Brian Cox Blames Daniel Day-Lewis For The Method Acting Style He Loathes

Marta Balaga “Succession” star Brian Cox gushed about wife Nicole Ansari-Cox at Series Mania, after she expressed solidarity with women of Iran at the fest’s opening, demonstrating the slogan “Woman, Life, Freedom” to the photographers.   “My wife is half Iranian and she was one of the first people to cut her hair as part of the protest. We are living in such a difficult, dangerous time, particularly for women. In Afghanistan, in Iran. It’s unacceptable. I am very proud of my wife: She is a very strong woman with very strong opinions, and she taught me so much,” Cox told Variety during a roundtable interview.  

Marta Balaga French TV festival Series Mania started out playfully with a slew of humorous digs directed at its starry guests during the opening ceremony, including Brian Cox, back in town to hold a masterclass and introduce the latest episode of his smash hit “Succession.” “I didn’t have time to watch Season 3. I have to see my children grow up, Brian!,” exclaimed host Daphné Bürki, before introducing this year’s opening show “Greek Salad” by Cédric Klapisch: “A prequel to ‘Norwegian Omelette,’ always starring Romain Duris,” Bürki joked. Series Mania general director Laurence Herszberg joined in on the fun, giving a shoutout to “Emily in Paris’s” Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu, attending with co-star Arnaud Binard: “She became a symbol of a Parisian woman. I hope there isn’t too much weight on your shoulders, Philippine!”

Actor Brian Cox said he thinks Meghan Markle "knew what she was getting into" with the royal family and that her "ambition" of marrying "Prince Charming" factored into her choices.  "When you look at what’s happening with Meghan and Harry, you go, ‘Well, Harry, there’s an innocence about.’ And with her, too. But you can’t go into a system where somebody’s already been trained to behave in a certain kind of way and then just expect them to cut themselves off," the "Succession" star, who plays the patriarch of a billionaire family, told Haute Living in an interview published Thursday. Cox argued Meghan "knew what she was getting into, and there’s an ambition there clearly as well — the childhood dreams of marrying Prince Charming and all that s--- we see as fantasy that could be our lives in our dreams.

Kate Aurthur editor Last month, when “Succession” creator Jesse Armstrong announced that the fourth season of the Emmy-winning HBO drama would be its last, the internet howled in despair. But Brian Cox — who’s played the ferocious mogul Logan Roy since the show’s 2018 premiere — applauds Armstrong’s decision. “He’s very disciplined in that way, and also he’s very British in that way,” says Cox, who is Scottish, and in conversation seems to mention birthplace to explain behavior. “The American inclination is to milk it for all it’s worth.” Not that Cox, 76, won’t feel the loss. “I’ll miss the cast, I’ll miss the atmosphere, I’ll miss the bonhomie,” he says, ticking off reasons during a recent Zoom interview from London. And Logan? “Logan, probably, I’ll miss a bit. But upward and onwards.”

Brian Cox is sharing his thoughts on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

Richard Rankin has been cast in the lead role in the new on-screen adaptation of Sir Ian Rankin's Inspector Rebus novels.

Brian Cox has weighed in on the royal row as he claims Meghan Markle 'knew what she was getting into' when she married Prince Harry.

Offering his opinion. Brian Cox questioned whether Meghan Markle and Prince Harry can truly feel surprised by their ongoing issues with the royal family.

EXCLUSIVE: Nine years after joining UTA as a partner and talent agent, Brian Swardstrom is leaving to form new ventures. That will include producing several projects with his husband, Oscar-winning producer Peter Spears, whose credits include Nomadland, Bones and All, and Call Me by Your Name.

Brian Cox has some thoughts on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

Julia MacCary editor Megan Thee Stallion, Bradley Cooper and Yvette Nicole Brown are among the list of celebrities partnering with Caring Across Generations to elevate portrayals of caregiving across film and TV with the Creative Care Council. Brandee Evans, Yves Mathieu East, Richard Lui, Seth Rogan and Lauren Miller Rogen are also taking part in the movement, which is working to change how society values and supports caregiving. The council plans to provide recommendations and feedback on how to raise awareness and strengthen relationships with like-minded partners. “At some point in your life you will either be the person receiving care, or the person facilitating care,” East said. “Caregiving is more common than we know. We shouldn’t play the waiting game when we can take charge now.” 

EXCLUSIVE: Douglas Smith (Big Little Lies), Mark O’Brien (Arrival), Rebecca Liddiard (Alias Grace) and Vinessa Antoine (Diggstown,) have been cast opposite Amanda Seyfried (The Dropout) in Seven Veils, the new feature from filmmaker Atom Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter).

Daniel D'Addario Chief TV Critic The story of Kim Philby is perhaps too good to make up. The British spy, a double agent for Moscow, operated at the highest levels of the intelligence community; his ability to disseminate information to the Soviet Union, to which he eventually defected, is proof, perhaps, of the power of personal charm and erudition to cover over what’s lying in plain sight. That’s the powerfully told story of “A Spy Among Friends,” which streamed on ITVX in the United Kingdom last year and which now arrives on nascent streamer MGM+. Guy Pearce plays Philby, who has at the series’ outset been a valued Soviet source for many years; likely his closest friend in tradecraft, Nicholas Elliott (Damian Lewis), must get a confession from him. We see the pair’s relationship over time in layered flashbacks, adding context and understanding to Elliott’s failure to nail down Philby.

“65” has arrived.The new sci-fi thriller stars Adam Driver as a space traveler who crash lands on a foreign planet after his ship is struck by asteroids. Except that this isn’t an alien planet, it’s earth 65 million years ago. And he’s not dealing with marauding alien creatures; he’s battling dinosaurs.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Nominations for the 2023 CMT Music Awards are led by country’s woman of the moment, Lainey Wilson, with four, followed by three apiece for Cody Johnson, newcomer Jelly Roll and the show’s recurring co-host, Kane Brown. For the second year in a row, the three-hour telecast will be getting its premiere network airing on CMT’s big sister network, CBS — along with a livestream on Paramount+ — and for the first time, it will be based out of Austin. The show goes out live from the Moody Center April 2 at 8 p.m. ET on the broadcast network and airs tape-delayed in the same time slot on the west coast. Several days after the broadcast and streaming premiere, the show will appear on its titular network, CMT, as an “extended cut” with 30 minutes of additional material, bringing the running time there to three and a half hours. That expanded edition bows on CMT April 6 at 8 ET/PT.

CMT Music Awards will have plenty of familiar faces — and a whole lot of new ones. Lainey Wilson leads the charge with four noms, including Performance of the Year and Female Video of the Year. Tied with three nominees apiece are first-time nominee Jelly Roll, Cody Johnson, and CMT Music Awards co-host Kane Brown.Across all categories, CMT is recognizing 21 first-time nominees.Meanwhile, the first round of nominations for the highly coveted Video of the Year award has 16 acts, including another nod for Carrie Underwood, who reigns as the most awarded artist in CMT history with a total of 25 wins.

Dressed to kill … literally! The cast of Scream 6 attended the film’s red carpet premiere in style. 

Joe Otterson TV Reporter HBO Max’s “The Batman” spinoff series “The Penguin” has cast Clancy Brown in a recurring role, Variety has learned. Brown joins a cast that includes series lead Colin Farrell, who will reprise the role of Oswald “The Penguin” Cobblepot from “The Batman, as well as Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz, Michael Kelly, Shohreh Aghdashloo, and Deirdre O’Connell. Brown will appear as Salvatore Maroni, a notorious Gotham City crime boss. The character was referenced repeatedly in “The Batman,” as his arrest by corrupt Gotham officials and the collapse of his criminal empire allowed for Carmine Falcone’s organization to rise. Maroni has previously been portrayed onscreen by actors like David Zayas in “Gotham” at Fox and by Eric Roberts in “The Dark Knight.”

Hit American TV series Succession will return for its fourth and final season later this month that promises to be an explosive ending.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor ID PR vice president Alla Plotkin has left the company. Plotkin, whose clients have included Bette Midler, Sarah Paulson, Holland Taylor, Jake Gyllenhaal, Nicholas Braun, Michelle Williams, Titus Burgess and Jessica Williams, has not announced her next move. She had been with ID for almost 16 years. At the same time, ID PR announced that 20-year company veteran Rebecca Sides Capellan has been promoted to senior vice president. Her client list includes Lupita Nyong’o, Rachel Weisz, Natasha Lyonne, Lena Dunham, Cynthia Nixon and Broadway producer and theater owner Jordan Roth.