It can’t be fun for an actor to be such a vital part of a hit television show that’s generating all the awards buzz and then be killed off. Yet, that’s what happened to Brian Cox in this third and final season of the HBO comedy drama Succession. While this was an inevitable part of the show (the series title refers to the fact that one of Cox’s character’s kids will succeed him as the head of a multi-billion dollar company), the veteran Brit actor hasn’t been quiet about his disappointment at missing out on the culmination of the series, leading to some online fans deciding he needs to stop complaining about it all.
In an interview with the BBC, Cox said of head writer Jesse Armstrong’s decision to kill off his character Logan Roy:
“He [Armstrong] decided to make Logan die, I think ultimately too early. I mean, he’d made him die in the third episode. And it was a great scene. That’s why I didn’t watch it, because I have no interest in watching. My own death will come soon enough. But I just thought, ‘wow’, you know, he did it brilliantly. It was a brilliant scene, the whole act.”
He then added:
“It was an odd feeling. I looked on it, wrongly, as a form of rejection. I was fine with it ultimately, but I did feel a little bit rejected. I felt a little bit, ‘oh, all the work I’ve done. And finally I’m going to end up as a New Yorker on a carpet of a plane’.”
When he was asked about whether he’d considered pushing back on Armstrong about the death, he was also pretty clear: “No, I didn’t. There’s no point going down that road, especially with somebody like Jesse, because he’s already made a plan.” In the interview, Cox also said that some viewers had told him they’d gone off the show after his death:
“They said, ‘no, I’m not going to watch anymore. You’ve gone, I’m not watching.’ Which I think is unfortunate and unnecessary because the show is about the succession. So you need to see what’s happening in the wake of his demise. But, you know, I’m not the writer.”
Like many celebrity comments, when taken in their context these are relatively mild-mannered opinions. Yet, that hasn’t stopped fans of the show moaning about Cox not being a team player, especially as the final episode is on the verge of being aired.
This isn’t the first time fans of the show have called out Cox for not pulling in the same direction as the other actors. He’s been targeted by the fandom before for criticizing his Succession co-star Jeremy Strong, who himself is notoriously difficult to work with thanks to his method acting technique. In an interview with Town and Country, Cox famously said of Strong’s method:
“Oh, it’s fucking annoying. Don’t get me going on it. He’s a very good actor, and the rest of the ensemble is all okay with this. But knowing a character and what the character does is only part of the skill set. He’s still that guy, because he feels if he went somewhere else he’d lose it. But he won’t! Strong is talented. He’s fucking gifted. When you’ve got the gift, celebrate the gift.”
So, again, not quite as bad as many fans make out, but still not a glowing compliment.
Of course, the ironic thing is that, on a show about distinctly unlikable characters, Cox has been namechecked as the most like the person he portrays. And given his most recent comments, the notion of him being a slightly grouchy old man with no time for new-fangled acting techniques seems like it really is his personality. His castmate, Kieran Culkin, was said to keep snacks on hand for when his on-screen dad became “hangry,” which also says a lot about the man who played Logan, and perhaps shows those in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.
Also, not all the fans are turning against the actor who plays Logan, with many pointing out he’s not just entitled to his opinions, but has more of a grasp on the world of Succession than fans.
For now, the hit HBO series is set to come to an end, and though Cox obviously won’t appear in the final episode, his shadow will loom over it menacingly.
