"Brian Cox"

You know, I've noticed in the past, you know, you do a like a fake countdown for stuff.

Yep. And you will stop after three and you won't go all the way. We've been through this before, we did it on a previous poll. I don't think I've ever mentioned this to you before. You did it. Five.

It may have come up on a cold open one. Welcome to Smirloose. Now I'm, I don't know, I'm going silent from four down. Welcome to Smirloose. How did everybody sleep? We just saw each other 10 hours ago.

Really? Well, good. Oh, good. Why would you have a story about your sleep? And no, I was good. It was okay. It was okay. No, but anyway, did you have the mask on last night?

No, I don't sleep with the mask. Oh, you don't do the hose, the hose and the, no, I stopped that. It didn't really work. Don't cover your mouth. No, I myself. I know, it's just practice.

Because then I can just get my sleeping mask. Let's get all over the lower piano. Beautiful, beautiful.

No, but it's a beautiful joke.

I like that, I'm actually. I or him or whatever. I did take a value of the sleep like a cup of looking. I don't know. Well, did you get into the bottom of a bag last night?

Are you all out? You have somebody on their way over? I don't even know.

“You have to be the AC in this room or the AC.”

Is it the AC? [laughter] Oh, we got a whole junk at the gate. Where is the last time you guys saw Dawn in New York City? I tell you something, Daisy.

It's just so full of promise this. Sean and his band. Yeah. [laughter] I love him.

Going out for beers for breakfast. Oh, my God. Oh, Sean, what did you do last night? Um, Scotty and I, oh, I ran the show.

I, I, I, I have to run the line so that cake flowers.

And then I, and then he did about a pound and a half of sloppy jokes. But the way I totally had a sloppy joke. Higher. Yeah. It's going to clock.

That's crazy. That's not much of it. It's not much of a stretch or a leap for me to go. I, I really did have a sloppy joke. Did you put it together yourself?

Or was it leftover from the, um, the, It was a lovely kitchen. Help you have. It was leftover. But it's funny that you say that because I, um,

Remember yesterday when I was like, I'm eating lunch at two, Two, two, two, three. Yeah.

“So that's why I had a sloppy joke at 10 o'clock.”

But then what did you, what did you have at your two, 30 late lunch? I had another fried chicken salad. Yeah. Chicken salad?

No, no fried chicken salad. Fried fried chicken salad. So they took what? They took the lettuce and the chicken. They threw it all in the fryer.

What happened? Everyone gets fried in that scenario in the bowl or. And then, and then we call it half the fora. So you had the fried chicken salad for a salad. Right, Sean.

You had this, you had this knicker doodle at 1130. Yeah. Right. The big one. They can go in and out of the bag to keep it fresh with your logic.

Exactly. Well, you're right. Chicken at two, 30. So then at two, 30, you have the fried chicken salad with what you drink. What was your beverage of them?

Milk with every meal. At the lunch. Yeah. At the restaurant. No, no.

Did they look at you?

“Did they say, did they say, is there a child coming to this lunch?”

No. We don't offer stuff. We don't have a kids menu. Yeah. But here are the crayons.

So you have that at two, 30. And then you're trying to tell us. You're trying to tell us that you have the fried chicken lunch. Fried chicken salad. And that nothing.

You had nothing else until you had this slide. Be Joe. At 1030. Yeah. That's true.

Nothing. Nothing. No snack. I know nothing. No candy.

I don't think I can do bowl. I don't think I did. I don't think I did. It's a real soft way. It's an entry into.

You know, actually. What was it? Just be honest. Just know. Maybe it's a milk you way.

I maybe had a couple of starbursts. A couple of starbursts. There we go. You wanted to get some plastic in there. Yeah.

It needs some binding. Something to find up that sloppy Joe. Yeah. Get about rice. Wow. Oh man. Anyway, anyway, what? And you're, and you're like, "I can't, I can't figure not on fire." So tired. Oh, I did. I actually, my sleep's fucked up. It's so weird. I don't know.

What do you have? I run you through it. None of it adds up. Let me run you through it. I tell you what though, Sean. I tell you what does that up. Oh. See a claim for our guest. He has been

for countless sag words. I think like seven, one a couple of those. One an Emmy-nominated five times. Baffed us. He's been nominated like seven, eight times. One is the follows. This is a very qualified guest. This is a guy who his list of performances is one of those guys who has its own page. You know, I mean, and has nothing to do with the length of time. He's been on this planet, but just about the amount that people want him to be in their projects. I love that. I love him from everything. He is,

this is one of the guys you're going to say. We'll guess it if we. You're going to guess if I say, he is the original Doctor Hannibal Lecter. He's got a brave heart. He knows a little bit about the brain doc. And he's also in line for succession. It is the one and only Mr. Brian Cox. Good lord. Yeah, this is a good lord. This is a good lord. This is a good lord. This is a good lord. Good lord. Good lord. Hello Jason. Hello Sean. Well done. Well done. It was a nice to see you all.

Yeah, great to see you. Plus, I should mention also Brian that you're new film that you've directed Glenn Rothen releases on April 17th. What's the name of it again? Glenn Rothen. It's called Glenn Rothen. It's about a, it's about two brothers who are, they, they own this distillery. But one, the younger brother, who's played by brilliantly by Alan coming. He's the one that was the real talent in the family. And I also play Sandy, the oldest brother, who is just a

“plotter. You know, he's just a manager. That's what he does. And the other brother has had a”

talent, bad relationship with our father. And I actually cast my own son as my father because I wouldn't have to see what it was like being a father. Oh, that's why. That's why. So we did that. And it was very good. It was very tough and very scary as well. Brian, this

can't be the first time you've directed something, is it? No, I've directed in the theatre. But

this was my debut as a film director. How did it go? What were you surprised with? I was surprised that I made it. I don't mean I made the film that I made it through the whole shoot. Yeah, it was a bit scary. And it was a very odd situation to be in, you know, because I came from an egalitarian viewpoint. I wanted everybody to do their best work. You know, we've all suffered at the hands of various directors over the conceptions that they wanted to include us. And I just wanted them to fuck

off really basically. You know, fuck me up with all that shit that you know, or your ego stuff and control. And I just, I really, some directors I really like. I've worked with some really good ones. But a lot of the time you go, the best director I've ever worked with, unquestionably on film

“is Lyndsey Anderson. You know, director Lyndsey Anderson? I don't know. No. You don't know Lyndsey Anderson?”

No, no, no, she gets a note. I don't mind, it's just a polling. You don't know. I mean you can't really just hang up. You know, you live in a wonderworld. I don't know. And it was a man or woman. Man, Lyndsey's a man, he was a, he directed a very famous, well, he directed a series of films.

The first film I ever saw was I think called "Disporting Life." Oh, sure, I heard of Richard Harris.

Okay. It was about a rugby team. He said, I'm north. Written by a wonderful David story. He was a great, well, it's possibly a great writer. And yeah, I mean, it was just, what made him great? What, what did you like about his time? Because he just gave you the right note. He gave you the right note. I mean, he would come up with stages. We would do a scene in the, I mean, the play I did was with Alan Bates. Do you remember Alan Bates? To have a good name. Alan Bates. Yeah, Alan Bates.

Yep. Sure. Yeah. Sean, you know who the actor, Alan Bates. Yes, I'm like, God, you guys need some training. I really do. Alan Bates, who was famous in Zorba, the Greek, and he did a lot of movies, Alan. And he played my elder brother and I played the younger brother. And Lyndsey would come up with, he said, if we'd come in, we'd go, it's good, it's good, but there's a little bit of attitude

“in the scenes. Can we kind of remove the attitude in the eyes and just play the scene?”

I mean, that's something, the simple note where you go. I see what you mean. I'm striking an attitude that I'd try to hold on to throughout the scene. Yeah, that's actually the scene reveals itself

and the attitude reveals itself. And he was the first director to understand, now most directors

wouldn't know what the fuck he was talking about. All right. You know, they just don't have a fucking clue, you know, sorry. I mustn't be right. Had Lyndsey ever done any acting, do you know? No, he he started a magazine with the guy called Gavin Lambert called Sighton Sound,

you know, he was a university post-war. And it was just extraordinary. I mean, the other thing

he did was a film called "If", I don't know if you saw that. That was a film with Malcolm McDowell, which was a set in a public school boy, a school public school. And then he did a film called O Lucky Man, which was the follow-up to that. So catch up, boys. Yeah, yeah. I know, Lyndsey Anderson. I know, I feel like I feel like I've seen if we're thinking of the Ryan Reynolds' Junkers in Skifioca. I was just going to say that. You know, right, maybe an imaginary friend.

Yeah, a lot of fun. That was a lot of fun. But, Brian, did you have, so when you ended up making your feature film debut, directorial debut, did you find that it shifted? Did you sort of retroactively

“like go back and kind of shift your opinion of directors and did it sort of even anything?”

Well, I had a I had more sympathy for them. But I still think a bunch of them twats. Yeah. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. But I think you all agree with me. I think you all been through that as well. You know, it's interesting. I, you know, a director definitely needs to have a plan and and and part and a term of vision and all that stuff. But when it comes to performance, you realize that they think they can control it. But it is like one of the,

one of the few lanes in making something that you can't control. You can't control performance, you can't control music. Like everything else, you can kind of get in there and make a decision on. But performance and music, there's stuff that happens in between action and cut that you just can't micromanage. It's got to live. It's got to breathe and that character is the actor's character.

“It's not the director's character or the writer's character. Like you have to own it and to be”

able to give the actor the kind of latitude to really feel like it's theirs. I think that freeze up a really exciting performance is opposed to trying to get them to do the version of the character

you always saw in your head. Right. Absolutely. Absolutely. You know, my stuff I don't know

that for the last 50 years. What are you doing? Yeah, 60 is good. Well, you push through it very, very successfully. My God, the performance is I've been able to watch you do Brian. It's just incredible here. Let me just say thank you. Yeah, I, you have done so many and, you know, these guys know I've gone and on about my, some of my favorite films and you have one of one of one of one of one of one of one of one of Will's favorite quotes too. About what is it?

I'm going to paraphrase it here. I'm too old too rich and too famous to give a fuck. Yeah, it's going to be like that. I'm too old too tired and too talented to give a fuck. So good. Right. I love

“that so much. I just fucking love it. I love how you do it. In the best way you don't give a shit.”

But I know you do about the things you do give a shit. Well, the thing I was determined to do with the movie was to give everybody give their talent. You know, the costume department, the wardrobe department. I mean, that's the same. And the design of the film and the D.P. And you know, you just want people to do their best work. Not to say do it this way. Right. Because what she said do it this way. You've immediately put a block up for them to go, oh, I've got to do it this way. I can't do it.

So I didn't do any of that. I just said give me what you're giving me. Tell me what you want me to do. Tell me what you want to do. Tell me what you want to in the design department. Tell me what you want to achieve. And therefore, one had an incredibly happy crew from the terrible film. But we had a happy crew. No, but it's a true collaboration. I mean, you hired those people for a reason because you like what provided an environment where that's exactly right will. That's exactly right. And not

enough of that goes on. We don't trust. We don't trust. We don't trust nearly enough. And if somebody comes on and says, and this is the design, you just said, well, let's see what you do and do what you want to do. Do what you feel is right. And I've coached them. You're getting a lot of fun and all that. But at least you're not impending them. You're not stopping them from being creative. Yeah. Wait. So for Glenn Roth and did you find the project or did the project find you?

How did that happen? Well, it was, I didn't find the project. It's written by a guy called David Ashton. I do, you know, we still do radio back, would you believe? I don't, you know what the radio is? It's a video. We still do radio back in the old country. And I've been doing a series for 20 years, which I'd go off and do for three days. And it's a series about an Edinburgh detective

called McLevy. And it's been very popular. And we get about a million listeners. Wow. And

power. And Neil said, "You're going to be directing this film." And I've never directed a film.

And I said, "What?" He said, "You're going to, you're going to direct the film." And they said, "And you could be here." And I said, "Well, that's kind of thank you for letting me be here." You can cast yourself, yeah. Well, you know, it was, it was wonderful. Wonderful. There's a great comedian that's Scotland called Stanley Baxter. And there's a great scene which he used to do what he played a little boy. And also he is his grandfather's dying. And his grandfather's looking

at the window and saying, "Son, one day, all this will be yours from the hills to the river." And all that land out there. And he goes on and on and on. And the wee boys said, "You know, you're going to unpack that to an awfully big job that won't be boy in his own." So that was,

“that's what I was reminded of how an awfully big job it is for one wee boy in his own.”

Well, it's funny. It's funny. You mentioned that one wee boy on his own because I was thinking about your, you grew up in Dundee Scott born and raised in Dundee Scotland. Yeah. And now you're sort of, forgive me, I sort of a world famous actor, acclaimed actor. How did you go from that to that? What was that leap from your, what I, what I've read, a very, very humble beginning. Oh, yeah. Well, my, my dad died when I was eight. And my mom had a, uh, it was only 51. He had

pancreatic cancer and he died when I was eight. And I had three elder sisters. I was a youngest and a, a kind of crazy brother who used to go off in disappear. And he was, he was nine years older than me. And I was the baby. And my dad died. And then my mom had a series of terrible nervous breakdowns which resulted in her having electric shock treatment, which I mean, she lost about 60 pounds in weight. I mean, this was unrecognized. I mean, she was a little overweight to start with, but she was

underweight. So I had no parents. For most of my, I had my sisters. And I didn't realize it,

“but it was the best thing that ever happened to me. It's a tragedy. In one sentence, losing your”

mom and losing your dad. Certainly, it was heartbroken. But I was liberated. No, fucker was telling me what to do. No, fucker was getting no parents. How old is your, your eight years old when your dad passed? And then your mom, and how old were you when your mom? Well, she died much later, but my mom went into almost immediately. She had a huge breakdown. And she was just hopeless. And also, we were sending my youngest sister, actually my youngest

of my older sisters. And she's 12 years older than me. And there were my two older sisters who

were married had children. I mean, I was, they were amazing. They were just amazing. What they did,

but they didn't look after me, but they looked out for me, which was better than being looked after. They made sure that I was okay. And so did you find that you were making a lot of really good decisions, or did you make some bad ones and learn from those? Well, you just learned, you know, you learn, you know, I mean, I made good decisions, and I made bad decisions, you know,

“but I made, but at least I could get the lie at the land. You know, what was going on?”

But I imagine that Dundee's, Scotland at that time was a, was a tough place to grow up, yeah. Yeah, it wasn't easy, you know, and it's a lot tougher now because we have the, you know, I don't get me started, but we have, sorry, I need to be more humorful on this, but I mean, no, no, it's your feeling right now. No, what happened is that we have the highest heroine addiction in Europe in your home, in your hometown. Yeah, because of the poverty,

and the soul about poverty, and it's what makes me a socialist. Socialists, I mean, what I can't stand about this country, we're in, is how they confuse communism and socialism. Sure. Yeah. Socialism is not communism. Socialism is socialism is social welfare,

taking care of the people, communism is a dictate. So, you know, and I always Americans would

understand that, what the difference is. Good luck, what a, what a socialist is. You know, as a Canadian, I let, as a Canadian, let me say good luck to you, try to explain it to them, Brian. Well, they can sit out and, well, the Canadians seem to understand it rather well. Yeah. We've got a pretty good understanding. They don't respect to either Jason or Sean, but, you know, Americans don't get it. No, just don't get it. Well, they don't understand it. And I'm not, I don't consider

myself really anything, but I do understand that we have to take care. We're only as strong the idea. We're only as strong as our weakest link, and that there has to be a net, because once you, if there is not a sort of a social net, then the whole thing falls apart, and it sort of decays from underneath, if you have extreme poverty, which we do in this country, then the, then the entire thing is resting, the, the, the, the foundation of the, our society is rotted from underneath,

you the hope or the courage to seek something better? Well, I had two teachers. I mean, my education was a disaster. It was a technical education. I was supposed to be, I was trained to be a brick layer,

really, what was what I was trained to be. I mean, I never laid a brick in my life, but, or,

“I don't, but, but, but that's what that's supposed to be my destiny. And I thought,”

fuck that for a game of soldiers. I'm not doing, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, I'm in that way. And I just wanted to be an actor. I wanted to be an actor since I was three, you know, and that was my desire, just to act. Where did that come from? Were, did you watch a lot of TV, or? Oh, I, we had 21 cinemas in my home town. Wow. Wow. Before the war, we had 42 cinemas, but after the war, we had 21, and now there's about four. And I visited every single cinema,

and where, where I lived, there was a right angles to where I lived up from up the street. There was a thing called "Asterstone Terrace." And there was my church, the library, the Broadway cinema, an opposite that was the royal, and there was double features. So you were going at six o'clock, and you would get out 11. So I used to go there all the time. Yeah. My, I'm, in fact, I'm surprised that my, one, they were alive, that they even noticed I existed, my parents,

because I was in the cinema, most of the time. Was it a form of escapism? Is that, is that what brought you into the theater initially? No. I don't think it's escapism. It's just joy. Yeah. It wasn't, I mean, I just got so much joy out of it. You know, and you live in Dundee, which was pretty heavy going, you know, in those days. I mean, it's, it's a great community.

I mean, that would be, but the city fathers always make a balls up. You know, they took people

out of the town, and they put them in these schemes, which is why they're still paying for it now. And, in fact, the Lord promised said to me, you know, we're trying to get people back into the

“city. I said, you should never have taken them out the city in the first fucking place. I said,”

that's some, that's so important. That's who they are. They're from that. And then you put them, you isolate them without any, any proper conditions, you know, and they are for the heroin, the drugs, the whole thing just spirals out of, you know, and this is something that really gets me more and more and more. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We'll be right back. And now back to the show. So then you, you have this love of cinema. You're going to the theater

all the time. And then you went to, if I'm right, you went to theater school in Scotland. I went to Lambda. Oh, you went to Lambda. Okay. Yeah. Well, what was wonderful was I was there was a guy called Bill Davis who ran, there was a series of directors that done do rap. And the last guy was a Canadian called Bill Davis. Now, Bill is a director and a writer in his own mind, lives in Vancouver. And also, he, he's part of that Davis, you know, the famous Davis family who ran all of the answers in Canada.

“And, and Bill was great. And he said, he invited me. I was, I think I was just 16, if that,”

anyway. Yeah. I was just 16. And he invited me to a voice class. And I had never been to,

I didn't even know what a voice class was. What's a voice class? He said, come along to voice class. And I went along. And there was this, he said, we've got this young woman who's coming up from London. She's just taken over and, oh, because the previous voice teacher, who was a genius, died. And this lady's taken her and I said, who is this? She says, she's called Christian link later. Have you heard of Christian link later? No, you see. Do we don't know anything? Yeah.

No, yeah, there's Martin's surprise. I'm really ignorant. You both are, I said, don't be an idiot. And I find that the Canadian isn't you don't talk to you, you guys. You're right on, you're right on the money. You're right on the money. You're right on the money. You're right on the money. You know, you sit there and wonder, go, oh. Yeah. We're here to learn, baby boy. So anyway, she was a, the lookup person like her because she was, she's sadly passed away.

Her son is an actor called Hamish link later. I don't know if you've come across him. And she, no, you know, you don't know. What about like Taylor's hair? Oh, anyway. They think that you're making these names up. I know. I know. Oh, wait. I think Hamish link later. The resonate, fun. You guys know Hamish link later. I know. I know. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes, good. God, the Canadian, he's so sensible. What is wrong with you two others?

My Google's faster, but I know exactly Hamish link later. So anyway, so that happens. So I go to, I go to Dundee. My first day in Dundee was a very funny day because I went up for my interview and I went up to the front of the theater and this woman in a very broad, done-do-and-and I said, you want your answer? I said, I'm here for an interview, for I said,

You can get to the front theater back, but you can't get to the front theater front. So go in the back and then you can get to the front. I said, okay, so I went round the back. And as I walked in, there was, on all mighty row, a fight going on between an actor. No, I'm going to say an actor's name, and you probably don't even know who the fuck he is. But anyway, there we go. It was very, pretty good so far. You've scored brilliantly. Anyway, this actor was called Nickel Williams,

and I've got a good room to look at. Oh, yeah, Nickel Williams. If I had a neck off, we've struck gold at last.

Anyway, so I'm, this Nickel Williams, you know, and I'm always like, not at any, not at any, you're

back in, you know, I'm making money and that is a great impression of it. Yeah. You're making money, and I'm making you, you know, I'm making you, you know, and I'm trying to get past them to get up for my interview and I'm 15, and I've never been in a backstage before, so I'm getting up and I'm playing up and says, I get past them finally. And I'm starting on the landing, and this is a wonderful article going, Granger's smoking is cigarette, and he looked at me and he said, "Are you all right,

darling?" And I went, that man just called me darling. Right. I have never been called darling before to my life. This is clearly where I must be. All right. That's great. Well, I have to ask you because I'm the person that always asks this, what's your favorite stage show you've ever done,

“and what's the worst thing that's ever happened in this stage of life theater? Well, the worst thing”

about happened, I actually one of my favorite shows I did was I did a show by, do you know who

Connor McPherson is? No, there you go. He's a very famous Irish playwright, and he's had a few plays on Broadway, and I did a play of his called St. Nicholas, in which I played a theatre critic. It was a one-man show. It was a wonderful show. Really, very, very funny, very inventive. And it's about it's that who becomes obsessed by this actress, and he becomes a suspect, and he follows her, and he follows it. He gets the place he's in, he gives a bad review to in Dublin, and he's persona

known grater because of his terrible review, having flirted with this actress, and finally he goes, he follows them to London, and he follows them to their home, and he nearly breaks the girl, but he doesn't. So he ends up being kicked out, and he eventually goes to work for vampires. He meets a vampire on Crystal Palace Hill, and his vampires says, "If you could bring people to our house,

and you know, we like to suck blood, but we never kill. We just only suck. We don't kill."

It seems reasonable to me. But the idea was, he would alarm me as space, so I could write, and the whole point of his, is the fact that he's wanting something to write the story. So I did this play, which was a really good play. So I won't not come on, and I start the play, and I look to my right, and there's my ex-girlfriend. Oh my God. What did you do here? And then I was carrying, and then I turned over, and there, on my other side, was my ex-girlfriend,

and there literally sitting opposite one, and I'm completely thrown. And I just say that the audience, I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen, but I'm going to have to start again. No way. Yeah. I just want to start again, because this is, this is, I can't explain what it is,

“but really, just please trust me. I think that's what I think.”

That is way. Do you see that? Do you see them after the show? I did. Oh, God. I did. I mean, what happened was after the show they came on, and they said, "Oh, that was lovely. We enjoyed it." Oh, and tremendous. And I said, "Why were you sitting to one of the girls?" I said, "Why were you sitting opposite arena?" And he said, "I wasn't." I said, "You were?" She said, "Well, I didn't have a notice." I said, "Well, I didn't have a

center arena." I said, "Did you not know? I didn't have a notice." And so I went through agony, for no reason. And they had no sense. Yeah. And that was it. But that's the, who, Sean, I mean, makes me think, Sean, you're about to do a one-man show one-man show. Sean is Sean opens what it'll be on now, I think, by the time the series. But Sean's doing a one-man show off Broadway. What's it called, Sean? And what theater will it be on? It's called The Un, thanks, you guys.

It's called The Unknown, and it's at StudioCview, which is 43rd and 8th Avenue. It's a, yeah. But Brian, you'll understand, having explained, like, doing a one-man show. And I was talking to Sean as he's been preparing for it this fall. And just getting off book, just learning the food. I mean, it's like the way to the story. I mean, I'm still not off buck totally, and it's been pretty, you're pretty good. Yeah, he runs the show every day.

“You have to, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, it's scary. I'm scared, shitless. I mean,”

work recording this and I haven't opened yet by the time this comes out, I haven't opened.

I mean, like, the, the one-man show thing, it's just, it's, it's colossal, isn't it? Yeah, it is, it is.

Yeah. I mean, I remember I came on one night, and a guy, I walked on, and a guy, it's like, came on. He opened his program, and he went, and I took the program out of his hand. It's, through a while, but I was just, the program, it's, it don't need it. It's just, only. But, yeah, it can all be. But, isn't it, I mean, did you ever go off, like, go up on the line and say, oh, yeah, I said, and we heard, so I've, like, can I please have the script just off stage for emergencies? If I can't remember where I'm at,

I just have to, I'm just gonna, there's nothing you can do. You just gotta walk off. You're just gonna dip off stage. Yeah, what are you gonna do? I mean, you know, I don't know about a problem. What I, I try what's great now. I mean, because I'm, I'm a considerable old age. No. Well, I don't, I don't really think about that, but other people tell me, I am. No, no, you wear it well, you wear it well. Yeah, earpiece. I know, I know, but I, but I, but I don't know, I can't, I can't imagine somebody talking to you

“while you're talking. But only if you go up, maybe if you, only if you go up, do they then talk about it?”

So the earpiece, I, I've done the earpiece a few times. You have the thing about the earpieces, don't think about it as learning lines. Think about it as a volition in the play, that you want to keep it moving. So you want to keep it moving in a certain way. So this, because when you get to my age and me, you know, you've got your brain isn't working in the same way. It's a little slow. So, but by the way, Sean, I just, I just want to say, I saw your show in London by the way.

Oh, I didn't know that. Thank you. Yeah, I did. I just saw it and you were absolutely brilliant.

That was an amazing show. But there is, I do have a funny story about it and please don't be

offended by the funny story. But anyway, so I'm sitting there and I'm watching this amazing evening. And I stood up and, you know, I got out of my mind. Oh, Christ, because I'm just so extraordinary. Thank you. And the guy I lay around the guy said, she said, that was a wonderful mind. I said, what do you mean? Oh, the guy, the way I'm lying to the piano, I said, that was him for real. You've got to be it. You know, people have said that and it's like, if I were to

“mind it or like, I'd have to imitate it perfectly with all that. So why not just play it?”

By the way, by the way, it would almost be more impressive if it wasn't. That is almost harder than playing it. Was there ever that discussion, Sean, to turn the piano such that the audience, some of the audience could see the keys? Yeah. Well, or I think I could say the other thing that they couldn't, so that because I did, I panicked before we opened, didn't talk like goodnight Oscar. Yeah. And talking before I panicked, I was like,

if something, if I hurt my hand or I can't do it or like, or I get scared and I can't have been playing it too many times, can we just run a tape and I'll just fake it with the keys facing the wave, you know, and the dress is like, you're going to be fine. I'm like, but you don't understand.

No, but you did record it, though. You did have a record it. Yeah, yeah, just okay, so I never

had to use it. Oh, I mean, clearly, your command was just dazzling. I mean, like, thank you. That's right. I said, you know, one of I've been new for the last 60 years. I'll be talking about. Well, and I was, well, and I were crying at the end of it. Jason, I were crying and we crying. Oh, yeah. I was crying too. I mean, it's how beautiful it was and how talented he was and be how talented less we are. Now I'm

prepared. I felt distinctly talented. Did you see Black Rabbit? Did you see Black Rabbit? Did you see Black Rabbit? No, it's okay. I'm pushing for it. Fantastic. And the more it's this thing on with Will Are Not in Lord of the United States, you'll get around to it all. So, wait, Brian, I wanted to talk to you. I wanted to get it before because this is one of my favorite films and in film series

“and I love the character of Ward Abbott from the Bourne movies. I didn't know. I thought, I think”

the people thought I was going to mention playing Hannibal Lecter, which you, again, you are the original Hannibal Lecter in Man Hunter, which I saw in the theaters in the 80s. I fucking love that movie. You were brilliant in that. Really brilliant. And I'm not just saying that, but I'm such a Bourne fan. And I love Ward Abbott. And because there's so many great scenes. You're so great in those movies. But there's a scene where the kid finds out that it's you that's done it and he takes

you down and he says, "I figured it out." And then what they did was they have a light switch and blah blah blah, and you go, "Okay, yeah, you go, "Okay, run it for me again." And he does it again, and then you kill him. Was it a funny experience? I mean, Doug Lyman is probably the most eccentric director you could extraordinary eccentric. But he's got these flashes. I can't remember which film I think

off and it looks as if he was going to kill himself. But he falls onto another actor who goes down

“and that breaks his fall. Do you remember that? Yeah, of course. Doug's idea. That was Doug said,”

"Why don't we do that?" That was in the first one. That was the first one in that stairwell, in that huge stairwell in the middle of the slide. Exactly. Exactly. It was amazing. I just couldn't believe it when I saw it. And I thought, "My God." But it was very brave of a mat to do it. But it worked like a dream and it was wonderful. Yeah, it's such a great series of films. I just had to bring those up because I love them. So, so much. And of course, because I don't want to run

out of time. I know that people, because this is a big area and people are going to be remiss if we didn't mention it and so forgive us for hopefully bringing up succession, which has been so beloved around the world and talking a little, I mean, first of all, how did that come into your orbit? Well, I just got a call one day to say that Jesse Armstrong was thinking about this piece and he would like to talk to me. So, I got on a phone with Adam McKay and he was one of the executive

directors. And I mean, Jesse always wanted me to play the role. And I knew that I thought this

is going to be a hit. I just knew it was really good. Yeah, you know, it's funny to hear you say that because we ask everybody, "Did you know it was going to be hit?" And people like, "You've never never know." But I love that you just said, "I knew." I knew that this was going to be one of the biggest shows of all time. Because the material was so strong? Yeah. And also, just the pot, I thought, wow, this is a great part because it's so, it's a received part. He just comes in at the

right moment. And then you've got this kind of real kind of intellectual kind of bandit that he is, you know, and it was just an extraordinary. But the cast, I mean, the cast was amazing. I mean, and to watch all the actors grow through the whole show and see the lovely Sarah Snoop, you know,

“Roman, you know, I can never remember the names of the actors, but they're also good.”

How did you, like, how did you like the schedule of that? Was it, was it, was it, did it seem just sort of relentless? Or was that since it was an ensemble, the workload was all shared

and never really got gasped? No, no one really, it didn't become heavy in any way. And when

it was a heavy episode, usually you weren't in it, you know, which is what was quite good, you know, like Kendall's birthday party. I wasn't in that episode at all. And no, it was, it was very, it was very relaxed. And such great players like Matthew McFadian, you know, who's just a wonderful actor, you know, we are. And all of them, they were all great, even Jeremy Strong. Yeah, sure, sure. And you were, stop it now, John. They have yourself, please.

I have a reputation, you know, I've got to think about it. Wait, so you find, so you do, so you get this material and you're like, okay, I think this is going to be hit. You like the party is a great part. It's a great, great part. And then you, what you shoot the pilot, do you guys shoot a pilot or do you go straight to series?

“I, you know, that's a very good question. I can't remember. I think we went straight”

out of the character of the pilot, yes. Yeah, yeah, he did. I think we went straight to series. Yeah, we did. I mean, no, I think we did the pilot. And then it was literally like, I don't know, a month. And then we went on dead the series. But we kind of knew we were going to be doing the series. Right, right, right. I think so. I may have got that wrong. Were you living in New York the whole time?

Well, no, I was living in London to stop with. And then I, yeah, I was, oh, I was cross living. Yeah, right, because I live between London and New York. How do you like, how do you, how do you like living in the States versus London? What's, what's, what's the plus in the minus? Oh, God. Where to start? Where to start? Be careful, because we don't want to get stopped at the point. No, no, no, no, no, no. We like the money. I don't want any

ice agents. No, no, no, my hotel door. It's difficult. It's very difficult. I feel very sympathetic towards Americans. I'm, I'm where they're finding themselves in, at this time. Yeah. And it's, in many ways, it's a very exciting time. But it's also in many ways, and it's hugely depressing time. You know, and I find that, I go more to the depressing side than the exciting side. Yeah. And I just find it extraordinary, because I love this kind. When I was a kid, you know,

when I, when I was 15, I, and I, I'm so wanted to be an actor, but, but I realize I wanted to be

an American actor, because I never wanted to be Kenneth Moore or Don't Bogart or any of those English

punishable, Jason. I absolutely punishes. And we will be right back and now back to the show. I understand that too, though, Brian, as a Canadian, I also, at the same, I mean, I'm very proud of being from Canada and I love it. But as a, as a sort of a newer American of almost 20 years,

I always wanted to come here too. I always had that thing like this was a place. This is it's such a

great country, the U.S. It's, and there's so many incredible towns, and there's so much opportunity

“to do so many different things. I think that was it. Do you know what I mean? I'm also the”

history of cinema. I mean, still there's an American invention. You know, you can't deny it. And because my great passion is, in fact, my wife is so pissed off at me, because I spend my days. I've been working really hard. I've done four plays. I did. I played Bach. I've done a play about the financial crisis of 2008, which I played Adam Smith, you know, the history. Do you know who Adam Smith was? No problem. Yeah, because he's a reeducation. Anyway, so, and I did that. I did that.

And, no, it was great. But I realized that I wasn't American, and it was very depressing when I realized what was I going to do? Well, I would say this to us. You had a leg up in British, because our sky is whatever big up. Yeah, no, yeah, but just in terms of where you were going to go with your work. And it was just a very odd feeling. And then I was walking down the hill town of my hometown. And there was a film on called Saturday Night and Sunday Morning.

You probably haven't heard of that film. Sure, I'm sure it's vibrant. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's such a thing. It's Albert Fini. I know. When I saw Albert Fini, I thought I'm saved. If he can do it, I can do it. That guy from so far manages to do it. I can do it. And also Albert and I subsequently

“was better older than me, but we worked together a couple of times. And I remember we did a”

play at the Royal Court. The Royal Court is a very famous theater. Yes. Yeah, yeah, we've heard of it. Anyway, hey, look at these, you can't see audience can't see. I look at these bewildered faces particularly the two on the bottom here. That's just the resting face. They have everything bewildered face. But Albert Fini changed my life. He just realized, I said, I can, I could, that's, that's my path.

Yeah. And of course, it was the time of which was an amazing time in the UK of the beginning of

what they called the Free Cinema. And it was Tony Richardson, Lindsay Anderson, who you didn't know a John Slesinger, who you probably have heard of. And who I put him in the same category, Lindsay Anderson, to be honest. Yeah. But Brian, you know, you have, you have such an incredible,

“you're very funny, you're very charismatic. You remind me of another Scottish, one of my closest friends,”

Patrick Doyle. Do you know this, you know this? Oh, yeah, you can post it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He was Harry Potter, Cinderella. Yeah, he's a great friend of the, the Irishman, what you call, I forgets the thesis, Ken Brown. Oh, yeah, he does a lot of

intense. You remind me of him a lot of just enough. You knew each other, but we've never met,

actually, ironically, we've never met. You know what I want to ask you about? I want to ask you about, you know, Will and I moonlight a little bit with voiceover work sometimes. And I love with the stuff that you do for McDonald's. For McDonald's. And I want to, how did, how did that come your way? Is that something that, that you, that, is that something that you enjoy? I mean, I love it gives you some very handy pocket change. He's love it. It pays for a lot of stuff.

It pays for a lot of stuff. I'm not complaining about how, how often do you find yourself in the booth recording new stuff? Well, it took a while, you know, because I've been here for, I mean, I've been here for nearly 30 years on and off. Yeah. And I, you know, I, I, I, I had a huge voiceover career back in the UK, which I couldn't keep up. And that was before they, they do things down the line, you know, which they didn't do in the early days because they were too expensive.

So I had a great voice career. And when I came here, it stopped. I lost my voice career. And then I had this agent, guy called Steve Arceieri, who I would recommend to anybody. He is a brilliant, brilliant agent. He's in New York. And he, he'd been watching out for me for a few years. And he just came at me at the right point. He said, and it was McDonald's. And that was it. And then I did the Uber Eats, you know, have you seen my Uber Eats come out? I don't know. Yeah. I think I've seen it.

that's, that's very funny. Is that my camera or is that voice? Yeah, it's on camera. It's about,

it's about it. It's about it. I play a sort of belligerent character who's going back to university in order to get Uber Eats because it's free. Yeah, so good. I think it's a series of idiots. Yeah. And we, it won't have any of that in the whole plan. So I've got that as well. I love I'd love you. Well, we do too, but I, and then what kind of want to sort of piggyback on what Jason was saying is because we do as Jason said, we, we, we both have sort of moonlight sometimes and get to do these

voice gigs. But you have such great command of your voice. And, and that was Christian Lincoln later. Was it? There you go. That was Christian Lincoln later. That's when I found out,

“that's why I went to Lambda. And then blow me, but six weeks after I got to Lambda, she left and”

came to America. She taught at Columbia for a long time. Oh, wow. But it's just, it, like, even in something like the McDonald's ads, you bring, you, you understand such a way of bringing, bringing something to the voice in a way that is outside the norm. You know, with, with, with, with no disrespect to anybody who also does voiceovers, I've done it for a long time and there's

so many talented people out there. You mean like me? Because you've never said that to me. I'm just saying

that Jason's never done that. I mean, Jason's, I was like, talk about phoning it in. I mean, he does it on his phone. Well, look at on my phone. It's like leaving a phone and did they say do it at a higher octave? I don't understand. I have one day. It's a great car. There it is. There it is. Just speak it, you know. But do you, and do you sense, I wonder also if you have that thing, which after years of doing voiceovers, where you understand, where you can look at a script. I have

this thing where I can look at copy that they send me and they'll, and I'll go, and I'll go, see the timing to go seven seconds and then I'll go like, yeah, I can probably do that in, I can probably do that in six and a half seconds. Yeah. Do you have that thing? Similar. Similar thing. I mean, the scripts are so good and so tight. I'm, that's the great thing with McDonald's. That's the time you're out already, but they were already timed on it. So I don't

have to worry. All I have to worry about is the performance, you know, just getting the getting well, can you, can you just like say, if you, if you did it took too long, if it took too long, you can't just, when they just take, can you make a chapter? Oh, yeah, but yeah, they, they, they could tell me to hurry up, but I, I like to get out, we have a great expression of Scotland, which is get on and get off, which means get on and get off. And with, with voiceovers, I like to

get on and get off and hang about on them. Because that's the other thing. If you hang about too much,

“they don't, they, their density doesn't, it doesn't support you. And with voiceovers, you have to”

drive them through, you have to do them, you know, and just be abandoned to them rather than sort of, because otherwise, you know, you lose the job because you, you've only go, and I, I find myself getting kind of ordinary with a, where I'll go, and I'll be doing something, they'll say, you'll do a taking, you'll go through and you get a perfect take, it's really good, you go, you'll lay it down and move a lot and they'll go, that's great. And they'll say,

let's get one more first stage down, you go, safety is, it's digital, right?

What are you worried about? A hair in the gate? What are you talking about? We've got it, but if you want me to do it differently, or you have a thought, great, but otherwise, we're good. Yeah, I, I couldn't agree with you more, well, I mean, the, you know, but again, we have direct a problem. Now, Brian, was it, was it a gentle pitch that they made to you when they asked you to do the iconic little, um, jingle at the end there, um, the bottom, the bottom, yeah,

did that, but was that I, like if I had to pitch Brian Cox, hey, listen, we'd like for you to do this,

“I'd be scared shitless to ask you to do that, or was that your idea was it in the copy?”

Oh, no, they, they just wanted me to do it and I did it, you know, I was so good. It's funny. If I know Jason, Jason would be like, you know what, that's a different pay rate. Yeah, if you want me to be the bomb thing, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll call you back, I'm not going to shut up, but what about, I auditioned for the voice of AFLAC for that duck, that goes AFLAC, right? Yeah, yeah. Right. And it was between me and Gilbert Godford, you've got it.

And I go, I remember the audition I go in there and the, I had no idea what it was for, and through the glass, you know, I had my headphones on. And they were just reading the copy there, and I'm like, AFLAC, like I don't understand. And they're like, it's all it says, I'm like, that's all it says. Like, yeah, just do it, and I'm like, you look like a goose, like a goose, and I'm like, AFLAC. I don't understand what you want me to do. And then, and they're like,

great things. And I'm like, well, I didn't know that I was supposed to sound like an actual animal. Do you feel like you're lack of intellectuals held you back another day?

I love it. I love the discipline, you know, I love the discipline of the voice of, you know,

and it's just a great thing to practice your craft, you know. I agree. And I like that it's a tight space. I like that you only have a finite amount of space to in order to get this point across. Often, it's not a lot of time. And there's something about that that I find really GMC here. Are you talking about professional grade, professional grade, GMC? We are professional grade. But well, you're, you're blessed with a very fine voice. I mean, your voice is very,

I remember when I saw you in that wonderful film, I just went, literally, did with Brad. I mean, I thought your voice is very strong. It's a very, very good voice.

“I think that's a compliment coming from you, so I appreciate it. Thank you very much.”

You have got great clarity. And that was one, what was so wonderful about that part, you were playing because he was, you know, he was on the run. But the clarity was so strong, and I, I was very, very nervous. If he ever wins in a word, he's the first person he's going to think is cigarettes. Yeah.

They're the only ones who have never let me down, John. They've never, they've never let me down.

They've never not returned to call. They've, you know, they've always been there for us. So, Brad, you've done, it's so funny. You go back and you've done theater. You've won a live-a awards. You won baffed us in Emmys and Golden Globes and all that in film and television. Now you've directed your film. It is one of these, you know, we ask people all the time, like, what is the thing that you'd like to do? You've seemingly done, again, at risk of embarrassing

you, it all. So, what, what, what gets you up in the morning of like, now that you've directed this film, what's the next thing that kind of, you're excited to get out of bed to do sort of career next job? Okay, John. The next thing you don't, or do you have anything left that you're curious to see if you can handle? Yeah. It only comes when it comes, you know, I can't, you know, you can't do over-contemplational. What if I, what do I do, how, you know,

just do it? But like, you guys were talking about a one-man show. Like, I literally turned down one a couple of months ago, because I just didn't think that's something that I could

“really enjoy doing. No, because you're not a one-man. You're not a full man. That's what. That's,”

if they said a half-man, they said a half-man show. Half-man show. You could do, you could do a half-man show, for sure. Well, like, I gotta, I gotta, I gotta get some theater under my belt before I take something like that on you. I don't know, I'm dying to do that. But like, there are things that I am really enjoying. I would, I would love to challenge myself. That's one of them. I can't imagine there's a whole lot left on your list to challenge yourself with this. I don't even see as a

challenge. I just see as the work. Yeah, yeah, yeah, the work. It's part of the job. And Jason, you're a very fine actor. I mean, you know, you know, you are, you are. I mean, you've done the, the Ozaks, the work you've done. I think sometimes you don't trust yourself, nearly enough Jason. Wow. That's it. I think that's it. I like this. Keep going, Brian. That's your problem. I think you really, you're, you're very contained. And your contained in the way it says,

if I move too fast, I'll fall over. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh, I don't know. And I think that that's, you're just, let yourself go. You'd like to see me cut it loose. You'd

“sound like my wife. Yeah. You're so talented. And you should trust your talent more than you do.”

Well, he did, he did a very fine performance in the, in this program, the black rabbit. Then he's brilliant and brilliant, brilliant and brilliant. And he is much more, he's a wonderful actor. He's a wonderful actor. I've, I've had the misfortune, the, sorry, fortune of working

with him many times. But I will say, Jason has, and I always say this to Jason too. And this is the

great thing. He is so funny. Sean, you're a test. He's the funniest person he's got his time. His timing is absolutely impeccable that you cannot teach. And I, and I said, you Jason all the time, I wish you do get back and do a couple straight comedies. You're so fucking good at comedy. Well, they're still made to do it. But you're denying us a comedy. Why are you denying us? They just don't make it anymore. We have. Well, they make a show. Do his eight episode comedy show.

Yeah. I love to. If they made those, they do. But you, you said that you wanted to do some more theater, is that right? Yeah. Yeah. I'd love to do that. And I would love to do some more sort of acting. I just haven't, I just haven't felt like, I don't know. It's a whole different subject about, I've enjoyed playing characters that aren't that charactery for lack of a better

man and the talent in doing less. But now starting to think, I might want to take on some other

“characters and sort of do bigger broader as things swings. I think you, I think you can, I think”

you've earned the right to risk it. Yes. Yes. No, I just, it's not a question of risk or trusting talent. It's, it's just a question of not, I haven't, the roles that I've been attracted to, I would be overplaying them if I, if I did, if I, if I ran instead of walked. Good. I mean, I can't see you overplaying anything. I could be honest with you. Thank you. Yeah, because your taste is exquisite. Well, you are. Oh, you guys have got that. You know, and that is what is so good about

you. So trust yourself a bit more than you do. Maybe we should have a private session. Yeah. I would fuck, I'd pay handsomely just to feel don't witness it and be a part of it. I love a session with Brian and Jason. Oh, my God. Sean, how fun would that work? Halfway there. I don't care if you're out. Jason, this is what you need. You need a mentor. You didn't even fucking know it. Yeah. Brian, you have, you've mentored us all with your talent for so many years.

We are so grateful for you coming on here. We're so, we wish you just continued success and and in a lot of success with Glenn Roth and your film that you've directed, congratulations. I can't wait to see it. Brian Cox, you are an absolute legend in Nikon and thank you for being part of our show today. Well, this was Anab. I mean, this is Anona to be honest with you to talk to you three guys. So I'm incredibly talented. It's Anona. It's been Anona. So thank you, darling.

There we go. Thank you, Brian. Thank you, buddy. Thanks, Brian. Thank you, Brian. The great

Brian Cox. See you, buddy. Amazing. Have a good night. Take care. Bye, bye. Bye.

Wait, you know what? First of all, he's absolute delight. Like I had no idea. He was so funny and like, so fun. He's so fun. He's so fun. He's so fun. He's so fun. He's so fun. You know, like, like, and breezy. I had the opportunity. I said this to Brian. He came to a screening of our film a few months ago and I got to, I got to talk to him afterwards and he went out like 30 years ago. He was friends with somebody I knew. And I was out here. He was one of my first times in California.

He said, we're going to go buy Brian Cox's renting house in the Hollywood Hills. And we're going to go watch the Oscars at his house. He's house. He's renting. So I went up. It was like, one of my first time ever like doing that thing, you know, you've come from not here and you go up into the Hollywood Hills to a house. And you're like, my God, look at the lights and everything. And then you go in and here's this guy who's this working actor, a claimed working actor,

and going to his house. And I was about, you know, 25 and going into his house and just and just being and he was, you know, just sort of blown away, not knowing what to say and, you know, and all you want to do is get a job. And he was so kind and so gracious. I was just some stupid ask kid. I'm not much different now. But he was, I'm some stupid ask kid. And he was so welcoming and generous and and and and and maybe feel and I was like, what a fucking great. Yeah, you can tell. Yeah,

“why don't you tell why do you, you should have told them that story. Because I didn't want to cry.”

Well, yeah. Okay. Or have him say no recollection. Yeah, I don't turn the tables on us. Did I? No, it doesn't sound like me. It doesn't sound like me. Well, you need to do, what about you doing theater, too? I think Jason would be fucking brilliant in a play. And so I don't know if I have the character for it. Or the voice. Or the voice. Then you've got to reach back row with your pipes. Yeah, you got to reach the Italian guy in the back.

You know, you always want to like, oh, whatever you do, do not take the lesson,

and then go across out and then cross by like a kneel-side and play. Well, he was delightful. I love that. He used the delight. He really, really was. What a great great actor. What a great career. My God. I know. Sound like he's going to slow down at all. No, wait for the next gig. Yeah. I love that he's doing like radio plays and it's just, oh God, he loves does kind of does it all. Good job, Sean. Sean is just making us hang here, making us laugh with a buy. You know, Sean is coming.

I got one. I got one that may or may not have just popped up. Oh. Yeah. Oh, no.

“Oh, you know, we shut up. I have one. We're doing a story. I have one. Oh, what yours? What yours?”

Well, you know, it was great. And what a great simple name to remember. You know, if you can't remember his name,

you can always recall. Oh, yeah. What's this? What's his name? I don't get that.

I still don't get it. Ben, it's in it's all of us. It's a buy-in.

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