Succession star Brian Cox blasts notion actors should avoid certain roles as ‘absolute b******s’

Succession star Brian Cox has blasted claims that actors should avoid playing roles they have no real-life experience of.

Speaking after the much-publicised death of his media tycoon character Logan Roy in the final season of Succession, the star was asked about the notion that ‘only actors who have had certain experiences should play certain roles’.

Interrupting presenter Amol Rajan on his BBC Two show, which was trailed on Radio 4’s Today Programme this morning, he said the claims are ‘b******s, absolute b******s’.

His furious response, which was not bleeped out for radio listeners, comes after actress Helen Mirren, who is not Jewish, was criticised for portraying former Israeli prime minister Golda Meir.

Mr Cox said on Amol Rajan Interviews: ”B******s! Absolute bollocks. Because it’s the imagination. 

‘It’s again, what I talked about earlier on, about interfering with the imagination.’ 

Responding, Rajan said: ‘It kicked off a bit maybe a couple of years ago now when Helen Mirren played Golda Meir, the great Israeli leader, and people said, “well Helen Mirren is not Jewish and therefore she can’t play a Jewish leader”.

‘And your argument is that actually the point of acting is that sometimes you’ve got to be something that you’re not, right?’

Cox added: ‘Exactly, we can inhabit roles.’

Dame Helen was drawn into a row in 2021 after her casting as the iconic Israeli politician in biopic Golda. 

Her fellow star Dame Maureen Lipman was among the critical voices, saying she disagreed with the casting because ‘the Jewishness of [Meir’s] character is so integral to the role’.

There has also been a fierce debate about whether or not straight actors should portray gay characters.

Earlier this year, Poldark star Jack Farthing waded in to the furore, saying he does not believe a performer’s sexuality should have to ‘match’ their character’s. 

His comments came after Kingsman star Taron Egerton said that restricting actors to playing characters who align with their own sexuality is ‘a precedent not worth setting’.

Cox also spoke out against the push to introduce diversity quotas in films, saying: ‘I think we have to be free of all that. 

‘I think we have to be diverse but that’s a different problem. 

‘But I don’t think we have to say, “oh we have to gear it in that way”, because we are not telling the truth. We have to tell the truth.’

Opening up on the unexpected death of his character Logan Roy in the third episode of the final season of Succession, which is yet to conclude, he said: ‘He [writer Jesse Armstrong] decided to make Logan die, I think ultimately too early’

Dame Helen Mirren was drawn into a ‘Jew face’ row in 2021 after her casting as the iconic Israeli politician in biopic Golda. Above: Dame Helen in character as Meir

Cox also spoke out against the push to introduce diversity quotas in films, saying: ‘I think we have to be free of all that’

Opening up on the unexpected death of his character Logan Roy in the third episode of the final season of Succession, which is yet to conclude, he said: ‘He [writer Jesse Armstrong] decided to make Logan die, I think ultimately too early. 

‘He made him die in the third episode and it was a great scene. I didn’t watch it, because I’ve no interest in watching my own death, that will come soon enough… I just thought he did it brilliantly.’

He added that he initially looked on his departure from the series as ‘a form of rejection’.  

‘I was fine with it ultimately, but I did feel a little bit rejected. I felt a little bit “ah, all the work I’ve done and finally I’m going to end up as an ear on a carpet of a plane”.’