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About this Episode
We’re living in a wonder-world with the great Brian Cox. Tempura salad, resting bewildered face, and doing it like a goose. Is it the AC? Nope. It’s an all-new SmartLess.
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Hosts & Guests
Transcript
You know, well, I'd love to do a podcast with you today, but I'm a little sore about
something.
You know, I've noticed in the past, you know, you do like a fake countdown for stuff.
And you will stop after three and you won't go all the way.
We've been through this before.
We did it on a previous call.
I don't think I've ever mentioned this to you before.
It may have come up on a cold open one.
Welcome to Smartless.
I'm now, I'm, no, I'm going silent from four down.
Welcome to Smartless.
Smart.
Smart.
Smart.
Smart.
Smart.
Smart.
Smart.
Smart.
Smart.
Smart.
Smart.
Smart.
Smart.
Smart.
Smart.
Smart.
Smart.
Smart.
I don't everybody sleep.
We just saw each other 10 hours ago.
Really well.
Oh, good.
Oh, good.
Why?
Would you have a story about your sleep?
Uh, no.
I was good.
It was, it was okay.
It was okay.
No, wait a minute.
Did you have the mask on last night?
No, I don't.
It's sleep with a mask.
Oh, you don't do the hose, the hose and the, the, no, I stopped that.
It didn't really work.
Don't cover your mouth.
When you sneeze.
No, myself.
I know.
Just practice.
No.
Just get my sleep.
Oh, good.
I can.
Let's get all over the Loura Piana.
Beautiful cat.
Beautiful Loura Piana.
No, but I did.
It's a different Loura Piana.
Send me this beautiful cat.
Yeah.
I like that, actually.
I, or him, or whatever.
Do you?
I, um, I did take a valiant to sleep like a cup, look at him go.
I don't know.
He's amazing.
Well, did you get into the bottom of a bag last night?
Um.
Are you all out?
You have somebody on their way over?
It's, I don't even know.
It must be the AC in this room or this room.
Is it the AC?
Oh.
We got a whole junky thing.
It was the last time you guys saw Don in New York City.
I tell you, it's amazing.
It's just so full of promise.
This son in his van.
Yeah.
I love that.
Going out for beers for breakfast.
Oh, my God.
Sean, what did you do last night?
Um, Scotty and I, um, oh, I ran the show.
I, I have to run the line.
So that kicked a few hours.
And then, um, then he did about a pound and a half of sloppy jokes.
By the way, I totally had a sloppy joke.
Higher.
At 10 o'clock.
That's crazy.
It's not much of a stretch or a leap for me to go.
I really did have a sloppy joke.
Did you put it together yourself or was it left over from the, um, the, it was left over
kitchen.
Help you have.
It was left over.
But it's funny that you say that because I, um, remember yesterday when I was like,
I'm eating lunch at two, two, two, two or two thirty.
So that's why I had a sloppy joke at 10 o'clock.
But then what did you, what did you have at your two, thirty late lunch?
I had another fried chicken salad.
Yeah, chicken salad.
No, no, fried chicken salad.
Oh, fried chicken salad.
So they took what they took the lettuce and the chicken, they threw it all in the fryer.
What happened?
Everything gets fried in that scenario.
Even the bowl.
And then, and then we have the fryer.
So you had the fried chicken salad.
For a salad.
Right.
Sean, you had this, you had this snicker doodle at eleven thirty.
Yeah.
Right.
The big one.
Then you kept going in and out of the bag to keep it fresh with your logic.
Exactly.
Well, you're eating it again at two thirty.
So then at two thirty, you have the fried chicken salad with what did you drink?
What was your beverage of that milk with every meal at the lunch?
Yeah.
At the restaurant.
No, no.
Did they look at you?
Did they say, did they say is there a child coming to this lunch?
No.
I don't see you.
We don't offer stuff.
We don't have a kids menu.
Yeah.
But here are the crayons.
So you have that at two thirty and then you're trying to tell us, you're trying to tell us
that you have the fried chicken, fried chicken salad and that nothing, you had nothing else
until you had the sloppy joke at ten thirty.
Yeah.
That's true.
No dinner.
Nothing.
Nothing.
No snack.
I know nothing.
No candy.
No candy.
You didn't, you didn't graze, but go buy the candy jar.
Wait.
I don't think I did.
I don't think I did.
He's a real soft way.
It's an entry into, you know, actually, what was it?
Just be honest.
No.
Maybe I had a couple of starbursts.
A couple of starbursts.
There we go.
You wanted to get some plastic in there.
It needs some binding, something to bind up that sloppy joke.
Yeah.
Get about rice.
Wow.
Oh, man.
Anyway.
Anyway.
And you're like, I can't, I can't figure it out.
I don't find it so tired all day.
No, I can't.
My sleep's fucked up.
It's so weird.
I don't know.
What'd you have?
Let me run you through it.
None of it adds up.
Let me run you through it.
I'll tell you what, though, Sean.
I'll tell you what does that up.
Oh.
So you claim for our guest.
He has been nominated for four golden globes.
Oh, is that right?
And he's won one.
Oh.
And he's been nominated for countless sag award.
And I think like seven won a couple of those won an Emmy nominated five times.
BAFTA has been nominated like seven, eight times once to the Volafide guest.
This is a very qualified guest.
This is a guy who his list of performances is one of those guys has its own page.
You know what I mean?
And has nothing to do with the length of time he's been on this planet.
But just about the amount that people want him to be in their projects.
I love that.
I love him from everything.
He is...
It's one of the guys you're going to say.
We'll guess it if we...
You're going to guess if I say he is the original Dr. Hannibal Lecter.
He's got a brave heart.
He knows a little bit about the born identity.
And he's also in line for succession.
It is the one and only Mr. Brian Cox.
Good Lord.
Yeah.
This is a guest.
Hello, sir.
Good morning.
Hello, Jason.
Hello, Sean.
Well done, well done.
Very nice to see you all.
Great to see you, Brian.
Plus, I should mention also, Brian, that your new film that you've directed...
Yeah.
Glenn Rothen releases on April 17th.
What's the name of it again?
Glenn Rothen?
It's called Glenn Rothen.
It's about a Scottish...
It's about two brothers who are...
They own this distillery.
But one...
The younger brother who's played by...
He's the one that was the real talent in the family.
And I also play Sandy, the oldest brother, who is just a plodder.
You know, he's just a manager.
That's what he does.
And the other brother has had a bad relationship with our father.
And I actually cast my own son as my father,
because I wanted him to see what it was like being a father.
Oh, that's a while.
That's a while.
So we did that.
And he was very good.
He was very tough and very scary as well.
Brian, this can't be the first time you've directed something, is it?
No, I'm directed in the theatre, but this was my debut as a film director.
How did it go?
What were you surprised with?
I was surprised that I made it.
I don't mean I made the film that I made it through the whole shoot.
It was a bit scary.
And it was a very odd situation to be in, you know,
because I came from a egalitarian viewpoint.
I wanted everybody to do their best work.
You know, we've all suffered at the hands of various directors
over the years, and the conceptions that they wanted to include us.
And I just wanted them to fuck off, really basically.
You know, fuck me about with all that shit that you know,
or your ego stuff and control.
And I just, I really, some directors I really like.
I've worked with some really good ones.
And a lot of the time you go, the best director,
the best director I ever worked with, unquestionably,
on film was Lindsay Anderson.
You know, the director Lindsay Anderson?
I don't know.
You don't know Lindsay Anderson?
No, no.
I should get to know her.
But on my day, it's just appalling.
You don't know what you don't know.
I mean, you just hang up.
You live in a wonder world.
Man or woman?
Man, Lindsay is a man.
He directed a very famous, well, he directed a series of films.
The first film I ever saw was a thing called Disporting Life.
Oh, sure, I heard of that.
Richard with Richard Harris.
Okay.
It was about a rugby team who was set up north,
written by a wonderful David Story,
who was a great, was possibly a great writer.
And yeah, I mean, he was just...
What made him great?
What did you like about his time?
Because he just gave you the right note.
He gave you the right note.
He would come up with...
The play I did was with Alan Bates.
Do you remember Alan Bates?
To have a good name.
Alan Bates.
Yeah, Alan Bates.
Sean, you know who the actor Alan Bates is.
Yes, I remember.
You guys need some training.
I really do.
Anyway, Alan Bates, who was famous in Sorba, the Greek,
and he did a lot of movies, Alan.
And he played my older brother,
and I played the younger brother.
And Lindsay would come up with...
He said, he would come in, he would go,
it's good, it's good.
But there's a little bit of attitude and icing in the scenes.
Can we kind of remove the attitude and icing
and just play the scene?
I mean, that simple note where you go,
I see what you mean.
I'm striking an attitude that I tried to hold on to throughout the scene.
Yes.
Actually, the scene reveals itself.
And the attitude reveals itself.
And he was the first director to understand.
Now most directors wouldn't know what the fuck he was talking about.
You know, they just don't have a fucking clue.
Sorry, I mustn't be drawing.
Had Lindsay ever done any acting?
Do you know?
No, he started a magazine with a guy called Gavin Lambert,
called Sighton Sound, which was the big first film magazine
that was made really after the war.
Because he was a war...
He was a university post-war.
And it was just extraordinary.
I mean, the other thing he did was a film called If.
I don't know if you saw that.
That was a film with Malcolm McDowell,
which was set in a public schoolboy,
a public school.
And then he did a film called O'Locky Man,
which was the follow-up to that.
So, catch-up buys.
Yeah, yeah.
I know.
I know.
I feel like I've seen If.
We're thinking of the Ryan Reynolds, John Krasinski, vehicle.
I was just going to say that.
You're right.
Maybe imaginary friend.
That was a lot of fun.
That was a lot of fun.
Brian, did you have...
So, when you ended up making your feature film debut,
director or real debut,
did you find that it shifted?
Did you sort of retroactively go back
and kind of shift your opinion of directors?
Did it sort of...
Well, I had more sympathy for them.
But I still think a bunch of them are twats.
Yeah.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I was too...
It's great.
But I think you all agree with me.
I think you've all been through that as well.
You know?
Yeah, it's always interesting.
You know, a director definitely needs to have a plan
and pardon the term, a vision and all that stuff.
But when it comes to performance,
you realize that they think they can control it.
But it is like one of the few lanes
in making something that you can't control.
You can't control performance.
You can't control music.
Like, everything else you can kind of get in there
and make a decision on.
But performance and music,
there's stuff that happens in between action and cut
that you just can't micromanage.
It's got to live, it's got to breathe.
And that character is the actor's character.
It's not the director's character
or the writer's character.
Right.
Like, you have to own it
and to be able to give the actor the kind of latitude
to really feel like it's theirs,
I think that frees up a really exciting performance
as opposed to trying to get them to do
the version of the character you always saw in your head.
Right. Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Well, you know, my stuff I've done to that
for the last 50 years,
or even 60 years ago.
Well, you pushed through it very, very successfully.
My God.
The performances I've been able to watch you do, Brian.
It's just, it's been cranky.
Let me just say thank you.
Yeah.
You have done so many,
and you know, these guys know I've gone and on about
some of my favorite films.
And you have one of one of one of Will's favorite quotes too,
about what is it?
I'm going to paraphrase it here.
I'm too old, too rich,
and too famous to give a fuck.
Yeah, it's all good like that.
I'm too old, too tired,
and too talented to give a fuck.
Absolutely.
So good.
Brian, I love that so much.
That is really good.
I just fucking love it.
I love how you don't,
and I'm in the best way you don't give a shit.
But I know you do about the things you do give a shit.
Exactly.
Exactly.
Well, the thing I was determined to do with the movie
was to give everybody give their talent.
You know, the costume department,
the wardrobe department,
I mean, that's the same.
And the design of the film,
and the DP.
And you know, you just want people to do their best work.
Not to say do it this way.
Right.
Because once you say do it this way,
you immediately put a block up for them to go,
oh, I've got to do it this way.
I can't do it.
So I didn't do any of that.
I just said, give me what you're giving me.
Tell me what you want me to do.
Tell me what you want to say in the design department.
Tell me what you want to achieve.
And therefore, one had an incredibly happy crew.
From the terrible film,
but we had a happy crew.
No, but it's a true collaboration.
I mean, you hired those people for a reason
because you like what they do.
What they do.
That's exactly right, Will.
That's exactly right.
And not enough of that goes on.
We don't trust.
We really don't trust.
We don't trust nearly enough.
And if somebody comes on and says,
and this is the design,
you just say, well, let's see what you do.
And do what you want to do.
Do what you feel is right.
And of course, you can modify and all that.
But at least you're not impending them.
You're not stopping them from being creative.
Yeah.
Wait, so for Glenn Rothen,
is it, did you find the project?
Or did you find the project?
Or did the project find you?
How did that happen?
Well, it was...
It was...
I didn't find the project.
It's written by a guy called David Ashton.
I do...
You know, we still do radio back...
Would you believe...
I don't...
You know what the radio is?
Sure, sure.
Yeah, sure.
We're still...
I still do radio back in the old country.
And I've been doing a series for 20 years,
which I'd go off and do for three days.
And it's a series about an Edinburgh detective called McLevy.
And it's been very popular.
And we get about a million listeners.
Wow.
And David wrote this.
And he...
They came to me and a guy called Neil Ziegos,
who's also a pal.
And Neil said,
you're going to be directing this film.
And I'm never directed a film.
And I said, what?
And he said, you're going to direct the film.
And they said, and you could be in it.
I said, oh, that's kind of...
Thank you for letting me be in it.
You can cast yourself, yeah.
Well, you know, you know, it was...
It was a wonderful...
Wonderful.
There's a great comedian in Scotland called Stanley Baxter.
And there's a great scene,
which he used to do when he played a little boy.
And also, his grandfather's dying.
And his grandfather's looking at the window and saying,
son, one day,
all this will be yours
from the hills to the river.
And all that land out there
and it goes on and on and on.
And the wee boy says, you know,
grandpan, that's an awfully big job
for when we boy in his own.
So that was...
That's what I was reminded of.
How an awfully big job it is for when we boy in his own.
Well, it's funny.
It's funny you mentioned that one wee boy on his own,
because I was thinking about...
You grew up in Dundee Scotland,
born and raised in Dundee Scotland.
Yeah.
And now you're sort of...
Forgive me, I sort of a world-famous actor,
acclaimed actor.
How did you go from that to that?
What was that leap from your...
What I've read, a very, very humble beginning.
Oh, yeah.
Well, my dad died when I was eight.
And my mom had a...
It was only 51.
He had five credit counts.
And he died when I was eight.
And I had three elder sisters.
I was a youngest and a kind of crazy brother
who used to go off and disappear.
And he was nine years older than me.
And I was the baby.
And my dad died.
And then my mom had a series of terrible nervous breakdowns
which resulted in her having electric shock treatment.
I mean, she lost about 60 pounds in weight.
I mean, she was unrecognized.
I mean, she was a little overweight to start with,
but she was underweight.
So I had no parents.
For most of my...
I had my sisters.
And I didn't realize it.
But it was the best thing that ever happened to me.
It's a tragedy in one sense,
losing your mom and losing your dad.
Certainly, it was heartbroken.
But I was liberated.
No fucker was telling me what to do.
No fucker was getting...
No parents were telling me...
How old is your eight years old when your dad passed?
Eight, eight.
And then your mom and how old were you when your mom?
Well, she died much later.
But my mom went into almost immediately.
She had a huge breakdown.
And she was just hopeless.
And also we were sending my youngest sister,
actually my youngest of my older sisters.
She was 12 years older than me.
And there were two older sisters who were married, had children.
I mean, they were amazing.
They were just amazing what they did.
But they didn't look after me,
but they looked out for me,
which was better than being looked after.
That made sure that I was okay.
I think...
Did you find that you were making a lot of really good decisions?
Or did you make some bad ones and learn from those?
Well, you just learn.
You know, you learn.
I mean, I made good decisions and I made bad decisions.
But at least I could get the lie of the land.
You know, what was going on.
But I imagine that Dundee's Scotland at that time
was a tough place to grow up, yeah?
Yeah.
It wasn't easy.
And it's a lot tougher now,
because we have the...
You know, don't get me started.
But we have...
Sorry.
I wanted to be more humorful on this, but I mean...
No, no, no.
It's your feeling right now.
No, what happened is that we have the highest heroin addiction in Europe.
Oh, in your hometown.
Yeah.
Because of the poverty.
And it's all about poverty.
And it's what makes me a socialist.
Socialists, I mean,
what I can't stand about this country we're in
is how they confuse communism with socialism.
Yeah.
Socialism is not communism.
Socialism is...
Socialism is social welfare,
taking care of the people.
Communism is a dictate.
So, you know, I wish Americans would understand that.
What the difference is.
What a good luck.
What a socialist is.
As a Canadian,
as a Canadian, let me say,
good luck to you trying to explain it to them, Brian.
Well, they can head out and...
Well, the Canadians seem to understand it rather well.
Yeah.
We've got a pretty good understanding there.
I don't expect to either Jason or Sean.
But, you know, Americans don't get it.
No.
Just don't get it.
Well, they don't understand it.
And I'm not...
I don't consider myself really anything.
But I do understand that we have to take care.
We're only as strong as the idea.
We're only as strong as our weakest link.
And that there has to be a net.
Because once you...
If there is not a sort of a social net,
then the whole thing falls apart.
And it sort of decays from underneath.
If you have extreme poverty,
which we do in this country,
then the entire thing is resting.
The foundation of our society
is rotted from underneath, you know?
And...
Anyway.
So Brian, growing up there,
you said it wasn't as bad,
but what gave you the hope
or the courage to seek something better?
Well, I had two teachers.
I mean, my education was a disaster.
It was a technical education.
I was supposed to be...
I was trained to be a bricklayer.
Really what?
It was what I was trained to be.
I mean, I never laid a brick in my life,
but I don't...
But that's supposed to be my destiny.
And I thought, fuck that for a game of soldiers.
I'm not doing that.
I'm not blaming that way.
And I just wanted to be an actor.
I wanted to be an actor since I was three, you know?
And that was my desire.
I just do act.
Where did that come from?
Did you watch a lot of TV or...?
Oh, I...
We had 21 cinemas in my hometown.
Wow. Wow.
Before the war, we had 42 cinemas.
But after what we had 21,
and now there's about four.
And I visited every single cinema.
And where I lived,
there was a right angles to where I lived up from up the street.
There was a thing called Asa Stone Terrace.
And there was...
There was my church, the library,
the Broadway cinema,
and opposite that was the Royal.
And there was double features.
So you were going at six o'clock
and you would get out at 11.
So I used to go there all the time.
Yeah.
In fact, I'm surprised that my...
They were alive.
They even noticed I existed, my parents,
because I was in the cinema.
Was it a form of escapism?
Is that what brought you into the theatre initially?
No.
I don't think it's escapism.
It's just joy.
Yeah.
I mean, I just got so much joy out of it.
You know, when you live in Dundee,
which was pretty heavy going, you know, on those days.
I mean, it's a great community.
But the city fathers always make a balls up.
You know, they took people out of the town
and they put them in these schemes,
which is why they're still paying for it now.
In fact, the Lord Provis said to me,
you know, we're trying to get people back into the city.
I said, you should never have taken them out of the city
in the first fucking place.
I said, that's so important.
That's who they are.
They're from that time.
And then you put them, you isolate them
without any proper conditions, you know.
And therefore, the heroin, the drugs,
the whole thing just spirals out of, you know.
And this is something that really gets me more and more and more and more.
Yeah, yeah.
We'll be right back.
And now back to the show.
So then you have this love of cinema.
You go to the theater all the time.
And then you went to, if I'm right,
you went to theater school in Scotland.
I went to Lambda.
Oh, you went to Lambda.
Yeah, well, what was wonderful was I was,
there was a guy called Bill Davis, who ran,
there was a series of directors at Dundee Rep.
And the last guy was a Canadian called Bill Davis.
Now Bill is a director and a writer in his own mind,
who lives in Vancouver.
And also he, he's part of that Davis, you know,
the famous Davis family who run a lot of theaters in Canada.
And Bill was great.
And he said, he invited me.
I was, I think I was just 16 in that anyway.
Yeah, I was just 16.
And he invited me to a voice class.
And I'd never been to, I didn't even know what a voice class was.
What's a voice class?
He said, come along to voice class.
And I went along and there was this,
he said, we've got this young woman who's coming up from London.
She's just taken over now because the previous voice teacher,
who was a genius, died and this lady's taken over.
And I said, who is this?
She says, she's called Kristen Linklater.
Have you heard of Kristen Linklater?
No, you see.
Do we don't know anything?
Yeah.
Yeah.
We're smart and surprised at how really ignorant you both are.
Except Canadian.
I find the Canadian isn't even able to talk to you two guys.
You're right on the money.
You're right on the money.
You're right on the money.
You sit there and wonder going, oh.
Yeah.
We're here to learn.
We're here to learn, baby boy.
So anyway, she was, I look up Kristen Linklater because she was,
sadly possible.
Our son is an actor called Hamish Linklater.
I don't know if you've come across him.
And she, no, you don't know.
What about Taylor Smith?
Oh.
Anyway.
They think that you're making these names up.
I know.
Oh, wait.
I think Hamish Linklater is the resonator.
You guys know Hamish Linklater.
I know.
Yeah.
Yes.
Yes.
God.
The Canadian.
He's so sensible.
But you two others.
He can't get in the flow.
He can't get in the flow.
My Google's faster.
But I know exactly Hamish Linklater.
So anyway.
So that happens.
Yeah.
So I go to, I go to Dundee.
I, my first day in Dundee was a very funny day because I went up for my interview.
And I went up to the front of the theater and let's swim in a very broad Dundee.
And I said, you want your own son?
I said, I'm here for an interview.
I said, you can't get into the front, you've got a good window back to get to the front.
You can get to the front theater back, but you kind of get to the front theater front.
So go in the back and then you get to the front.
I said, okay.
So I went round the back.
And as I walked in, there was an almighty row, a fight going on between an actor.
Now, I'm going to say an actor's name and you probably don't even know who the fuck he is.
But anyway, there we go.
He was very well known.
He was pretty good so far.
You've scored brilliantly.
Anyway.
This actor was called Nickel Williams.
I don't know.
Oh, yeah.
Nickel.
If I had a nickel.
That's great.
We've struck gold at last.
Anyway.
So I'm this Nickel Williams.
I know why he's like that.
And he's not.
You've makin'.
And I'm makin'.
And that is a great impression.
That is a great impression.
You've makin'.
I'm makin'.
I'm makin'.
I'm makin'.
And I'm trying to get past them to get up from my interview.
And I'm 15.
I've never been in a backstage before.
So I'm getting up and I'm climbing up the stairs.
I get past them.
Finally.
He's standing on the landing.
And there's a wonderful article gone.
Granger's smoking is cigarette.
And he looked at me and he said,
Are you all right, darling?
And I went,
That man just called me darling.
Right.
I have never been called darling before in my life.
This is clearly where I must be.
I have to be in this place.
All right.
All right.
That's great.
Well, I have to ask you because I'm the person that always asks this.
What's your favorite stage show you've ever done?
And what's the worst thing that's ever happened on stage?
Well, there was a thing that happened.
And actually one of my favorite shows I did was I did a show by,
Do you know who Conor McPherson is?
No, there you go.
He's a very famous Irish playwright.
And he's had a few plays on Broadway.
And I did a play of his called St. Nicholas, in which I played a theatre critic.
It was a one-man show.
It was a wonderful show.
Really, very, very funny, very inventive.
And it's about this theatre career who becomes obsessed by this actress.
And he becomes obsessed by it and he follows her.
And he follows it.
The place he's in, he gives a bad review to in Dublin.
And he's persona non grata because of his terrible review,
having flirted with this actress.
And finally he goes, he follows them to London and he follows them to their home.
And he nearly rakes the girl, but he doesn't.
So he ends up being kicked out.
And he eventually goes to work for vampires.
He meets a vampire on Crystal Palace Hill and this vampire says,
if you can bring people to the house and you know, we like to suck blood.
But we never kill.
We just only suck.
We don't kill.
And it seems reasonable to me.
But the idea was that he would allow me a space so I could write.
And the whole point of his is the fact that he's wanting somebody to write the story.
So I did this play, which was a really good play.
So one night I come on and I start, I start the play.
And I look to my right and there's my ex girlfriend.
Oh my god.
What is she doing here?
And then I carry on and then I turn over.
And there on my other side was my ex ex girlfriend.
And they're literally sitting opposite one another.
And I'm completely thrown.
And I just think of the audience.
I said, I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen, but I'm going to have to start again.
No way.
Yeah.
I said, I'm going to start again, because this is, this is, I can't explain what it is,
but really just please trust me.
I will be better so I can go.
That is the way.
Did you see them after the show?
I did.
Oh my god.
I did.
And what happened was after the show they came on and they said,
oh, that was lovely.
We enjoyed it.
Oh, and tremendous.
And I said, why were you sitting to one of the girls?
I said, why were you sitting opposite arena?
And she said, I wasn't.
I said, you were.
She said, well, I didn't have a notice.
I said, well, I noticed.
That's right.
You were right.
And you're sitting right opposite.
And I said to arena, I said, did you know, no, I never noticed.
And so I went through agony for no reason.
And they have no set.
Yeah.
And that was it.
But that's the key.
Sean, I mean, makes me think, Sean, you're about to do a one-man show.
Well, Sean is, Sean opens what he'll be on now, I think, by the time this air is.
But Sean's doing one-man show off Broadway.
What's it called, Sean?
And what theater will it be in?
It's called The Untanks, you guys.
It's called The Unknown.
And it's at Studio Sea View, which is 43rd and 8th Avenue.
It's a, yeah.
But Brian, you'll understand having to explain like doing a one-man show.
And I was talking to Sean as he's been preparing for this fall.
And just getting off book.
Yeah.
Just learning the.
Oh, I mean, it's like the way.
It's another story.
I mean, don't that off book totally.
But you're pretty good at this.
Yeah.
He runs the show every day.
You have to, right?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I mean, it's scary.
I'm scared, shitless.
I mean, we're recording this and I haven't opened yet.
By the time this comes out, I don't have an open.
So if I'm alive, I'll let you know.
But is it a hard part?
Yeah.
But Brian, I mean, like the one-man show thing, it's just, it's colossal, isn't it?
Yeah, it is.
It is.
Yeah.
I mean, I remember I came on one night and a guy.
I walked on.
And a guy.
It's like, came on.
He opened his program.
And he went.
And I took the program out of his hand.
That's the way it was.
I just took the program.
I said.
You don't need it.
Absolutely.
But I mean, yeah.
But isn't it?
I mean, did you ever go off, like, go up on the line?
Oh, yeah.
I said in rehearsal, like, can I please have the script just off stage for emergencies?
If I can't remember where I'm at, I just have to, I'm just gonna, there's nothing you can do.
You just gotta walk off.
You're just gonna dip off stage and take a look.
Yeah.
What are you gonna do?
I mean, you know, I don't know what to do.
About a pro.
Well, I tell you what's great now.
I mean, because I'm, I'm a considerable old age.
No.
Well, I don't, I don't really think about that, but other people tell me I am.
No, no, no.
You wear it well.
You wear it well.
Yeah.
Earpiece.
Yeah.
I know.
But I don't know.
I can't, I can't imagine somebody talking to you while you're talking.
It's only if you go up, maybe if you, only if you go up, do they then talk to you?
Well, the earpiece, I've done the earpiece a few times.
Yeah.
And the thing about the earpiece is don't think about it as learning lines.
Yeah.
Think about it as volition in the play.
Ah.
That you want to keep it moving.
So you want to keep it moving in a certain way.
So this, because when you get to my age and you know, you got, your brain isn't working in the same way.
It's a little slow.
So, but Brian.
By the way, Sean, I just, I just want to say, I saw your show in London, by the way.
Oh, I didn't know that.
Yeah, I did.
I just saw it and you were absolutely brilliant.
That was an amazing show.
But there is, I do have a funny story about it.
And please don't be offended by the funny story.
But anyway, so I'm sitting there and I'm watching this amazing evening.
And I stood up and, you know, I kind of went, oh Christ, because I'm so extraordinary.
Thank you.
Thank you.
And the guy later on, the guy said, she said, that was a wonderful mind.
I said, what do you mean?
Oh, the guy, the way he mounted the piano.
I said, that was him for real.
You fucking idiot.
Yeah.
You know, people have said that.
And it's like, if I were to mime it or like, I'd have to imitate it perfectly with all
that.
So why not just play it?
By the way, by the way, it would almost be more impressive if it was the one.
Right.
That's almost harder than playing it.
You know, was there ever that discussion, Sean, to turn the piano such that the audience,
some of the audience could see the keys?
Well, oh, I think I said the other thing that they couldn't so that, because I did I panicked
before we opened.
I'm like, good night, Oscar.
Yeah.
And talk before I panicked.
I was like, if something, if I hurt my hand or I can't do it or like, or I get scared
and I've been playing it too many times, can we just run a tape and I'll just fake it
with the keys facing away, you know, and the director's like, you're going to be fine.
I'm like, but you don't understand.
No, but you did record it though.
You didn't record it.
I haven't recorded it.
Yeah, yeah, just in case.
I never used it.
Just in case, but you never had to use it.
I mean, clearly, your command was just dazzling.
I mean, like, thank you.
That's right.
I said, you know, what have I been doing for the last 60 years?
I'll be fucking about.
Well, Will and I were crying at the end of it.
Jason, I was crying.
And we were crying.
Oh, yeah, I was crying too.
I mean, how beautiful it was and how town he was and be how talentless we are.
No, compared to your script.
Yes, I felt distinctly talentless.
Did you see Black Rabbit?
Did you see Black Rabbit?
No, it's okay.
I'm pushing for you.
Fantastic.
Pretty fantastic.
And Lord, just this thing on with Will or Nat and Lord Nat.
Yeah.
You'll get around to it all.
So wait, Brian, I wanted to talk to you.
I wanted to get it before because this is one of my favorite films and film series.
And I love the character of Ward Abbott from the Born Movies.
I know.
I thought, I think the people thought I was going to mention playing Hannibal Lecter,
which you, again, you are the original Hannibal Lecter in Manhunter, which I saw in
the theaters.
Great movie.
In the 80s.
I fucking love that movie.
Yeah.
You were brilliant.
Yeah.
Really brilliant.
Challenge.
And I'm not just saying that.
But I love, I'm such a born fan.
And I loved Ward Abbott.
And because there's a scene that you, there's so many great scenes.
You're so great in those movies.
Yeah.
But there's a scene where the kid, where the kid finds out that it's you that's done it.
He takes you down and he says, I figured it out and then what they did was they have a
light switch.
And you go on the guy and you go, okay, yeah, you go, okay, run it for me again.
And he does it again.
And then you kill him.
The most brutal way.
And it's one of my, I remember the first time I watched it like, oh, my God, it was so
shocking.
You know?
So to walk me through the Born Movies, if you can't just a little bit, did you have a
great experience?
Was it a fun experience?
Did you like that?
Yeah, it was great.
I mean, Doug Lyman is probably the most eccentric director.
You could up in me.
You know, he flies a plane like this.
Right.
Yeah.
He does extraordinary eccentric, but gifted, you know, just like, he's got these flashes.
Like, there's a, you know, I kind of remember which film, I think it's the first one.
There's a sequences where Jason Bourne falls, it's a, it's set in Paris and he falls off
and it looks as if we're going to kill himself.
But he falls onto another actor who goes down and that breaks his fall.
Yes.
Do you remember that?
Yeah, of course.
Doug's idea.
That was Doug said, why don't we do that?
That was the first one in that stairwell, in that huge stairwell in the middle of the
course.
Exactly.
And it was amazing.
I mean, I just couldn't believe it when I saw it.
And I, and I thought, my God, but, you know, because it was very brave of a, a, a map
to do it.
But it worked like a dream and it was wonderful.
Yeah.
There's such a great series of films.
I just had to bring those up because I love them so much.
So, so much.
And, and of course, because I don't want to run out of time, I know that people, because
this is a big area and people are going to, we'd be remiss if we didn't mention it.
And so forgive us for it.
Hopefully, bringing up succession, which was, which was, has been so beloved around the
world and talking a little, I mean, first of all, how did that come into your orbit,
the success?
What?
I, I just got a call one day to say that Jesse Armstrong was thinking about this piece.
And he would like to talk to me.
So I got on a phone with Adam McKay, and who was one of the executive producers.
Yeah.
And, and he, I mean, Jesse always wanted me to play the role.
And I knew that I thought this is going to be a hit.
I just knew.
I really, you know, it's funny to hear you say that because we ask everybody, did you
know it was going to be a hit?
And people are like, you've never, you've never know, but I love that you just said, I
knew.
I knew, I just knew, I knew that this was going to be one of the biggest shows of all
time.
Is it because the material was so strong?
Yeah.
And also, you know, just the part, I thought, wow, this is a great part because it's, it's
so, it's a received part, you know, he's not, he just comes in at the right moment.
And, and, and then you've got this kind of real kind of intellectual kind of bandit
that he is, you know, and it was just an extraordinary, but the cast, I mean, the cast was amazing.
I mean, and to watch all the actors grow through the whole show and, and see the lovely
Sarah Snoop, you know, Roman, you know, I can never remember the names of the actors,
but they're also good.
How did you like, how did you like the schedule of that?
Was it, was it, was it, did it seem just sort of relentless?
Or was it, since it was an ensemble, the workload was all shared and never, ever really
got gassed?
No, no one really, it didn't become heavy in, and in a way, and, and when it was a heavy
episode, usually you weren't in it, you know, which is what was quite good, you know, like,
the Kendall's birthday party, I wasn't in that episode at all.
And no, it was, it was very, it was very relaxed and such great players like Matthew McFadden,
you know, who's just a wonderful actor, you know, we had, and all of them, they were all
great, even Jeremy Strong.
Yeah, sure, sure.
And you were, so stop it now, John, they hit yourself, please, I have a reputation,
you know, I've got to think about it.
Wait, so you find, so you do, so you get this material and you're like, okay, I think
this is going to be hit.
You like the party is a great part, it's a great, great part.
And then you, what, you shoot the pilot, do you guys shoot a pilot, or do you go straight
to series?
You know, that's a very good question, I can't remember.
I think we went straight to Adam and K, director of the pilot, yes?
Yeah, yeah, he does.
I think we went straight to series, and we did, I mean, no, I think we did the pilot,
and then it was literally like, I don't know, a month, and then we went on dead to series,
but we kind of knew we were going to be doing the series.
Right, right, right.
I think so.
I may have got that wrong.
Were you living in New York the whole time?
Well, no, I was living in London to start with, and then I got, yeah, I was, oh, I was
cross living, yeah, right, because I live between London and New York.
How do you like, how do you, how do you like living in the States versus London?
What's the pluses in the minuses?
Oh God.
Where does that, where does that get?
Where does that be?
Careful, because we don't want you to get stopped at the board.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, we live in the States.
We live in the States.
We live in the States.
I don't want any ice agents.
No, no, no.
Hearing my hotel door, it's difficult, it's very difficult.
I feel very sympathetic towards Americans, I'm aware they're finding themselves at this
time.
And it's, in many ways, it's a very exciting time, but it's also in many ways an acutely
depressing time.
And I find that, I go more to the depressing side than the exciting side, and I just find
it extraordinary because I love this kind.
When I was a kid, you know, when I was 15, I have so wanted to be an actor, but I realized
I wanted to be an American actor, because I never wanted to be Kenneth Moore or Dirk Bogard
or any of those English actors.
And that just had nothing to do with it.
No connection.
Oh God, I don't need it.
You're being panicious, Jason, I'm just really panicious.
And we will be right back.
And now back to the show.
I understand that too, though, Brian, as a Canadian, I also, I'm very proud of being from
Canada.
And I love it.
But as a sort of a newer American of almost 20 years, I always wanted to come here too.
I always had that thing like this was the place.
This is, it's such a great country, the U.S. and there's so many incredible talents and
there's so much opportunity to do so many different things.
I think that was it.
Do you know what I mean?
And also the history of cinema.
Yes.
I mean, cinema is an American invention, you can't deny it, because my great passion is,
in fact, my wife is so pissed off at me, because I spend my days, I've been working really
hard.
I've done four plays, I played Bach, I've done a play about the financial crisis of 2008,
which I played Adam Smith, you know, the history of, do you know who Adam Smith was?
Oh, yeah.
Because he's a reeducation.
Anyway, so, and I did that, I did that, and, and, no, it was great.
But I, and I, I realized that I wasn't American, and it was very depressing when I realized,
what was I going to do?
Well, I would, I would say this to us, you had to leg up being British, because, or
Scottish, whatever, because yeah, no, yeah, I did, but just in terms of where you were
going to go with your work, and it was, it was just a very odd feeling.
And then I was walking down the hill town of my hometown, and there was a film on called
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning.
You probably haven't heard of that film, right?
So it's favorite.
Yeah.
It's, it's, it's Albert Finney.
Love Albert Finney.
Yeah, I know.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
And when I saw Albert Finney, I thought I'm saved.
Yeah.
If he can do it, I can do it, you know, that guy from Soford Manchester can do it, I can
do it.
And also Albert and I, subsequently, he was a bit older than me, but we, we worked together
a couple of times.
And I remember we did a play at the Royal Court.
The Royal Court's a very famous theatre.
Yes.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Of course.
Sometimes it's really hard.
Anyway.
I look at these, you can't see, audience can't see.
I look at these bewildered faces, particularly the two on the bottom here.
That's just the resting face.
They have resting bewildered face.
But Albert Finney changed my life.
He just realized, I said, I can, I, that's, that's my path.
Yeah.
It's the time of, which was an amazing time in the UK, of the beginning of the, what
they called the free cinema.
And it was Tony Richardson, Lindsay Anderson, who you didn't know, a John Schlesinger, who
you probably have heard of, and who I put him in the same category as Lindsay Anderson
to be honest.
Yeah.
But Brian, you, you know, you have, you have such an incredible, you're very funny, you're
very charismatic.
You remind me of another Scottish, one of my closest friends, Patrick Doyle, do you
know this composer?
Patrick Doyle, yeah.
The composer.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
He composed Harry Potter and Cinderella.
Yeah, he's a great friend of the Irishman, what you call, I forget his name.
Jesus.
Ken Brown.
Ken Brown, he does all that.
He's a big poet.
But Ken, you remind me of him a lot, it just isn't enough to know each other.
But we've never met, actually, ironically, never met.
You know what I want to ask you about?
I want to ask you about, you know, Will and I, Moonlight a little bit with, with voiceover
work sometimes.
But I love the stuff that you do for McDonald's and I want to, how did that come your way?
Is that something that you, is that something that you enjoy?
I mean, I love it.
I love it.
It gives you some very handy pocket change.
He's loving it.
It pays for a lot of stuff.
It pays for a lot of stuff.
I'm not complaining.
Oh, yeah.
How often do you find yourself in the booth recording new stuff?
Well, it took a while, you know, because I'd been here for, I mean, I've been here for nearly
30 years on and off, you know?
And I, you know, I, I, I had a huge voiceover career back in the UK, which I couldn't keep
up.
And that, that was before they, they'd do things down the line, which they didn't do in
the early days, because it's too expensive.
So I had a great voice career and when I came here, it stopped.
I'd lost my voice career.
And then I had this agent guy called Steve Arcieri, who I would recommend to anybody.
He is a brilliant, brilliant agent.
He's in New York.
And he'd been watching up for me for a few years.
And he just came at me at the right point and he said, and it was McDonald's and that
was it.
And then I did Uber Eats, you know, have you seen my Uber Eats commercial?
I don't know.
I think I did.
Oh, you've got to watch that.
You've got to watch Uber Eats.
Yes.
That's, that's very funny.
Is that on camera or is that voiceover?
Yeah, it's on camera.
It's about, it's about, it's about a, I play a sort of belligerent character who's going
back to university in order to get Uber Eats because it's free.
Yes, yes.
It's so good.
It's so good.
It's a series of vignettes.
And we, it won an Emmy, that whole plan.
So I've got that as well.
I love ads.
I love it.
I do.
Well, we do too.
But I kind of want to sort of piggyback on what Jason was saying is because we do, as
Jason said, we both have sort of moonlight sometimes and get to do these voice gigs.
But you have such great command of your voice.
And in, and that was Christian Linklater.
Was it?
Ah, there you go.
That was Christian Linklater.
That's when I found out, that's why I went to Lambda and then blow me, but six weeks
after I got to Lambda, she left and came to America.
She taught at Columbia for a long time.
Oh, wow.
But it's just, it, like even in something like the McDonald's ads, you bring, you, you,
you understand such a way of bringing, uh, bringing something to the voice in a way that
is outside the norm, uh, you know, and with, with, with no disrespect to anybody who
also does voiceovers, I've done it for a long time and there's so many talented people
out there.
You mean like me?
Because you've never said that to me.
I'm just saying that Jason's never done it.
I mean, Jason sounds like, talk about phoning it in.
I mean, he does it on his phone.
Well, they do it on my phone.
Yeah.
And did they say do it at a higher octave?
I don't understand.
By a Hyundai.
It's a great car.
There it is.
I just speak it, you know, uh, but do you, and do you sense, I wonder also if you have
that thing which after years of doing voiceovers, uh, where you understand where you can look
at a script, I have this thing where I can look at copy that they send me and they'll,
and I'll go, uh, and then I'll go and see the timing and I'll go seven seconds and then
I'll go like, yeah, I can probably, I can probably do that and I can probably do that
in six and a half seconds.
Yeah.
Do you have that thing?
Similar, similar thing.
I mean, I usually, the scripts are so good and so tight, um, that's the great thing with
McDonald's.
That's what I'm trying to get out already.
But they've already timed on it.
So I don't have to worry.
All I have to worry about is the performance, you know, just getting, getting, getting
well, can you, can't you just like say, if you say, if you did it took too long, if it
took too long, you can't just, when they just say, can you make it shorter?
Oh, yeah.
They, they, they, they, they would tell me to hurry up, but I, I like to get out.
We have a great expression in Scotland, which is get on and get off, which means get on
and get off.
Yeah.
And with, with voiceovers, I like to get on and get off and not hang about on them.
Right.
Because that's the other thing.
If you hang about too much, they don't, they, they, their density doesn't, it doesn't
support you.
And with voiceovers, you have to drive them through, you have to do them, you know,
and just be abandoned to them rather than sort of, because otherwise, you know, you, you
lose the job because you, you've only got, and I, I find myself getting kind of ordinary
where the, where I'll go and I'll be doing something and they'll, they'll say, you'll do
it taking, you'll go through and you get a perfect take.
It's really good.
You go, you'll lay it down and blah, blah, blah, blah, then they'll go.
That's great.
And they'll say, let's get one more for safety and I go, safety is, it's digital, right?
What are you worried about a hair in the gate?
What are you talking about?
Yeah.
Yeah.
You didn't do it differently or you have a thought, great, but otherwise, we're good.
Yeah, I, I couldn't agree with you more well.
I mean, the, you know, but again, we have director problem.
No, Brian, what, was it, was it a gentle pitch that they made to you when they asked you
to do the iconic little jingle at the end there, the butt up, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,
yeah.
Yeah.
But was that, I, like, if I had to pitch Brian Cox, hey, listen, we'd like for you to
do this.
I'd be scared shitless to ask you to do that.
Or was that your idea?
Was it in the copy?
No, no, they, they just wanted me to do it and I did it, you know, I'm so good.
It's, if I know Jason, Jason would be like, you know what, that's a different pay rate.
Yeah.
If you want me to be a bomb.
Yes.
Yes.
Sing is a different rate.
Sean, am I right?
Would JB hold them up for a week, sorry?
Yeah.
I have to read that.
No.
I'll call you back.
I'm not going to show up.
Oh, yeah.
No.
I auditioned for the voice of Aflac for that duck that goes Aflac, right?
Yeah.
Perfect.
Yeah.
And it was between me and Gilbert Godfrey, who got it.
Yeah.
And I go, I remember the audition, I go in there and the, I had no idea what it was for.
And through the glass, you know, I had my headphones on and they're just read the copy
there.
And I'm like, Aflac, like I don't understand.
And they're like, it's all that says, I'm like, that's all that says, like, yeah, just
do it.
And I'm like, like a goose.
Like a goose.
And I'm like, Aflac, I don't understand.
I don't understand what you want me to, and then, and then like, great thanks.
And I'm like, well, I didn't know that I was supposed to sound like an actual animal.
Do you feel like your lack of intellect has held you back in other ways, or creative
impulse?
Yeah.
Yeah.
You could be tyrannistic situations, but it's a question of just moving it.
You know, I love it.
I love the discipline.
You know, I love the discipline of the voice of, you know, and it's just, it's
just a great thing to practice your craft, you know?
I agree.
And I like that it's a tight space.
I like that you only have a finite amount of space in order to get this point across.
Right.
Often it's a, it's, it's not a lot of time.
And there's something about that that I find really GMC's here.
Right?
Are you talking about professional grade?
Professional grade GMC.
We are professional grade.
But will you, you're blessed with a very fine voice.
Thank you.
I remember when I saw you in that wonderful film, I just went, I literally did with Brad,
and I thought, your voice is very strong.
It's a very, very good voice.
That's a compliment coming from you.
So I appreciate it.
Thank you very much.
You've got great clarity, and that was one that was so wonderful about that part you
were playing, because he was, you know, he was, he was, he was on the run, but the clarity
was so strong.
And I was very, very happy.
If he ever wins an award, he's the first person he's going to thank is cigarette.
They're the only ones who have never let me down, Sean.
They've never, they've never let me down.
They've never not returned to calls.
They've, you know, they've always been there for me.
So, Brian, you've done, it's so funny.
You go back and you've done theater, you've won Olivier Awards, you won Baptist and Emmys
and Golden Globes and all of it and film and television.
Now you've directed your film.
It is one of these, you know, we ask people all the time, like, what is the thing that you'd
like to do?
You've seemingly done, again, at risk of embarrassing you at all.
So what could, what, what gets you up in the morning of like, now that you've directed
this film, what's the next thing that kind of, you're excited to get out of bed to do
sort of creative.
The next job.
Okay.
The next job.
Do you have anything left that you're curious to see if you can handle?
Yeah.
It only comes when it comes, you know, I can't, it's, you know, you can't do over contemplational.
What if I, what if I, what would I do, how would I, you know, just do it?
Well, like you guys were talking about a one man show, like, I literally turned down
one a couple of months ago because I just didn't think that's something that I could really
enjoy doing.
No, because you're not a one man, you're not a full man, that's why.
That's it.
That's it.
If they said half man, half man show, half man show, you could do, you could do a half
man show for sure.
Well, like, I got it, I got to get some theater under my belt before I take that all
in.
No, no, I'm dying to do that.
But like, there are things that I would, I would love to challenge myself that that's
one of them.
I can't imagine there's a whole lot left on your list to challenge yourself with this
there.
I don't even see as a challenge, I just see as the work, you know, as part of the work,
it's part of the job.
And Jason, you're a very fine actor, I mean, you are, I mean, you're, you are, and I'm,
I mean, you've done the, the, those acts, the work you've done, I think sometimes you
don't trust yourself nearly enough, Jason.
Wow.
Wow.
I think that's, that's it.
I like this.
Keep going.
I think that's your problem.
I think you really, you're, you're very contained and you're contained in a way that says,
if I move too fast, I'll fall over.
Oh.
Oh.
That's great.
I know.
And I think that that's, you're, just let yourself go.
You'd like to see me cut it loose.
You'd sound like my wife.
Yeah.
She was cut loose because you're, you're so gifted, you're so talented and you should trust
your talent more than you do.
Well, he did, he did a very fine performance in the, in this program, the black rabbit
that he was brilliant in, brilliant, brilliant, brilliant, and he is much more, he's a wonderful
actor.
I've, I've had the misfortune, the, sorry, fortune of working with him many time, but
I will say Jason has, and I always say this to Jason too, and this is the great thing.
He is so funny.
Is Sean Yolentess.
He's the funniest person he's, his timing is absolutely impeccable that you cannot teach.
And I, and I said to you, Jason, all the time, I wish you do get back and do a couple
straight comedies.
You're so fucking good at comedies.
Well, if that's still made or denied, but you're denying us.
A comedy.
Why are you denying us?
They just don't make it anymore.
We have all the, make a show to his eight episode comedy show.
Yeah.
I'd love to, if they made those.
They do.
But you said that you wanted to do some more theater, does that right?
Yeah, yeah.
I'd love to do that.
And I would love to do some more sort of acting.
I just haven't, I just haven't felt like, I don't know, it's a whole different subject
about, I've enjoyed playing characters that aren't that character-y for lack of a better
term.
I kind of got turned off to watching actors act.
So I kind of like playing the straight man and the talent in doing less.
But now, starting to think, I might want to take on some other characters and sort of
do bigger, broader acting swings.
I think you can, I think you've earned the right to risk it.
Yeah.
It's not a question of risk or trusting talent, it's just a question of not, I haven't,
the roles that I've been attracted to, I would be overplaying them if I did, if I ran
instead of walked.
Jason, I can't see you overplaying anything.
I could be honest with you.
Thank you.
Yeah.
Because your taste is exquisite.
Well, you're excellent.
Very nice.
All you guys have got that.
Thank you.
And that is what is so good about you.
So trust yourself a bit more than you do.
Maybe we should have a private session.
Yeah.
I would, I would fuck, I'd pay handsomely just to be able to witness it and be a part of it.
I'd love to have a session with Brian and Jason.
Oh my God.
Sean, how fun with that.
We're halfway there.
I know.
We heard it out.
Jason, this is what you need.
You need a mentor.
You didn't even fucking know it.
Yeah.
Brian.
Brian, you have, you've mentored us all with your talent for so many years.
We are so grateful for you coming on here.
We're so, we wish you just continued success and and continue and a lot of success with Glen
Rothen, your film that you've directed.
Congratulations.
I can't wait to see it.
Brian Cox, you are an absolute legend and icon and thank you for being part of our show
today.
Well, this was an abs, I mean, this is an honor to be honest with you, to talk to you
three guys.
Oh, so incredible.
And talent.
It's an honor.
It's been an honor.
So thank you.
Thank you, darling.
Thank you, Brian.
Thank you, buddy.
Thanks, Brian.
Thank you, Brian.
The great Brian Cox.
See you, bye.
Amazing.
Have a good day.
Take care.
Bye, bye.
Bye.
Bye.
Wait, you know what?
First of all, he's an absolute delight.
Like, I had no idea.
No.
He was so funny and like.
He's so funny.
He's so funny.
You know?
Like, light and breezy.
I had the opportunity.
I said this to Brian.
He came to a screening of our film a few months ago and I got to talk to him afterwards
and he, um, and went out, like, 30 years ago, he was friends with somebody I knew.
And I was out here as one of my first times in California.
They said, we're going to go by, um, Brian Cox is renting a house in the Hollywood Hills
and, and we're going to go watch the Oscars at his house.
At his house.
Okay.
And he was renting.
So I went up.
It was like, one of my first time ever, like doing that thing, you know, you've come from
not here and you go up into the Hollywood Hills to a house and you're like, oh, my God,
look at the lights and everything.
And then you go in and here's this guy who's this working actor, a claimed working actor
and going to his house and I was about, you know, 25 and going into his house and just,
and just being, and he was, you know, just sort of blown away, not knowing what to say
and, you know, and all you want to do is get a job.
And he was so kind and so gracious.
I was just some stupid ass kid.
I'm not much to remember now, but he was, I'm some stupid ass kid and he was so welcoming
and generous and, and, and, and maybe feel, and I was like, what a fucking great.
Yeah.
You can tell.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Why don't you tell, why don't you, you should have told him that story because I didn't
want to cry.
Oh, well.
Yeah.
Okay.
Or have him say no recollection.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Turn the tables on us.
Did I?
No.
Does it sound like me?
No.
Well, you need to do.
What about you doing theater, too?
I think Jason would be fucking brilliant in a play.
I don't know if I have the character for it or the voice or the voice that you've got
to reach the back row with your pipes.
Yeah.
You got to reach the Italian guy in the back.
You know, you always want to be like, oh, whatever you do, do not take the Lesington bus
and then go across out and then cross back like a Neil Simon play.
Well, he was delightful.
I love that guy.
He is a delight.
He really, really was.
What a great, great actor.
What a great career.
Oh, my God.
I know.
He's going to slow down at all.
No.
Waiting for the next gig.
Yeah.
And I love that he's doing like radio plays and it's just, oh, God, he loves that.
Kind of does it all.
The good thing is Sean is just making us hang here, making us come up with a buy.
You know, Sean is coming.
I got one.
I got one that may or may not have just popped up.
Oh.
Yeah.
Oh, no.
You know, wait, Sean, I have one.
We're doing a sorry.
I have one.
Well, you know, it was great.
And I like what a great, simple name to remember.
You know, if you can't remember his name, you could always recall.
Oh, yeah.
What's his name?
Ryan Cox.
Ryan.
Wait, I don't get that.
I still don't get it.
Ben it sent it to all of us.
It said by him.
Ryan Cox.
I still don't get it.
What is that?
Ryan.
Ryan.
Oh.
So dumb.
His music.
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