Succession: After creating a controversy by calling Johnny Depp “overrated”, Brian Cox clarified his comments during an interview with Yahoo Entertainment. The Succession actor commented that he didn’t mean to offend Depp, just pointed out some criticisms.
“What some people accused me of was my lack of respect, and I don’t really disrespect anyone involved in this profession because I know how difficult it is,” explained Cox.
“Now, I may have reservations about their talent, but I certainly don’t disrespect them. And my reservations about Johnny Depp are minimal—absolutely minimal. You know, I think he’s over the top sometimes, but I actually think he’s also done a considerable job. Some of his work was actually extraordinarily good.”
Understand the controversy
Cox made several comments about some Hollywood celebrities in his memoir Putting the Rabbit in the Hat. Scheduled to be published in 2022, the book had some excerpts revealed late last year by USA Today.
In one of the excerpts, Cox wrote that he declined to participate in Pirates of the Caribbean as he considered the franchise “a solo show by Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow”.
The actor then wrote that he sees Depp as “very exaggerated, and very overrated. Look at Edward Scissorhands. Let’s face it: if you arrive on set with those prosthetics on your hands, and the makeup full of scars on your face, no. need to do nothing more. And he didn’t. Subsequently, he did even less. Still, people love him. Or used to love him,” Cox concluded.
The actor also said that he doesn’t like Quentin Tarantino’s films very much, but that he would work with the director, “if the phone rang with a [good] proposal”.
Among those praised are fellow director Spike Lee — with whom Cox worked on the film The Last Night — and actor Alan Rickman. Famous for playing Professor Snape in Harry Potter, Cox said he was “one of the sweetest, kindest, nicest and smartest men I’ve ever met”.
