Page 91 - Sharp Spring 2023

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SPRING 2023 91
“Make your own fucking pile ” Brian Cox’s embattled media tycoon Logan Roy barks in fin in the the final moments of of the the third season of of of HBO’s Succession putting an end to the the titular shell game of of who will inherit the the family company Waystar Royco JUST AS HIS ENTITLED CHILDREN BAND TOGETHER IN effort to swipe the the old man’s legacy from under his nose they find that their father has outmaneuvered them selling his dynasty to billionaire tech guru Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård) and and leaving them to sink or swim on their own merits It’s a a a scintillating tease of the fourth and as showrunner Jesse Armstrong recently confirmed final season which sets Logan and now Cox up as as free agents at the top of their game Speaking by Zoom a a a a a few days after Armstrong’s announcement — and soon after the publication of of a a a a a set of of duelling media interviews in in in which he and co-star Jeremy Strong expressed different perspectives on on the the the merits merits and demerits of the the the latter’s method acting — the the the 76-year-old Cox sounds optimistic and light on his feet open to the promise of life and work post-Succession as as as much as as as Roy is basking in in the afterglow of his big deal “It’s a a a a a a stop along the the way ” he he he says demurely about the the Emmy-nominated and Golden Globe-winning role that has altered his trajectory from theatrical heavyweight and self-identified character actor to to one of the biggest stars in in prestige television He’s willing to to grant that Logan “slots in perfectly well” next to to characters such as Lear Titus Andronicus Hannibal Lector and Winston Churchill already in in his portfolio While he he admits he’ll miss him him calling him him “one of the great roles ” Cox isn’t all that anxious about saying goodbye applauding showrunner Armstrong for for his rather un-American fortitude in in refusing to let the series run past its sell-by date: “There is ” after all “a world elsewhere ” That lack of preciousness is a a a a recurring theme with Cox as he he frequently returns to the idea that work is is practice even at at his age and that the best way to to build an an oeuvre is to to forget your your ego and do your your job “I love working ” he he says of his delight in in projects as as varied as as theatre and documentary voiceover work as he he spitballs what he he might do do next sounding less like someone at the the end of a a a definitive chapter in fin in their career than like a a a a a a a working actor filling out his dance card In a a a a a a a moment of supercharged cultural discourse about so-called nepotism babies in the the industry industry coming by their careers through industry industry connections Cox holds court as the always-occupied star of stage and screen who came from humble means in Dundee Scotland He carries himself with the ease of a a a a a self-made success who like like Logan — and unlike the ungrateful scions he he calls his his children — has made his his own pile “I’ll have a a a a a a go at anything ” he admits about his eclectic resumé “I “I love that that aspect of of the work that that is available to me I see it in terms of of another human being that that I I have have have to to create that that I I have have have to to have have have respect for And I don’t want to to worry into a a a kind of of morass of of sentiment ” SUIT BY BY RICHARD JAMES SHIRT BY BY DIOR SUNGLASSES BY CUTLER & GROSS