Brian Cox, the Scottish actor best known for playing patriarch Logan Roy in Succession, has lashed out at Johnny Depp and questioned his skills as a performer.
It was in his memoir, Putting the Rabbit in the Hat, that Cox attacked the Kentucky actor and claimed he is “overrated” in the film industry.
Another thing with Pirates of the Caribbean is that it’s very much the ‘Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow’ show, and Depp, personable though I’m sure he is, is so overblown, so overrated,” said Cox.
“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. But people love him. Or they did love him. They don’t love him so much these days, of course.”
Those words came as a surprise to Depp’s fans, but he was not alone taking criticism. Quentin Tarantino was also targeted by Cox, calling his work “ridiculous” and also “shallow”.
Cox later settled the controversy and apologised to his fellow actor on television. It was on Jimmy Kimmel’s show where he spoke again about Depp.
“You know how it is, you look for the easy joke and I went for the easy joke. That’s what happened,” said Cox.
“I regretted it a little bit because I’m not normally like that, I was just being a little glib,” he confessed in the interview, apologising to the Golden Globe winner.
Brian Cox also had another controversy indirectly related to Johnny Depp. The British actor revealed that he could have participated in the Pirates of the Caribbean saga, but turned it down.
He stated, as reported by Variety, that his role was “the most thankless” in the film. He also pointed out that a large part of the film is taken up by Jack Sparrow, the character played by Depp.
