Brian Cox is sharing yet another controversial opinion.
After defending J.K. Rowling amid transphobic tweets, the “Succession” star is now supporting disgraced director Bryan Singer with whom he worked for 2003 film “X2: X-Men United.”
“I think he’s an extraordinary director — really, really gifted,” Cox told Yahoo! Entertainment of Singer. “Certainly I will always be grateful to him because he had confidence in me and got me the role. I played a waiting game and it worked.”
According to Cox, Singer was instrumental in him being cast as Colonel William Stryker for the “X-Men” sequel.
“Bryan summoned me to Vancouver where they were filming and said, ‘Look, I want you to be in this, but I have to play the waiting game with Fox, because they want me to employ this guy or that guy,’” Cox recalled. “I trusted him, and finally he got his way.”
Cox addressed the numerous rumors of on-set tensions, especially following co-star Alan Cumming’s claims that the “X2” cast staged an intervention to confront Singer about his inappropriate behavior, which allegedly stemmed from an addiction to painkillers (via Page Six).
Cox admitted Singer was “under a lot of strain” during production, adding, “One of his great things was that when he came to a new set, he would have to rethink it. He’d have a thought, and then have to rethink [the scene]. So that was always a difficult transition for him. But once he cracked it, he cracked it very quickly and was able to get on with it.”
The Emmy winner continued, “There’s real allegory in that film, and it serves a lot of purpose. That’s why I love Bryan’s view on it, because he sees it very much as those who are out of the norm as it were. It’s very much an allegory film for him as well.”
Singer came out as bisexual in 2014 and has since been accused of molesting and raping underage boys.
Cox added that he most likely will not reprise the role 20 years later, but is open to returning to the franchise in some capacity. “The last time I played him I was tied up to a wall waiting for a huge flood to come, so I don’t remember where he is now,” Cox said. “I’m either floating around somewhere in Canada or I’m dead! So I could come back as a ghost or as a somewhat washed-out William Stryker…I’m biased, but I think of all the ‘X-Men’ movies, that’s probably the best one. It’s my favorite of those films.”
Cox’s co-stars Hugh Jackman and Jennifer Lawrence have also recently reflected on the Singer “X-Men” films. Jackman said, without naming Singer, that today “there’s way less tolerance for disrespectful, marginalizing, bullying, any oppressive behavior. There’s zero tolerance for it now and people will speak out, and I think that’s great.”
Oscar winner Lawrence similarly called out Singer’s “emotional” responses and “hissy fits” on set.
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