Brian Cox on Jan. 15, 2024.Photo:Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
Brian Coxhas a bone to pick with the Oscars.The actor, who lends his voice to the new filmThe Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, reflected on his career in an interview withThe Hollywood Reporter, at one point sharing why he thinks the Academy Awards are “nonsense.““The Oscars are absolute nonsense because everything that’s judged in the Oscars, it’s not a year’s work. It’s just the work that comes out between Thanksgiving and Christmas,” said Cox, 78.“I think it makes those awards a fallacy quite honestly because there’s a lot of other good work that goes on outside of what they call Oscar season,” he added.While distributors often release their award-hopeful films near the end of the year when voting bodies make their picks for awards, there have been successful outliers with release dates earlier in the year. This past year’sBest Picture winner,Oppenheimer, was released in July, andEverything Everywhere All at Once,winner of seven major Oscarsin 2023, had a wide April release date.Cox’s comment came when asked about playing Winston Churchill in the 2017 filmChurchill, the same yearDarkest Hourcame out and resulted in aBest Actor Oscar win for Gary Oldman portraying the same historical figure.Brian Cox with his Emmy Award in 2001.Frank Trapper/Corbis via Getty"Our film came out in the summer, and it was a relatively independent film, so you haven’t got the power of the studios behind it,” Cox toldTHR, later adding, “So my film never even got a look, and I still think my performance is a better performance.“TheSuccessionstar is an Emmy and Golden Globe winner, though he has never been nominated for an Oscar.Elsewhere in the interview, Cox discusses playing the same character as Anthony Hopkins, Hannibal Lecter, in 1986’sManhunter, five years before Hopkins would star in the hitTheSilence of the Lambsand win an Oscar.Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.“I mean, it’s like playing Hamlet: Everybody’s going to have their own Hamlet. I chose to play it the way the director Michael Mann and I decided to play it. Tony played it brilliantly,” said Cox.He added, “Tony decided to take it down another route. And, of course, Tony’s was a huge success, and he got the Oscar and he made a lot of money out of it. I made something like 10 grand.“The nominations for the upcoming 2025 Oscars will be revealed Jan. 17, and the ceremony is slated for March 2 with host Conan O’Brien.The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrimis in theaters now.
Brian Coxhas a bone to pick with the Oscars.
The actor, who lends his voice to the new filmThe Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, reflected on his career in an interview withThe Hollywood Reporter, at one point sharing why he thinks the Academy Awards are “nonsense.”
“The Oscars are absolute nonsense because everything that’s judged in the Oscars, it’s not a year’s work. It’s just the work that comes out between Thanksgiving and Christmas,” said Cox, 78.
“I think it makes those awards a fallacy quite honestly because there’s a lot of other good work that goes on outside of what they call Oscar season,” he added.
While distributors often release their award-hopeful films near the end of the year when voting bodies make their picks for awards, there have been successful outliers with release dates earlier in the year. This past year’sBest Picture winner,Oppenheimer, was released in July, andEverything Everywhere All at Once,winner of seven major Oscarsin 2023, had a wide April release date.
Cox’s comment came when asked about playing Winston Churchill in the 2017 filmChurchill, the same yearDarkest Hourcame out and resulted in aBest Actor Oscar win for Gary Oldman portraying the same historical figure.
Brian Cox with his Emmy Award in 2001.Frank Trapper/Corbis via Getty
Frank Trapper/Corbis via Getty
“Our film came out in the summer, and it was a relatively independent film, so you haven’t got the power of the studios behind it,” Cox toldTHR, later adding, “So my film never even got a look, and I still think my performance is a better performance.”
TheSuccessionstar is an Emmy and Golden Globe winner, though he has never been nominated for an Oscar.
Elsewhere in the interview, Cox discusses playing the same character as Anthony Hopkins, Hannibal Lecter, in 1986’sManhunter, five years before Hopkins would star in the hitTheSilence of the Lambsand win an Oscar.
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
“I mean, it’s like playing Hamlet: Everybody’s going to have their own Hamlet. I chose to play it the way the director Michael Mann and I decided to play it. Tony played it brilliantly,” said Cox.
He added, “Tony decided to take it down another route. And, of course, Tony’s was a huge success, and he got the Oscar and he made a lot of money out of it. I made something like 10 grand.”
The nominations for the upcoming 2025 Oscars will be revealed Jan. 17, and the ceremony is slated for March 2 with host Conan O’Brien.
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrimis in theaters now.
source: people.com
