But to the 75-year-old Cox, his character—an affection-withholding, profanity-prone global media magnate—is simply “misunderstood.” In an interview with Parade.com, Cox explained that the man who humiliates staffers and family, who dismisses all who displease him with a growled “f–k off,” may not comprehend all of his kids’ problems. Nevertheless, he believes that the Roy offspring—presidential non-contender Connor (Alan Ruck), sarcastic C-suiter Roman (Kieran Culkin), onetime heir-apparent Shiv (Sarah Snook), and wild card Ken—are all “victims of their entitlement.” Will the uber-rich siblings’ privilege—along with that of Shiv’s hapless husband Tom (MatthewMacfadyen) and wannabe-scion cousin Greg (NicholasBraun)—result in all-out war on the show’s third season? Ahead of the highly anticipated Succession Season 3 premiere on Sun., Oct. 17, Cox talked with Parade.com about a possible reason for Logan’s bad behavior, how his real hometown became his alter ego’s birthplace, and gaining a new level of fame for saying two little words: “F*** off.”
I read that you had COVID. How are you feeling now? Any long-haul issues?
On no, I had antibodies. I had COVID probably in January 2020—and I didn’t even know I had it. I only found out when I had to go back to the U.K. in August of last year. It was my son’s 50th birthday, and it was, more importantly, my sister’s 90th birthday. So I was trying to get back, and had to do a blood test. And [they said] you’ve got lots of antibodies [and] you’ve had it. So the only reaction I had was… very mild.
What’s the most surprisingly fun part of playing a short-tempered, foul-mouthed, tyrannical billionaire who always expects to get his way?
Well, I think [laughs] that speaks for itself. He always expects to get his way. I think it’s interesting because… everybody goes on about how horrible Logan is. But I look at it from Logan’s perspective. He’s got children who are extremely disappointing. He gives them every break, every break. And that’s the key thing: Logan loves his children. [But] it’s somewhat difficult to negotiate with your children when they’re misbehaving…. But then there’s no smoke without fire. And it comes from whatever Logan’s— we haven’t gone into what Logan’s background is. But we know it’s a background of some kind of abuse. Because when he swam in the first season, he had these marks on his back where he was whipped, beaten. I don’t go too deeply into it because I don’t want to obfuscate what’s actually happening at the moment. But it does add to who he is, you know? So I have a great deal of empathy for Logan. There are certain elements about disappointment when you’re a certain age. He’s a good 10 years older than I am. And when you get to a certain age, you realize how disappointing humanity is. And you see it constantly, every day, the disappointment. So I think Logan and I share that.
I read that showrunner Jesse Armstrong likes to play to the cast’s natural strengths. What did he pick up from you that the writers incorporated into Logan, besides making his hometown Dundee, Scotland?
Well, that was the main thing. You know the writers are very—in a good way—secretive. I mean, my thing is, I like the doing of it. I learned very early on in my career not to plug myself into the watching of it. Because the watching, well, you’re always thinking, Well, why didn’t they choose this? Or why did they choose that? And with Jesse, who—you know, I have such respect for Jesse’s writing. I just think, Well, anything goes. I will do whatever you require me to do. But then he did this thing where suddenly after nine episodes that we’d recorded—and I’ve been playing this sort of Canadian-American mutt [laughs]—they changed his birthplace. The writers didn’t even tell me. It was Peter Friedman [who plays COO Frank Vernon] who told me. He was doing ADR, which is dubbing, and he said, “They’ve changed your birthplace.” And I said, “What, where?" And he said, “Dundee Scotland.” And I said, “But that’s where I’m from.” And then I went to Jesse and I said, “What’s going on?" And all he said to me was, “We thought it would be a little surprise.” I said, “It’s a hell of a bloody surprise." [laughs]
When the show shoots in New York, I read that cast members get together for restaurant dinners. Do you go to those and who’s the most fun to hang out with?
I tend not to because I’ve got my own family, and I tend to stick with that. I mean, we hang out. We hang out more on [location] like when we were in Italy, or when we were in Croatia. Or even in the first season, when we were in England, there was much more social interplay with the cast. But we are a very happy family. It’s a great bunch of actors. I feel extremely privileged to be part of that group.
Has playing Logan made you understand and appreciate your own adult kids more? And is there anything about your performance that they recognize? Are they intimidated by Logan in the same way his Succession kids are?
My kids are teenagers—one of them is about to be 20 in January—and I’ve got 50-year-olds. They like my performance a lot and love the show. They haven’t said they recognize anything. I think there are elements. Certainly, the thing that’s affected me a little bit about Logan is my language. My language has gotten a lot worse. [Laughs]
You’re an acclaimed Shakespearean actor who’s played King Lear, Winston Churchill and J. Edgar Hoover. But you may end up being best known for saying, “F–k off.” Is that okay with you?
That’s life, nothing you can do about it. That’s the way it goes, you know? Logan is part of my journey. And I’m very grateful for it. I don’t knock it in any way. I don’t mind—actually, it’s a wonderful thing when somebody comes up to you and says—I did a show on Broadway recently. And I came out, and two young people were waiting, and they said, “Can you tell us to fk off?” And of course, one is only too happy to tell them to fk off. [Laughs.] Succession Season 3 premieres Sun., Oct. 17 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Next, You Season 4 Is a Go! What We Know So Far About the Next Installment of Netflix’s Penn Badgley Thriller
