Succession star Brian Cox warns film industry in 'a very bad way' and 'beginning to implode'

One of Scotland's biggest screen stars has warned the film industry is "in a very bad way" and is "beginning to implode”.

Actor Brian Cox, unveiled as a new patron of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe earlier this, was a surprise guest at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. Picture: Press Association | Press Association

Brian Cox, who is about to direct his first movie, suggested television had now overtaken the film industry, as he claimed the latter had become dominated by superhero blockbusters.

Speaking during a surprise appearance at the Edinburgh International Film Festival on Saturday afternoon, Cox railed against the growing use of "self-tape" auditions in the industry.

The Succession star, who was recently appointed as an official ambassador for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, said it had become "almost impossible" for home-grown work to be made in Scotland.

Cox is expected to star alongside Alan Cumming playing two estranged brothers in Glenrothan, a drama set in a fictional Highland whisky town that he will also be directing.

Succession star Brian Cox. | Contributed

Born in Dundee, Cox started his career in theatre, working at Dundee Rep and the Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh, before performing with Birmingham Rep, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre.

His breakthrough role in film was as the first actor to play Hannibal Lecter, in Manhunter in 1986. Cox went on to appear in Rob Roy, Braveheart, The Long Kiss Goodnight, The Bourne Identity, The Ring, X-Men 2, Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Churchill.

His TV appearances include Nuremberg, Bob Servant, Shetland, Frasier, Deadwood and his award-winning role as media magnate Logan Roy in Succession.

The actor was a surprise panel guest at an event staged as part of the film festival’s industry programme.

Cox told the audience: “Television is doing what cinema used to do. I think cinema is in a very bad way. Cinema has lost its place partly because of all the grandiose elements between Marvel, DC and all of that.

"It’s beginning to implode, actually. You’re kind of losing the plot.

“Television has really stolen the mark. Look at incredible things like Ripley and Succession. There are so many and you’ve got the honour of telling the story over a period of time.”

Cox said superhero blockbusters had “become a party time for certain actors to do their stuff”, citing Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds as examples. He said: “They make a lot of money out of it. You can’t knock it.”

Reflecting on the changes he had seen in the industry, Cox said it was “disgusting” how young actors were treated. He said: “What’s difficult for actors these days is the lack of intimacy with the casting director.

"Now they want every young actor or actress to make their own self-tapes. They’ve got to make it without actually meeting anybody. Sometimes they never even get the result, because they get ignored.

"Young actors are in limbo and it’s designed for them to stay there. It’s disgusting quite frankly and it needs to stop.”

Discussing Scotland’s international cultural reputation and the prospect of making his directorial debut, Cox said “we don’t get our place artistically”, in relation to his country’s reputation globally.

"We created the Edinburgh Festival and Fringe, which is probably the greatest fringe event ever,” he said. “So we do that kind of thing. But for home-grown stuff, it’s very very hard, almost impossible.

"So I felt it was time to come back and honour not just the country, but also the people who work here.”