bourne Supremacy") and eighteen-year-old Taissa Farmiga ("American Horror Story," the younger sister of Vera Farmiga who co-starred alongside her in “Higher Ground”).
Presumably with Strong as the lead, the story follows the man who takes
on a girl's case to discover whether she is a brilliant sociopath or
traumatized teen.
“Mindscape” will mark the feature-length directorial debut of Spaniard Jorge Dorado, a second-unit director known for a segment in 2007’s “Limonchello.” He also shot and directed the 2012 short "El Otro," and earned a 2005 Goya Award nomination for "La Guerra," a short co-directed with Luis Berdejo
Read more at Indie Wire
Hollywood star Brian Cox lends Dundee University students a helping hand Students who raised £2,500 for children's charity Cash for Kids during their annual rag week got a local-born Hollywood acting star to help them hand over their proceeds.
Dundee University students raised the money for Cash for Kids, which
raises thousands of pounds for local children and young people every
year. University rector and actor Brian Cox presented the cheque to the charity's assistant manager, Alison Curran.
She said: ''It's really fantastic Dundee University Students' Association can support the charity. ''All the money raised will stay in the Tayside area, helping underprivileged children. ''Brian Cox is a lovely man and very keen to find out what is going on in the Tayside area regarding child poverty.''
The Scotch Pronunciation Guide: Brian Cox Teaches You How To Ask Authentically for 40 Scotches
Some Scotch names are fairly straightforward — Glenlivet, Glenfiddich, Laphroaig. Others not so much. I mean, give Bunnahabhain and Caol Ila a try. Well, if you’re a connoisseur struggling to get the pronunciation right, this will serve you well. Esquire has created “The American Man’s Scotch Pronunciation Guide” (though you hardly need to be male to profit from it), which features “esteemed actor and proud Scot” Brian Cox sipping/talking his way through more than 40 brand names.
The cameras were rolling in
Milngavie earlier this week when stars of screen and stage descended on
the town to shoot scenes for a new BBC comedy. Bob Servant Independent will be shown on BBC4 at the
beginning of next year and actors Brian Cox, Jonathan Watson and Siobhan
Redmond were in town on Monday to film scenes for the show.
It was the second visit to Milngavie this year for the illustrious cast. Scenes for the first three episodes were shot in the town back in March. Now a further three episodes have been commissioned.
Bob
Servant Independent, which stars Brian Cox in the title role, is about a
pompous Dundonian businessman who is trying to become an MP for
Broughty Ferry.
The character, created by Neil Forsyth, first appeared in the 2007 book ‘Delete This At Your Peril’. Most
of the filming is done in Broughty Ferry, but on Monday the crew used
Ashfield Medical Practice for a scene in a doctor’s surgery and
Milngavie Primary School as a polling station for a local election.
The
show’s producer, Owen Bell, said: “Milngavie is a good double for us as
it looks similar to Broughty Ferry. Filming is going well so far and
it’s been fun. “The last time we were in Milngavie everyone was very friendly so we thought we’d come back.”
Earlier
this year the crew turned the former social work office in Stewart
Street into an election headquarters to shoot scenes for the show. Popular
precinct restaurant Cafe Alba also had a minor starring roll in the
show - as producers asked them for a burger they could use as a prop.
Brian Cox (65) has starred in a number of Hollywood blockbusters, including Troy and The Bourne Identity.
Broughty
Ferry will welcome the return of Bob Servant later this month.
Three
episodes of a sitcom based on the cult character were filmed in Broughty Ferry
in March, with Dundee-born actor Brian Cox in the lead role.
Now
BBC4 has decided to commission three further episodes of Bob Servant Independent,
which sees the titular character running for parliament.
As
well as Dundee University rector Cox, the series features actors including
Jonathan Watson and Greg McHugh.
The
latest batch of episodes will also feature Taggart actor Alex Norton. They will
be filmed later this month and broadcast in early 2013.
Creator
Neil Forsyth told The Courier: ''I had always written it with a view to it kind
of being the classic British six-episode series, but with the way comedy is
commissioned it has been a bit more staggered. I'm just delighted that we'll be
able to tell the story over the full six episodes.''
Mark
Freeland, controller of comedy for the BBC, said: ''I am delighted that we will
see Bob Servant make more spectacular strides towards the seat of power in
Broughty Ferry. With Bob's unstoppable energy and his running mate Frank at his
side, nothing can possibly go wrong.''
Brian
Cox first played Bob Servant in radio series The Bob Servant Emails.
Citizen
Gangster’s story resonates with any person who’s down on their luck in an era
when times are tough and jobs are nowhere to be found, but in its attempts to
reinvent the criminal as celebrity concept the film falters as the writing
breaks down. It tries to be similarly insightful about veterans as the odd men
out of peace time, feeling estranged from the real world and driven to lives
that give them the adrenaline rush their wartime tour hooked them on.
In trying
to tie these elements together in a criminal drama, the script jumps back and
forth without ever really finding a singular approach to who its characters
are. Luckily, Citizen Gangster has a capable cast of Scott Speedman, Kevin
Durand, Brian Cox, William Mapother, and Kelly Reilly to keep it moving.
