Brian Cox: Donald Trump would be a boring role

The role of former President Donald Trump not so “dramaturgically” interesting To Brian Cox.

Following last Sunday’s jaw-dropping “Succession” twist, Cox spent most of the week on a media victory lap to discuss his five-year run as media mogul and terrible parent Logan Roy. While he took every opportunity to praise Jesse Armstrong’s writing and explain the lengths he went to to keep the twist a secret, the outspoken actor also managed to take a few shots at Trump.

In an interview Deadline, Cox voiced her thoughts on the similarities between Roy and Trump. While “Succession” proved that Cox can play an aging right-wing demagogue as well as anyone, he said he doesn’t find Trump nearly as interesting as Roy. The Scottish actor explained why he would never play Trump if given the chance.

“You know, somebody said you’d like to play Donald Trump someday,” Cox recalled. “And I said no. Because I think it’s such a bad scenario, the Donald Trump scenario. But then I look at Donald Trump and think, God, he’s so lost. He’s just a lost individual and he’s so full of shit, and he’s full of shit because he’s an abused child. He really is an abused child, Donald Trump. A tragic figure.”

But while Cox won’t be playing the impeached former president anytime soon, he explained that his enthusiasm for playing characters he finds morally and politically repugnant hasn’t diminished.

“While many of these very right-wing individuals are repulsive, from an actor’s point of view, ironically, when the actor puts himself in the shoes of these guys, he begins to understand where they’re coming from,” he said.

Passing on the supposed opportunity to play Trump shouldn’t be too much of a setback for Cox’s career, as he has busy projects now that his “succession” obligations are over. He plans to return to the London stage later this year in the West End revival of Eugene O’Neil’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night and make his feature directorial debut in the upcoming Scottish drama Glenrothan.

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