Brian Cox‘s hatred of Method acting has gone so viral in recent weeks that he parodied himself during a recent visit to “The Tonight Show” to promote the upcoming fourth and final season of HBO’s “Succession.” Host Jimmy Fallon asked Cox about all the media attention surrounding his hatred of Method acting, to which the actor responded, “Well you know, Jimmy, I’ve been a little harsh.”
“I’ve been a little harsh on it,” Cox continued. “I’m sorry about that… in fact, I’ve been trying to set the record straight in a MasterClass series of acting that I’ve been doing. Well actually, I brought a clip. I think this more eloquently explains my feelings about acting. Can we show it?”
Fallon threw to a clip of Brian Cox in a fake MasterClass video.
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“Hi, I’m Brian Cox and this is my MasterClass on the craft of acting,” the actor said. “Tip #1: Just fucking do it! Act! Say the fucking lines and don’t bump into the fucking furniture.”
So much for being a little harsh on Method acting. Cox has become one of the Method’s most vocal detractors, routinely speaking out in interviews against his “Succession” co-star Jeremy Strong’s intense acting process.
“It’s really a cultural clash,” Cox recently told PvNew about Method acting. “I don’t put up with all that American shit. I’m sorry. All that sort of ‘I think, therefore I feel.’ Just do the job. Don’tidentify.”
In a “Town & Country” magazine cover story published in February, Cox was asked about Strong’s Method acting and responded: “Oh, it’s fucking annoying. Don’t get me going on it.”
“He’s a very good actor,” Cox added. “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. Go back to your trailer and have a hit of marijuana, you know?”
In an odd bit of timing, Cox’s“Town & Country” interviewpublished on the same day that Strong appeared on the cover ofGQ magazineand directly addressed Cox’s criticisms. Strong said he’s never spoken directly with Cox or any of his other “Succession” co-stars about the buzz his Method acting creates.
“Everyone’s entitled to have their feelings,” Strong said. “I also think Brian Cox, for example, he’s earned the right to say whatever the fuck he wants. There was no need to address that or do damage control… I feel a lot of love for my siblings and my father on the show. And it is like a family in the sense that — and I’m sure they would say this, too — you don’t always like the people that you love. I do always respect them.”
“Succession” returns for its fifth and final season on March 26.
