Brian Cox

Speaker 30:01

BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts.

Presenter0:04

Hello, I'm Lauren Laverne and this is the Desert Island Discs podcast. Every week I ask my guests to choose the eight tracks, book and luxury they'd want to take with them if they were cast away to a desert island. For rights reasons, the music is shorter than the original broadcast. I hope you enjoy listening.

Presenter0:44

My castaway this week is Brian Cox. He's one of the UK's most successful and experienced actors. He recently celebrated his 60th year in the business by collecting a Golden Globe for his Tour de Force performance as billionaire patriarch Logan Roy in HBO's acclaimed series Succession. Lauded equally for his performances on stage and screen, he won an Olivier for his Titus Andronicus, played King Lear at the National, and has over 100 film roles to his name, including The Born Identity, Braveheart, and Manhunter, in which he played the first on-screen incarnation of Hannibal Lecter. Perhaps fittingly, his appetite for both film and theatre started at home in Dundee, where he grew up going to his local picture house four times a week and working in the local rep when he was still a teenager, though in those days he had to clean the stage rather than perform on it. He says, I've done it my own way. You can't sit back and say, I've arrived. The only way you arrive is when you're dead. Brian Cox, welcome to Desert Island Discs.

Brian Cox1:42

Did I really say that? You did, Barney so.

Presenter1:43

You did for any so

Presenter1:45

Welcome.

Brian Cox1:46

Thank you.

Presenter1:46

So Brian, as I say, you're a very, very flexible actor. You've played villains and heroes of plenty, including Churchill and Samat Busby. Do you have a favorite type of character? Are villains more fun to play in general?

Brian Cox1:47

Yeah.

Brian Cox1:59

They always say the devil has the best tunes. And uh so yeah. I mean I at one point in my life oh this was about twenty five years ago I I suddenly thought, Why am I playing all these nasty people? And I kinda worried for a bit, but it it didn't last for more than ten minutes.

Presenter2:14

You've recently been playing the villainous media mogul Logan Roy then in HBO's Hit Succession and so well that, as I say, you were awarded a Golden Globe in January this year. Is he based on anyone in particular?

Brian Cox2:25

Not really. I mean, everybody thinks he's about Conrad Black or Rupert Murdoch or you know, they they all they all have theories about who it is. I I think Logan and I both have one thing in common. We find the human experiment rather disappointing.

Presenter2:41

So there's a misanthropy that you shared.

Brian Cox2:43

Oh, yeah. I flirt with misanthropy all the time, but uh I'm an optimist, so I always come down on the the good side.

Presenter2:52

I did read that when you're out in public, a lot of people, including fellow actors, now want you to repeat some of Logan's more choice lines.

Brian Cox2:58

Choice lines.

Presenter3:00

What's been the most peculiar request that you've had?

Brian Cox3:03

Well, it was at a Me Too meeting with Ronan Faro and uh it was very serious. I was invited by the actress um Rosanna Arquette. She was actually having this launch, book launch. So I went along and then as it ended I suddenly found myself surrounded by a lot of ladies. Not all of them, I mean, I don't want to exaggerate, but one, maybe two, did ask me the inevitable. Could they video me telling them to

Brian Cox3:32

F off.

Brian Cox3:33

What did you say?

Presenter3:34

What did you say?

Brian Cox3:35

And I said

Brian Cox3:36

Is that really appropriate at a Me Too meeting? But I think that's also to do with the kind of confusion that we live in at the moment, you know. And it's also what the series is about. It's about people they kind of love this this sort of

Brian Cox3:52

naked ambition of somebody like uh Logan, but at the same time they go, Oh, yeah, we we lo we love to hate him, but actually they love to love him as well. It's kind of complex.

Presenter4:02

It's time to go to the music. What's your first disc going to be and why?

Brian Cox4:05

This is Johnny Cash, Simon and Galfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water. He's the greatest, really, and this comes from his America 4th album, which is his last album. And it's a way of getting best of both worlds, because it's Simon Galfunkel, and it was a song that meant a lot to me in 69, I think, is when it came out. I'm not sure about that. It's the right date. But I loved that song. And then when you hear Johnny sing it, this is an old man who's talking about a bridge over troubled water and it's his life. And it's incredibly moving. It's an incredibly moving rendition of the song. I love it.

Speaker 14:44

And friends just can't be found.

Speaker 14:50

Like a bridge over troubled water.

Speaker 14:58

I will lay me down.

Speaker 15:02

Like a bridge over troubled water.

Speaker 15:10

I will lay me down.

Presenter5:13

Bridge Over Troubled Water, sung by Johnny Cash. Brian Cooks, I wondered about research, especially when it comes to playing real life people. You very memorably played Churchill in twenty seventeen. How do you prepare for a role like that?

Brian Cox5:27

Well with Churchill, you know, you have to use your investigating skills, you have to find out what the man was. I mean, Churchill was an interesting character because he was a construct. You know, the hat, the cigar, the V-sign, just his whole meeland was created. And it was created for an effect, and it had a tremendous effect, because he was, you know, he had been a troubled character. He had made a lot of mistakes in his career, but this was his moment, this was his hour of glory, and it was the Second World War.

Presenter5:57

And what about the idea of playing someone who has been portrayed on screen and is, as you say, you know, an icon in their own right? That idea of finding a real person beneath that carapace?

Brian Cox6:06

Beneath

Brian Cox6:07

Alex von Tunselmann who wrote the script, it was a great premise. The premise was, and it's there is evidence, that he really didn't want D-Day to happen. And the reason was that Gallipoli, which he was responsible for, had been such a mess. So these beach invasions were something he was highly nervous of. And the loss of life, he was very nervous about it. And also he'd been ill just in the previous winter. So he was in a very fragile state. He wasn't the Winston Churchill we all know. I mean, he's still at the front and everything, and he was bold and brass, and he's dealing with everybody. But he was in a minority because everybody wanted it to go, and he was really on the shelf about it. So that's wonderful material to work on, a man in doubt, you know, especially a great man in doubt, you know. And that's what I really admire about Churchill, who can be he could be a right pain at some times, but he, in his moment of glory, he was he everything came together.

Presenter7:12

It's time to go to the music, Brian. Disc number two. Tell us why you've chosen this one.

Brian Cox7:16

Well, this is my childhood. I spent more than Saturday night at the movies. It's the Drifters Saturday night at the movies. But I spent all my time at the movies. So I know what that was. I know what the movies is. Not just Saturday night, but every night at the movies. And if the song was called Every Night at the Movies, it would be more accurate. But it's because it's Saturday night at the movies, and it's a great song. And the Drifters are a great group.

Speaker 17:40

Saturday night at the movies Who cares what picture you see?

Speaker 17:47

When you're giving your baby lash, row in the battery

Speaker 17:53

And a pop party from the candy stand makes it all sing twice as good as

Speaker 18:09

Hello

Presenter8:10

The blissful sound of the drifters Brian Cox taking you back to every night. Yeah, every movie. So, what are your earliest memories of acting? You grew up going to the pictures a lot, but do you remember acting yourself?

Brian Cox8:13

Yeah, every night at the movies.

Brian Cox8:20

Yeah, well um my dad died when I was eight and my mum had a series of very severe nervous breakdowns. So she had electric shock treatment so she was institutionalised for quite a lot of my childhood. But until that happened, until I was eight, life was blissful, really very happy. But the thing that my dad used to do was on New Year, we had a window recess and there was a bunker where we kept the coal and there were curtains. And my sister May, who was a very flamboyant singer, wonderful singer, my sister, and she used to say, presenting Brian Cox. And she would swing open the curtains and I would do Jolson impersonations. And I would do Jolson with the actions and everything. And of course, the thing was one o'clock in the morning on New Year's Day.

Speaker 18:29

Uh

Presenter8:29

So she was

Speaker 18:29

Yeah.

Speaker 18:32

Okay.

Speaker 18:58

Um

Brian Cox9:07

There would be a lot of drunken people in the room, but they were so giving. And I just thought, wow, this is good.

Presenter9:14

You remember the applause?

Brian Cox9:15

I remembered it, you know, from and I was about two and a half, three.

Presenter9:16

Yeah.

Brian Cox9:19

Yo

Presenter9:19

You were born in Dundee and you were the much younger brother of five siblings. And your parents worked locally in the in the local mills?

Brian Cox9:27

My dad worked in the mill initially, but he was the youngest of thirteen. I mean, and his sister was like twenty-five years older than him. So she actually had a pension and she put him in a shop. It's a little grocery shop in a place called Charles Street. He then started to run the shop, and he was very good at figures. He was very good at stuff. But the problem with my dad

Brian Cox9:48

And it was what came to roost after the war was he was and my mother always used to say, just remember, Brian, charity begins at home.

Brian Cox9:57

And he was very generous. And that's always the problem I've had about being a dad, because my dad was mythic. And so when you come to the reality of having four kids of your own, you cannot be a mythic father. So you go, What do I do? And how do you remember him? What do you what was he like? He was just sweet. He was kind. He was warm. He had a lovely chuckle. He was the he was the centre of the community. But unfortunately, at the same time, he did give, you know, people were poor and he gave people a lot of credit.

Speaker 110:24

And he

Brian Cox10:27

He died within three weeks of his diagnosis. So he had pancreatic cancer, so he died within three weeks. We were left with debts. We were left and my mum had a breakdown and it was it just all went belly up. It was horrific.

Presenter10:32

He died.

Presenter10:39

You were just eight when that happened. I mean, it must have been an extraordinarily difficult time.

Brian Cox10:41

Time we

Brian Cox10:43

I just went into survival mode, you know, and that's what's sustained me throughout my life. Um, with this present crisis, I'm currently in survival mode.

Presenter10:53

Then what's that like?

Brian Cox10:53

Yeah.

Brian Cox10:54

Really you keep in touch with yourself. You keep in touch with your inner person. And you keep in touch with that wee boy. When I teach'cause I teach d drama and stuff, and I always say to my students, always carry a picture of yourself as a child.

Brian Cox11:09

Because that's who you are. And never forget it. That wee person is who you are. That person of wonder, that person of amazement, that person of joy is who you are. And the rest is just propaganda that you've had to deal with.

Speaker 111:12

Mm-hmm.

Presenter11:24

And what's your picture of yourself, if you were gonna hold that up?

Brian Cox11:26

Well, I have a picture of me just sitting there on a little high stool holding this ball and I have this just gorgeous smile. And I look at it and I go, Wow And it's it's a fantastic reminder and it keeps you straight.

Presenter11:40

Mm-hmm.

Presenter11:42

It's time for your next piece of music, Brian, what's it gonna be and why?

Brian Cox11:45

It's the Holly's uh air that I breathe, but it is for me the divinative version, which is Katie Lang. I mean, Katie Lang has the most extraordinary voice. I came across her in the I was doing a thing from the Edinburgh Festival and I was introducing a series of shows in the early nineties.

Brian Cox12:03

And she was in concert, and I didn't know her as Canadian lassie. And I had her and I thought, wow And then I got drag and a couple of the other albums and then this song is just sensational.

Speaker 112:17

Sometimes

Speaker 112:20

All I need is the air that I breathe into.

Speaker 112:29

All I need is the air that I breathe into the

Speaker 112:38

All I need is the air that I breathe.

Presenter12:47

The air that I breathe, KD Lang. So Brian Cox, as you were saying, your mum, Molly, she was left a young widow of five children. Money obviously very tight. How did the family keep going through the period that followed your death?

Brian Cox13:00

Well, my sisters were married. They had their own husbands and families and uh you know, modest. I mean, my sister Betty, she lived in two rooms on a uh a landing with five families and toilets on the stair that they shared, two toilets. And I would stay with them on occasion. And I would s I mean there was literally two rooms. They Betty and Dave, my brother-in-law, they slept in the front room and my nephews, uh, David and

Speaker 113:17

Mm.

Speaker 113:18

Mm-hmm.

Brian Cox13:30

Kevin, they slept and I would occasionally sleep there with them, you know. It was you know, it was the way it was. And people had to be stoical. I mean, people don't quite realize that about, for instance, my sister Betty, that

Brian Cox13:41

There was a lot going on for people. It was tough. It was really tough.

Presenter13:44

It's really

Brian Cox13:46

And uh

Brian Cox13:47

You had to have a certain stoicism to deal with it all.

Presenter13:51

Having moved on in your life and stepping outside of that culture sometimes gives you a different perspective on it though. I wonder what you make of that, of looking back at those hard times and your attitude to money, for example, must have been influenced by what you experienced as a kid.

Brian Cox14:04

I've always had issues about m money because we didn't have any. When my mum came out of hospital finally and she got a small job, but she mainly lived off the widow's pension. So and her pension would come on a Friday and sometimes on a Thursday night, not always, but sometimes we wouldn't have any.

Brian Cox14:24

Food

Brian Cox14:25

And uh I would go across to the local fish and chip shop and we would get batter bits from the back of the pan and that would be our tea for a for a Thursday night. And uh it's kind of it sounds cliche, but it's true. But it instils in you a sense of value of stuff, you know. I'm a bit cautious. It can be a bit um

Presenter14:41

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 114:41

Yeah.

Brian Cox14:46

parsimonious at times. I did the Bill Maher show last week in the States and uh and he kept saying, Why are you socialists? Why are you socialists? I said, You Americans, you don't know the first thing about Socialism. You have no idea. You conflate it with reds under the beds. And I'll tell you why I'm a socialist.

Brian Cox15:03

Poverty

Brian Cox15:05

Poverty is what makes you a socialist. When you know poverty, then you know about how we have to take care of our people.

Presenter15:11

And I mean, what about in your own personal experiences aside from politics? I know that you can be a bit of a hoarder, apparently.

Brian Cox15:18

I am. Yeah. I have a thing about clothes.

Presenter15:20

Mm-hmm.

Brian Cox15:21

I have a bigger wardrobe than my wife, I am ashamed to say. But I love clothes. I don't wear them all the time, but I just do, you know. I think it's one of those things that you're left with. You know, it's a kind of

Presenter15:21

Uh

Brian Cox15:34

Insecurity that makes you do that. You know, there's a it has to come out somewhere and it comes out in the most extraordinary ways.

Presenter15:39

Right.

Presenter15:42

There's lots of help around these days for bereaved children. Was anyone able to help you or your family?

Brian Cox15:46

Yeah.

Brian Cox15:47

Not really. I just had to deal with it, you know.

Presenter15:50

Yeah.

Brian Cox15:51

I didn't go to my father's funeral, which I kind of sort of regret, uh but they put me in front of a television. I remember when my dad died, I remember coming home and uh

Brian Cox16:01

And I realized there was something wrong and then I walked in, the door was open and I could see it's very funny when the we have kind of great things like tragedies or even births or whatever you, there's always lots of food. So the the table was covered in food and I could just see my mum over the top of the table, you know, just in abject, you know, misery, you know, because of what had happened.

Presenter16:24

Yeah.

Presenter16:26

It's time for your fourth disc, Brian. What are we gonna hear, and why?

Brian Cox16:30

Well, in my generation, I came to London in the 60s and of course it was the time of incredible social mobility and it was the time of the Beatles. I once went to a party in Dundee and they had been playing. So I came to this party which was in Baxter Park and there was all these journalists from DC Thompson's and they were all very excited. I said who are these two guys lying fast asleep and one was George Harrison the other was Ring of Star.

Brian Cox17:00

So I never'cause they were ex they were clearly exhausted, the poor guys. I never met them, but that was that's all I saw them. And they said that they're asleep next door like that. And that was the great thing about the sixties was social mobility. I could get a grant, you know, this is what really annoys me now. I was a working class kid. I could get a grant. I could go to London. I could study my

Brian Cox17:23

Craft, my desire. I had all my expenses paid as well. But at the same time, it was this amazing music. And

Brian Cox17:32

these guys from Liverpool and all rock and rollers. And what I've chosen is'cause it was hard, you know, do you go for Hey Jew? Do you go for all the the usual stuff? And I thought, no, I want their rock and roll sign. So that's why I chose Get Back.

Speaker 117:49

But I knew it couldn't advance.

Speaker 117:53

Joe Joe lifted his home into some Arizona Awesome California grass.

Speaker 118:01

Goodbye.

Speaker 118:02

Goodbye.

Speaker 118:04

Get back to where you once been all

Speaker 118:10

Get back.

Speaker 118:12

Get back the way you once been out. Get back your

Presenter18:16

The Beatles and Get Back. So, Brian Cooks, your first encounter with the theatre then, I think that was at Dundee Rep. How did you end up working there?

Brian Cox18:25

I had these two great teachers, a guy called George Hackett and a guy called Bill Dewar.

Brian Cox18:29

My education was a complete disaster. I mean, really was. You know, I was designed to be a technical kid. I mean, I couldn't make any of those wooden boats. I mean, they looked like nothing on earth. So I was just completely hopeless. So it wasn't a school that I really had much hope for. But I had these two guys who clearly saw something in me and were very supportive of me. And one was an art teacher and the other one was an English teacher. But Bill Dewar introduced me to the rep. club and it was on four o'clock on a Wednesday they used to a bunch of kids would go to the rep and it was my first experience of live theatre and I was well I was 14 and I'd just seen Albert Finney at the same time so I knew what I wanted to do and I was very excited and what happened was that

Speaker 119:11

Yeah.

Brian Cox19:16

Bill said, Look, I've got this ex-student of mine. He's going to go to drama school and I said, What's that? He said, Well, it's a school for acting. He's going to Glasgow. He said, But his job is coming up at the Rep. He said, Maybe you should apply for it.

Brian Cox19:31

So I got an interview and I went to the office and remember they were asking me about classical music,'cause I knew nothing. I mean but we had a wonderful music teacher called Brad Cato and he'd been playing the trumpet march from Aida. So I kind of just said, well, you know.

Brian Cox19:51

I really do like Verdi.

Brian Cox19:53

I think Aida is one of my favorites, particularly the trumpet march.

Brian Cox19:58

Blood thevis.

Brian Cox20:00

He kind of knew that I was blagging it. So I got the job and I started and I used to take the money to the bank in the morning. I would run errands. I was a sort of general fact owner. I'd run errands for the secretary. And then in the evening, I had the task of mopping the stage. So that was what I had to do. I wasn't allowed backstage unless there was some scene shifting and then I would go back and do some scene shifting. But then when I got backstage, I eventually graduated to become probably the worst stage manager there ever been.

Speaker 120:17

Yeah.

Speaker 120:18

Yeah.

Presenter20:32

What

Brian Cox20:32

Yeah. Yeah.

Presenter20:32

Uh

Brian Cox20:32

Well I was constantly doing things like um I would be you know I'd be wa I'd be on the book you know and I'd be in the prompt corner and I'd be doing a play called I think it was Rollo and the actors are sort of doing this stuff and suddenly there's a p pause and I don't know and I can't see them and I'm on page twenty and they're probably on page forty now and I'm going

Presenter20:33

Why why so

Brian Cox20:56

And I'm looking and there's a tap on my shoulder and I turn and the actress says to me, telephone. I said, for me? She said, no, on stage.

Presenter21:04

He was supposed to make the phone right now.

Brian Cox21:06

I was supposed to ring the phone.

Presenter21:07

Uh

Brian Cox21:08

I was hopeless. I'm surprised they didn't fire me, but they didn't.

Presenter21:12

Let's take a break for some music, what are we gonna hear, and why?

Brian Cox21:15

This is a song that's actually relatively new to me. I didn't know this song until quite recently. And I heard it and I was completely blown away. I've always liked Jacques Brell, but apparently he did the Man from Romania. He actually did it in the theatre in Paris. And this is The Impossible Dream.

Speaker 121:34

Revere an a possible race.

Speaker 121:41

Hotel Shanghai.

Speaker 121:45

Did he pause?

Speaker 121:48

Bore dinner, possibly.

Speaker 121:54

So

Speaker 121:57

Here a song and a pie

Speaker 122:02

Amen Juscara.

Presenter22:05

Yeah.

Speaker 122:05

Uh

Presenter22:05

Laquette by Jacques Brel. Brian Cox, your early career was spent in repertory theatre, and I read that by the age of twenty two you'd played Bolingbroke, Orlando, Pierre Gint, Makutio and Iago. And that seems a staggering achievement for one at such a young age.

Speaker 122:05

Uh

Brian Cox22:20

And I'll figure out.

Brian Cox22:22

You know, it was the time. We had these repertory theatres which were phenomenal. And I was at Birmingham Rep. I started at the Lyceum after I left Armasko in Edinburgh. And then after a year, I went to Birmingham to work with this extraordinary Yorkshireman called Peter Dewes. Are you all right, lovely? What do you want to play? He asked me what I wanted to play, and I told him. And I ended up playing virtually 80% of what I wanted to say. And that was the time of when we did fortnightly reps, three-weekly rep. We were in repertoire, so we were the first repertoire system. We did two Shakespeare's together, and then we would do separate things like Piergint in the winter. And it was an amazing time. And I went to the West End. That was my first journey to the West End when I was 21. I mean, I was terrible on all of the roles, it has to be said, but it was a wonderful, wonderful experience. Young actors don't get that experience now. It's just a shame.

Presenter23:16

So there's a lot of experience available and opportunity, but it's also, you must have had a tremendous appetite for the work. You know, you're obviously putting yourself forward for things.

Brian Cox23:22

You know, it was a surffit, you know, of stuff that I just went for. And I was ambitious, quite ambitious when I was young. But I was ambitious for the work. You know, it was about the work. I just wanted to get better and improve and hopefully I did.

Presenter23:38

Some of those performances have gone down in theatrical history. I mean, Titus Andronicus with the R S C especially. How did it feel to get that particular triumph under your belt?

Brian Cox23:48

It was odd because I started life when I was a kid. It was movies. I really wanted to be a movie actor. The generation of Albert and Peter and Tom, they did movies. But it became kind of the different class of people doing movies in the seventies and eighties. It wasn't happening for me. But I did television. And television, of course, in this country was fantastic.

Brian Cox24:12

And I had a great time. But I did two plays that brought me to America. They were very successful. And out of that, I got this film Manhunter. And so that was the beginning of... I mean, I'd done a couple of films early on, right at the start. I played Trotsky and Nicholas and Alexandra, but this was the start of something. So I was focusing on that. But then my marriage fell apart. So I realized I'd have to go home. I had to go back to London and be present for my kids. So I joined the RSC and it was the best move I ever made. It's time for some music. What are we

Presenter24:46

Yeah.

Brian Cox24:47

Yeah. Uh

Presenter24:47

Yeah.

Brian Cox24:48

I just love the female voice.

Brian Cox24:51

Joni Mitchell, she's just astonishing.

Brian Cox24:54

But the thing that's undeniable is her version, the the late version of Both Sides Now, when you hear a woman who's lived, when you hear those two versions and you hear this um both sides, you know, this kind of high f voice, you realize that it's speculative, whereas this version is about someone who's slightly more cynical, and she sings it wonderfully.

Speaker 125:23

I've looked at clouds.

Speaker 125:26

From both sides now.

Speaker 125:30

Come up and down.

Speaker 125:32

And still somehow

Speaker 125:36

It's cloud illusions I recall

Speaker 125:42

I really do know plans.

Presenter25:51

At all.

Speaker 125:51

Uh

Presenter25:52

Joni Mitchell and both sides now. You moved to America in the nineties and you described once breaking into Hollywood as being like wrestling with a blancmange.

Brian Cox26:01

Why? Because it is. I mean, you realize, you know, they're always very sweet, very nice, and fickle as anything. You know, you can't really take any of it seriously. And you shouldn't. I remember I went to Hollywood in the seventies. The life then, the fastness of the life, the glibness of the life, is something I really couldn't take. I really couldn't handle it. And I didn't succumb. I just came back, did my work. As my old friend Fulton Mackay used to say, follow your mercenary calling and draw your wages.

Presenter26:34

You settled in New York, but I know that you've said about your home country, Scotland, that it draws you back, particularly as you get older. Do you miss it?

Brian Cox26:42

Particularly.

Brian Cox26:44

Yeah, I do. I'm there a lot, actually. My sister has now gone into a care home in near Aberfeldi, so hopefully she's going to be fine. You know, she's got her ninetieth is coming up any day. Unfortunately, I won't be able to get back for it because of the restrictions. But uh it's God's country, it's just beautiful, there's nowhere like it.

Brian Cox27:03

No way like it. You know, it's just incredible.

Presenter27:05

It's time for some more music, Brian. What are we going to hear next?

Brian Cox27:08

This is a surprising song for me because it's a very romantic song. And it really is about my wife, Nicole. And we met we met in Hamburg when I was playing King Leo looking like the old man of the sea. And we met very briefly, actually. We just met kind of one night. Nothing happened. We just talked and then we parted. And then I remember we were touring. I was in Milan and she was having a relationship with a guy in the company. And she came to Milan. And I remember, embarrassingly, she walked into the restaurant and I stood up.

Brian Cox27:42

And I thought, oh, that's a lot of giving it away and then I quickly sat down again. And eight years later I was doing art on Broadway and I came into the theatre and I always used to arrive late at the theatre and this is before mobile phones and I the guy said oh yeah hey Brian he said there's uh some broad left and not in your uh cubby hall last night

Brian Cox28:03

And I went, oh, and I looked at this note, and I swear to God, I thought, if I open this note, it'll change my life. I mean, I had this flash. So I picked up the note and it said, I'm in town. I'm currently watching Sandra Bernhard next door, but I see you're here. It would be nice if you could meet. I'm only here for a couple of more days. So I ran up the stairs and I rang the number. And at that point, somebody came in. The company manager kept saying, you've got a no-show tonight. So you've got a ticket for somebody if you want to use it. So I said, you know, I don't know what you're doing. I don't know where you are, but I have a ticket for tonight if you want to come. I said, where are you? She said, well, I'm on 59th and 7th Avenue. I said, well, my theater's on 45th and 7th Avenue. And I said, if you can get here in the next.

Brian Cox28:48

Ten minutes.

Brian Cox28:50

Which I thought was going to be impossible.

Brian Cox28:52

And she did it. She came. And that was that. And I took a tango dancing that night and that was it. This is for Nicole. God only knows.

Speaker 129:05

I may not always love you

Speaker 129:09

But long as there are stars above you

Speaker 129:13

You never need to doubt it.

Speaker 129:17

I'll make you so sure about it.

Speaker 129:22

God only knows what I'd be without you.

Speaker 129:30

If you should ever leave me

Presenter29:34

The Beach Boys and God Only Knows. So Brian Cooks, you recently directed your wife, Nicole Antsoura, in Sinners in London. What's it like working together?

Brian Cox29:39

Yeah.

Brian Cox29:43

Fantastic. She's a wonderful actress. I mean, I know I'm biased, but she really is a great actress.

Presenter29:48

Unfortunately, I do have to cast you away. I could talk to you all day, but but you've got to go to your island. How will you manage? Do you have any practical skills that might come in useful?

Brian Cox29:50

Yeah.

Brian Cox29:57

I can be quite practical if I'm forced to be. I'm not r by nature, but if I'm forced to be, I can be. Yeah, I can be resourceful, you know. So I'm I'm not too bad. Especially now, the present crisis is probably the safest place to be, you know.

Presenter30:03

Resourceful.

Brian Cox30:13

Uh

Presenter30:13

And how are you with solitude? How are you on your own?

Brian Cox30:15

Oh, I love being on my own. I absolutely love it. I mean, I love my wife, I love my family, but I have a a little man cave here in London, which w my wife has been allowed to live in for the last to do the play. But it is my man cave, and I I do value my solitude.

Presenter30:33

Well, one more track then before we send you off to the desert island. What's it gonna be and why?

Brian Cox30:38

She's a friend and she is the original rock chick. She has one of the truly great voices and she's witty and she's her own woman. I love her to bits and that's Chrissie Hind and the Pretenders and don't get me wrong.

Speaker 130:53

Get me wrong.

Speaker 130:58

If I'm looking kinda dazzled

Speaker 131:03

I see me online.

Speaker 131:07

Whenever you walk by

Speaker 131:12

Don't get me wrong.

Speaker 331:17

You say hello and I think alright

Presenter31:22

The Pretenders, and don't get me wrong. So, Brian Cox, it's time to cast you away to your desert island. I will, of course, give you the books to keep you company there. You will have the Bible and the complete works of Shakespeare.

Brian Cox31:33

Yeah, I don't particularly want the Bible.

Presenter31:35

Well, I'll give you both. You can also take another book of your choice. What would you like?

Brian Cox31:40

I would like a book uh it's by Pyotr Uspensky. It's called In Search of the Miraculous. It's about man's quest for consciousness and um being conscious.

Presenter31:51

It's yours. You can also have a luxury item. What would you like there?

Brian Cox31:56

I think, depending on the state of my clothes, I would like a very, very good sewing kit.

Presenter32:02

Ah, okay.

Brian Cox32:03

Yeah.

Presenter32:04

We can give you a full box, you know, one with the little layers that pull out and then

Brian Cox32:07

I wouldn't mind that at all. Telescoping. Because I like sewing.

Presenter32:09

Yeah, fantastic. Are you are you good at it?

Brian Cox32:12

I'm not bad. I had to learn to do it when I was very young, so it's something I do. I mean, I'm just imagining that I might have some clothes that I need to repair.

Presenter32:14

Besides

Presenter32:20

Absolutely. Well, it's all yours. And finally, if you had to save just one disk of the eight that we've heard today from the waves, which would it be?

Brian Cox32:28

So hard.

Brian Cox32:30

It's a toss up actually and I can't decide. Um it's either God on the nose by The Beach Boys or it is Both Sides Now by Johnny Mitchell, so I can't decide. But I think, because of my wife, I think it has to be God on the nose.

Presenter32:45

I think that's the right choice. Brian Cox, thank you very much for letting us hear who your desert island is.

Brian Cox32:48

Thank you so much. It's been so enjoyable. I can't tell you.

Presenter33:06

As we leave Brian on his island, there's just time for me to let you know that our archive is full of castaways from stage and screen, including Dame Judy Dench, Sir John Mills and Sir Ian McKellen. You can find all of those editions on BBC Sounds and a whole host of programmes from musicians to comedians, scientists to novelists to keep you going in these most difficult times. Next week, as we're on our spring break, you'll be able to hear selected programmes from our archive until we return.

Speaker 333:47

Hi, I'm Catherine Beauhart and I'm Sarah Keyworth. We're comedians separately and a couple together and we're the host of You'll Do, the podcast that gives you a little insight into perfectly imperfect love. Yeah, forget nights in with this one and hashtag couples goals. We want to know the whys and hows of sticking with the people we love and asking a few of the questions that are meant to help us develop intimacy. So why not give it a listen and subscribe to You'll Do on BBC Sounds.