{"id":511345,"date":"2026-04-03T20:31:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T20:31:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/511345\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T20:31:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T20:31:17","slug":"brian-cox-comes-after-johnny-depp-ian-mckellen-edward-norton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/511345\/","title":{"rendered":"Brian Cox comes after Johnny Depp, Ian McKellen, Edward Norton"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brian Cox went on a rant against multiple A-list actors, including Johnny Depp and Ian McKellen, in a new interview with the Times UK<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The \u201cSuccession\u201d star called Depp \u201cso overblown\u201d and \u201cso overrated,\u201d noting in the interview published Friday that he was relieved he turned down Jonathan Pryce\u2019s role in the \u201cPirates of the Caribbean\u201d franchise.<\/a><\/p>\n

As for McKellen, Cox said that his \u201cX2\u201d co-star\u2019s acting is \u201cnot to my taste.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brian Cox slammed multiple A-listers, including Ian McKellen (whom he\u2019s pictured with above in 2024), in a new interview with the Times UK. Alan Chapman\/Dave Benett\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Cox called Johnny Depp (seen above at the Red Sea International Film Festival 2025) \u201cso overblown\u201d and \u201cso overrated.\u201d Getty Images for The Red Sea International Film Festival<\/p>\n

Cox also took aim at Edward Norton, whom he said is \u201ca pain in the arse,\u201d and Kevin Spacey, whom he described as \u201ca stupid, stupid man.\u201d<\/p>\n

Directors and writers weren\u2019t safe from Cox\u2019s wrath, either. <\/p>\n

The 79-year-old called Quentin Tarantino \u201cmeretricious,\u201d Michael Caton-Jones\u00a0\u201ca complete arsehole\u201d and David Hare a \u201csee you next Tuesday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cox said that Edward Norton (both pictured above with Matt Petersen and Nicole Ansari-Cox) is \u201ca pain in the arse.\u201d Getty Images for Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator<\/p>\n

Kevin Spacey (seen outside a London courthouse in July 2023) was called \u201ca stupid man\u201d by Cox in the interview. REUTERS<\/p>\n

In addition, Cox, who played Winston Churchill in the 2017 biopic \u201cChurchill,\u201d vented about Gary Oldman winning the Best Actor Oscar <\/a>for his role as the UK Prime Minister in \u201cDarkest Hour,\u201d released the same year. <\/p>\n

Oldman\u2019s performance<\/a>, Cox said, was \u201ccobblers\u201d and \u201ca crowd-pleasing farrago.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cox also disagreed with Margot Robbie being cast as Cathy<\/a> in the new adaptation of the 1939 film \u201cWuthering Heights,\u201d which is one of Cox\u2019s favorite movies.<\/p>\n

\u201cMargot Robbie is far too beautiful for that role,\u201d he told the Times UK.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, I think there should be something more of the Gypsy about her but it\u2019s wrong of me to judge,\u201d he added. \u201cIt may be a brilliant film.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cox also dissed Gary Oldman\u2019s Oscar-winning performance as Winston Churchill in the 2017 biopic (Oldman is seen above at the 2025 Emmy Awards). Getty Images<\/p>\n

Margot Robbie\u2019s casting in \u201cWuthering Heights\u201d was also criticized by Cox in the interview (Robbie is pictured above at the \u201cWuthering Heights\u201d premiere in Australia). Getty Images<\/p>\n

Cox aired his beef with Daniel Day-Lewis, as well, which started when he criticized his \u201cSuccession\u201d co-star Jeremy Strong\u2019s method acting <\/a>in 2023. Lewis, who was Strong\u2019s inspiration, told Cox last year to get off his \u201csoapbox.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

When asked if he\u2019s reached out to Day-Lewis, Cox had a cheeky response. He said he hadn\u2019t \u201cbecause it\u2019s got nothing to do with Dan Day-Lewis. Dan Day-Lewis, he\u2019s discreet. He never upsets [the filming process].\u201d<\/p>\n

Cox also revealed that he didn\u2019t reach out to Daniel Day-Lewis (seen above at the 2013 Oscars) after they fought over method acting. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Cox (pictured above at a British GQ party in London) also brought up how he dissed \u201cSuccession\u201d co-star Jeremy Strong\u2019s method acting. Dave Benett\/Getty Images for GQ<\/p>\n

The Emmy Award winner added that he didn\u2019t want to talk more about Strong, 47, because his former on-screen son has \u201cbegged me to stop talking about him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a good actor, Jeremy. He\u2019s a wonderful actor. It\u2019s just all the bollocks that goes with it. You watch children \u2014 they don\u2019t say, \u2018What\u2019s my motivation?\u2019 They just do it!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a good actor, Jeremy. He\u2019s a wonderful actor. It\u2019s just all the bollocks that goes with it,\u201d Cox said. Getty Images<\/p>\n

The \u201cX2\u201d actor (seen above at the BAFTA Filmmakers Dinner 2026) also said he doesn\u2019t care if he loses friends because of his bluntness. Dave Benett\/Getty Images for dunhill<\/p>\n

After dissing so many stars in the interview, Cox was asked if being so blunt had lost him friends or caused him problems.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I don\u2019t know yet if it\u2019s caused me problems,\u201d he replied with a laugh. \u201cI mean, my wife keeps saying, \u2018Brian, be careful. Brian, be careful.’\u201d<\/p>\n

Cox added, \u201cI think, \u2018F\u2013k it, I don\u2019t want to be careful anymore! I\u2019ll be 80 this year. F\u2013k it! I\u2019m gonna say what I want to say.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Brian Cox went on a rant against multiple A-list actors, including Johnny Depp and Ian McKellen, in a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":511346,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[28267,61761,30691,2755,37771,71134,96,7210,38706,92335,16318,39940,1827,2839,33395,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-511345","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-actors","9":"tag-brian-cox","10":"tag-celebrity-feuds","11":"tag-celebrity-news","12":"tag-daniel-day-lewis","13":"tag-edward-norton","14":"tag-entertainment","15":"tag-gary-oldman","16":"tag-ian-mckellen","17":"tag-jeremy-strong","18":"tag-johnny-depp","19":"tag-kevin-spacey","20":"tag-margot-robbie","21":"tag-movies","22":"tag-quentin-tarantino","23":"tag-uk","24":"tag-united-kingdom","25":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=511345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511345\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/511346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=511345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=511345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=511345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}