The acclaimed actor on his belief that ‘stupid’ humans will evolve, his love of classic movies, and why he won’t be getting cremated
My morning ritual is …
Get up. Have a coffee. Listen to the news on the radio. I listen to the BBC, which I still have great respect for. I always like to listen to the Today programme.
I feel optimistic about …
… the fact that we’re still evolving and we haven’t got there yet, but possibly we will get there. I think we will. We’re struggling really badly as a race. We’re in a bad, bad way. But I know in my heart that what is in me is in other people as well, and we will come together. Things will get better. Humans beings are deeply, deeply stupid, but we will evolve.
What makes me angry …
Poverty, and the way people are treated, the way people are written off. In my hometown, Dundee, we have fifth generation heroin addicts, and you ask: ‘Why?’ It’s because they’re ignored. They’ve been ignored forever. I grew up in poverty. I went to a school where I was probably trained to be ignored but I will not be ignored.
If I wasn’t an actor, I’d have liked to become …
… an architect. I was fascinated by physical shape in houses or other buildings. Once you’ve encountered Frank Lloyd Wright, that changes you forever.
The habit that has served me best in life is …
… persistence: being persistent and not letting go. I’ve done that most of my life.
The habit I’ve successfully kicked is …
… overeating. How? Ozempic [a medication for type 2 diabetes]. I’m diabetic. I also go to the gym three times a week.
My sources of joy are …
… my wife [actor Nicole Ansari-Cox], my family and a good movie. I like the old movies from the past, like Howard Hawks’ Bringing Up Baby, or The Philadelphia Story with Katharine Hepburn, and I’m a great fan of [US actor] Spencer Tracy, so anything with Spencer Tracy, I’m there.
When things get tough I …
… breathe. I just keep breathing. You have to breathe. That is the one gift you have: the gift of breath, the gift of life. When things get tough, you have to breathe even more, more steadily and deeper.
We’re struggling really badly as a race. But I know in my heart that what is in me is in other people as well, and we will come together. Things will get better
The book I wish everyone would read is …
… Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning is probably my favourite book. It’s about a Jewish psychiatrist, a survivor of the Nazi’s concentration camps, who dealt with people in Auschwitz during the war.
The big thing I’ve changed my mind about in life is …
… the notion of God. I was born a Catholic. I’m an atheist now. I’ve been on spiritual journeys. I understand why we have the notion of God, because it seems it gives a point to our existence. I’ve come to the conclusion that maybe we’re being a bit arrogant about that and that there might not be a point or a reason to our existence at all.
What keeps me awake at night …
I love sleep and I love my bed, but I find it difficult to go to bed because I’ve got so much going on. I always lie in bed, much to my wife’s annoyance, playing a game on my smartphone – a little game called Pin Out Master, where you have to unstitch things.
The thing that motivates me most of all is …
… work. I’m 78 and I still enjoy what I do. I believe in work. I think life is about work.
Brian Cox stars in Make it Happen, a new satirical play about the Royal Bank of Scotland’s role in the 2008 financial crash. Image: David Vintiner
My parents taught me …
My mother had a great sense of humour and my dad was wonderfully kind. I think my dad taught me about kindness and understanding, and my mother used to make me laugh a lot, even in her eccentricity – in fact, particularly in her eccentricity.
I have this theory that …
… theories don’t work. Evidence is preferable. I think you need some kind of tract. I just did a programme on archaeology, where we were looking at the southern part of Saudi Arabia: the Nabateans [an ancient Arab people]. The archaeologists were complaining about, were worried about, cremation because there will be no bodies in the future. There will be nothing to discover. I’ve decided I won’t be cremated, I’ll be buried, because at least somebody in the future can look at my bones and say: “Look at this creature here.” By burning bodies, it’s getting rid of the evidence.
I’d like to tell my younger self …
‘Keep doing what you’re doing. You’re doing the right job’. I don’t want to be smug about this, but it’s about consciousness. I didn’t realise how conscious I was at the time, because of the horrors and the family situation that was going on around me. But I would tell my younger self: ‘Do what you do best.’
Brian Cox stars in Make it Happen, a new satirical play about the Royal Bank of Scotland’s role in the 2008 financial crash, written by James Graham and directed by Andrew Panton, which previews at Dundee Rep theatre from July 18 to July 26 ahead of a run at the Festival Theatre, Edinburgh from July 30 to August 9 as part of the Edinburgh International Festival
Main image: Colin Hutton
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