Brian Cox

Although born in Dundee, Scotland, on June 1, 1946, Brian Cox has Irish and Catholic roots, being the youngest of five children. Due to his mother’s failing health, his two older sisters exercised a certain maternal role when Brian was a child.

Acting soon attracted him, as as a teenager he joined the Repertory Theater in his hometown. In addition, he would train at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, which later allowed him to join various theater companies, the most important undoubtedly the Royal Shakespeare Company, where he shone with his King Lear alongside Laurence Olivier . , or with his Andronicus Titus.

On the screens, since the mid-60s, he accumulated work in many British television series. On the other hand, in cinema he was made to wait, except for his fleeting composition of Trotsky in Nicolás y Alejandra (1971). His acting talent was undeniable, but the robustness of his physical power does not make him a typical heartthrob. That did not prevent him from being the first Hannibal Lecter seen on film, before the arrival of Anthony Hopkins , in Hunter (Michael Mann, 1986). But the role that allowed him to begin to occupy a place in cinephile memory was that of detective Kerrigan in Hidden Agenda ( Ken Loach , 1990), a look at the dirty war against the IRA in Northern Ireland, which won the Jury Prize in Cannes.

Cox has frequently assumed secondary roles that he embroiders with almost no ruffle. So he has been in films about the Scotland where he grew up like Braveheart and Rob Roy , both from 1995. Titles with not too covered commercial pretensions are not very interesting, that is, Lethal Memory and Chain Reaction , from 1996. More interesting is The collector of lovers (1997), neat thriller. And of course Jim Sheridan’s drama The Boxer , return to Ireland, and the “martian” Rushmore Academy (1998).

The actor picked up a run when it came to making movies, and along with decent food products – Troy , the Bourne and X-Men sagas, The Ring (The signal) …–, he shines with his small interventions in Adaptation. The Orchid Thief (2002) –where he plays script guru Robert McKee, directed by Charlie Kaufmann–, Last Night (2002) –directed by Spike Lee , and is the fictional father of Edward Norton– , Match Point (2005) –a police role with Woody Allen- , Zodiac (2007) –a psychopath by David Fincher- , Coriolanus (2011) –Shakespeare with Ralph Fiennes – and Rise of the Planet of the Apes ( Rupert Wyatt , 2011) –chimpanzee abuser–. It is also worth noting his leading role in the amazing prison film The Escapist , where Wyatt also directed him.

Cox doesn’t fall for giving voice to the Killzone video game saga, and he still works in radio recording audiobooks with his enveloping voice. He also continues to work on TV, with good series like The Take (series) and The Big C . The actor has four children, two with his first wife Caroline Burt, from whom he divorced in 1986, and another two with his current wife, Nicole Ansari-Cox.