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Succession’s Brian Cox takes a swipe at ‘overrated’ Johnny Depp in new memoir

Brian Cox
Brian Cox took a swipe at Johnny Depp and other Hollywood colleagues.

Succession star Brian Cox has hit out at Johnny Depp and other Hollywood colleagues in his new memoir.

In the tell-all book, aptly titled Putting The Rabbit In The Hat (out now) the Scottish star refers to Depp as "overblown" and "overrated".

He especially criticised Depp's performances in Tim Burton's 1990 film Edward Scissorhands and the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, which Cox called "very much the 'Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow' show."

"Personable though I’m sure he is, [Johnny Depp] is so overblown, so overrated." Cox writes.

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“I mean, Edward Scissorhands. Let’s face it, if you come on with hands like that and pale, scarred-face make-up, you don’t have to do anything. And he didn’t. And subsequently, he’s done even less,” continued Cox (via USA Today).

American actor Johnny Depp on the set of Edward Scissorhands, written and directed by Tim Burton. (Photo by Twentieth Century Fox Pictures/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images)
Johnny Depp on the set of Edward Scissorhands, written and directed by Tim Burton. (Twentieth Century Fox Pictures/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images)

“But people love him. They don’t love him so much these days of course," he added, referencing Depp’s recent scandals involving his divorce to ex-wife Amber Heard.

Read more: Johnny Depp says he'll perform as Captain Jack at children's parties 'at this point'

Next on Cox's hit list was his The Glimmer Man co-star Steven Seagal, which he called “as ludicrous in real life as he appears onscreen.”

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 25: Steven Seagal at Academy Awards Show, March 25,1996 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Getty Images/Bob Riha, Jr.)
Steven Seagal at Academy Awards Show, March 25,1996 in Los Angeles, California. (Getty Images/Bob Riha, Jr.)

“He radiates a studied serenity, as though he’s on a higher plane to the rest of us. And while he’s certainly on a different plane, no doubt about that, it’s probably not a higher one.”

And while Cox praised Spike Lee as "simply one of the best directors I've ever worked with” he didn’t have kind words for Edward Norton — with whom he worked on Lee’s 25th Hour — saying he’s "a nice lad but a bit of a pain in the arse because he fancies himself as a writer-director."

Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino was also criticised bu Cox.

Quentin Tarantino also found himself in Cox’s path. On him, the actor had to say: "I find his work meretricious. It’s all surface. Plot mechanics in place of depth. Style where there should be substance.

“I walked out of Pulp Fiction," confessed Cox, who added that he did sit through the director’s latest movie, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, saying: “it wasn't as bad as I'd feared, it still wasn't good enough to convert me.”

Still, Cox admitted that he would still take the chance to star in a Tarantino movie: "If the phone rang, I'd do it."

Watch: Brian Cox return as Logan Roy in season 3 of Succession