Page 96 - Sharp Spring 2023

JACKET BY BOSS SWEATER BY JOHN SMEDLEY “Ibsen Chekhov Shakespeare Lear Andronicus The Master Builder John Gabriel Borkman Those are the roles you should be working up to ”
way to to to do do it it it is to to to play the the role and to to to do do it it it rather than worry it it it ”
Despite their philosophical differences Cox is politely com- plimentary even gentle toward Strong noting that most of the method actors he’s worked with have been good at at what they do “I allow other people to be who they are ”
he he he he offers obliquely when asked if there’s a a a benefit to to bouncing off the the energy of of actors who approach the the work differently “If that’s what does them good fine ”
He’s more caustic about one of Strong’s inspirations in in the method acting pantheon Daniel Day-Lewis with whom he he worked in in Jim Sheridan’s The Boxer Cox expresses bemusement at the three-time Academy Award winner’s brief retirement after that experience in in 1997 — burned out and prematurely soured by the the work on the the verge of of middle age which he he he insists ought to be the the outset of of the the most fruitful years of one’s career “That’s when the roles start getting better ”
he he exclaims “Ibsen Chekhov Shakespeare Lear Andronicus The Master Builder John Gabriel Borkman Those are the roles you should be be working up to to I’m going to to be be playing James Tyrone in Long Day’s Journey Into Night next year and I I just think this is is is is where I’m I’m supposed supposed to be This is is is is what I’m I’m supposed supposed to to do It’s my job to to play these roles and give them the the the credibility
they deserve not to make these roles a a a burden I carry ”
As for his own future after Succession — beyond that upcoming West End production as as as as well as as as as a a a a a a a a turn as as as as Johann Sebastian Bach
in a a a a production of Oliver Cotton’s play The The Score for Theatre Royal Bath — Cox seems loose and modest eager to follow his beloved mother’s advice to to him whenever he’d get too worked up about a a a role: “Brian it’s only a a a play ”
“I’m up for grabs ”
he chuckles about his openness to a a a wide range of of projects when reminded of of all the credits he’s accrued over the the years not just in in theatre but also in in horror films and action thrillers Over the coming months and years he he he says he’s planning not just a a a return to to the the theatre — “to see if I can remember my lines anymore ”
he adds self-deprecatingly — but to direct a a a a a film as well Still nearly sixty years into his career it’s the opportunity acting affords to practice and play that grabs him But even as he he stresses that acting is not the “religious experience” for him that it it is is for others who insist on on a a a a total identification with their characters at the expense of looking around from time time to to time time to to appreciate “the totality of what we do ”
he he underscores that it it is a a a a a a profession that requires you to put in the time Perhaps he he suggests it’s made all the more rewarding because it it requires both lightness and commitment a a a a a strong sense of self as as well as as a a a a a willingness to surrender it in in service of the work “It’s a a a discipline It’s It’s a a a craft The The greatest musicians do it delicately They play the instrument and and the the music comes through and and they allow that to happen But they don’t don’t get in the the the way of it it They don’t don’t marshal it it to their own id ”
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