Succession star Brian Cox attacks Joaquin Phoenix and calls his performance “terrible” in Ridley Scott‘s Napoleon.
At the HistFest last night, Cox had a strong opinion about actors, theatre critics and even politics. “Terrible. It’s terrible. A truly terrible performance by Joaquin Phoenix. It really is appalling. I don’t know what he was thinking. I think it’s totally his fault and I don’t think Ridley Scott helps him. I would have played it a lot better than Joaquin Phoenix, I tell you that. You can say it’s good drama. No – it’s lies.”
Then he pondered Phoenix’s fairly appropriate name. “I think he’s well named. Joaquin…whackeen… whacky. It’s a sort of whacky performance.”
Napoleon earned $61.5 million in the United States and $159.5 million elsewhere, for a total of $221 million. The movie cost $200 million to make. According to Deadline, the film lost Apple around $16 million during its theatre run but made up the difference through home rentals.
Brian Cox is now on the West End, playing the lead in Long Day’s Journey Into Night at Wyndham’s Theatre. He has not been thrilled with theatrical critics who have attempted to equate his performance on stage to his one in Succession.
“It’s stupid! Why make that comparison? It’s so obvious,” he said. “Most critics are stupid. They really are. Theatre criticism has gone right down the tubes. You think of those wonderful critics of the past, there’s nobody to match them now. Because they don’t do their homework.”
