Succession star Brian Cox has been known to speak up for his beliefs, even if he ruffles feathers by doing so. Most recently, the actor stirred up a discussion online after a scathing interview in which he slammed the Bible as “one of the worst books ever” and argued against religion in general. Now, many fans are wondering if Brian himself has ever been tied to a religion.
The Scottish actor, who is known for the films Troy and X2 in addition to his recent role on HBO’s Succession, revealed in a July 2022 conversation with physicist Brian Cox for The Guardian that he grew up in a Catholic family. However, he admitted that he had “become quite atheist” in recent years.
“Religion is confusing because we don’t acknowledge who we are as humans. One of the reasons theatre is so very important to me is: why act? Acting is similar to religion, but religion is humanity. Religion is a cul-de-sac because it provides peace, yet we are still dangerously in jeopardy of destroying ourselves,” he said.
Physicist Brian, who is also a professor and musician, replied, “Religion is clearly an attempt to explore, explain and understand our place in the universe. So are you saying that acting is the same, but in a more detailed and truthful way?”
The Succession star continued, “I think so, Brian. Acting is truthful. Religion is understandable, but we look to God, Muhammad or the pope, but we don’t look to ourselves. Shakespeare says it all: hold the mirror up to nature. He describes it very clearly in Hamlet’s advice to the players. It’s why Shakespeare is such an extraordinary genius. Religion distracts us by saying: if we follow this path, we’ll get salvation. I think it’s a crock, quite frankly, and the older I get, the more of a crock I think it is.”
Brian Cox Called the Bible ‘1 of the Worst Books Ever’
Brian faced backlash for an April 28, 2024, interview on Rich Leigh’s “The Starting Line” podcast in which he spoke out against religion and the Bible.
“I think religion does hold us back because it’s belief systems which are outside ourselves. They’re not dealing with who we are, we’re dealing [with], ‘Oh if God says this and God does that’, and you go, ‘Well what is God?’ We’ve created that idea of God, and we’ve created it as a control issue, and it’s also a patriarchal issue,” he said. “That’s how it started and it’s essentially patriarchal. We haven’t given enough scope to the matriarchy and I think we need to move matriarchically.”
Brian also noted that the Bible is among the “worst books” out there because of its “propaganda.”
“Because it starts with the idea that Adam’s rib — you know that from Adam’s rib, this woman was created, and they’ll believe it cause they’re stupid enough,” the actor continued. “They need it, but they don’t need to be told lies, they need some kind of truth, and that is not the truth. It is not the truth, it’s a mythology.”
