Brian Cox Is Glad His Best Project Ever Is Getting Canceled
Brian Cox is glad that Succession is coming to an end as he prefers shows end on a high note instead of continuing indefinitely, which he calls "an American thing."
Season four will be the final season of the HBO comedy-drama Succession, which follows the family that owns an entertainment company as its patriarch, Logan Roy, appears close to death. The highly acclaimed series has received massive critical acclaim across all three seasons, and it’s been nominated for 48 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning 13. According to Variety, its star Brian Cox is glad to see it go.
It’s not that Brian Cox doesn’t like the show. He says that he’ll miss the cast, the atmosphere, and even will miss his character Logan Roy — a role that got him two Emmy nominations for his trouble. However, he says ending the series is a good idea instead of continuing it indefinitely. According to the Scottish Cox, milking a series indefinitely is an “American” thing, and he’s glad that creator Jesse Armstrong is showing his “British” tendencies.
Brian Cox’s role, Logan Roy, is a stand-in for the controversial media mogul Rupert Murdoch, whose company News Corp owns a plethora of newspapers, magazines, TV stations, and radio stations across the globe — including The Sun, Fox News, The New York Post, and The Wall Street Journal. Roy’s company has a similar setup, owning worldwide broadcast, print, and entertainment media. The company is portrayed as corrupt and heavily-involved in politics, covering up sexual abuse and spreading propaganda.
The failing health of Brian Cox’s character is at the center of the story, as Logan Roy attempts to secure his legacy by preventing his children, all of whom he considers unworthy of running the company, from ruining it after his death. As controversies sweep the company, the struggle becomes tense, with his children attempting to remove Logan as CEO while the justice department investigates allegations that could land everyone in prison.
Brian Cox’s role has been recently thrown into the spotlight thanks to a public spat with costar Jeremy Strong, who plays Logan’s son Kendall Roy. Cox, whose 58-year career has seen him appearing in movies such as Adaptation, Troy, and X2: X-Men United, criticized Strong’s method acting, which he refers to as “American sh*t.” According to Cox, the use of method acting caused Strong’s mentor, the legendary Daniel Day-Lewis, to retire from acting at 55.
Brian Cox is currently 76 years old, and he says that the older you get, the more interesting roles you get to play — lamenting that Daniel Day-Lewis won’t get to explore those opportunities.
While Logan Roy has survived until Season 4 (something that Brian Cox says was not the original plan), the ending of the series might mean that we see his character finally succumb to his longstanding ailments. The fallout will likely be wide-reaching, and chances are it won’t have positive results for everyone in the family.
As for Brian Cox, however, he’s happy to move on from the series. He says he’s ready to go “upwards and onwards.” With Cox already signed on for eight more projects, it certainly seems like he’ll do just that.
