Sarah Snook Recalls Brian Cox Flying Into A “Rage” On ‘Succession’ Set: “His Voice Can Be Very Terrifying”

Succession‘s Logan Roy was one of the most imposing and intimidating TV characters of all time, and the man who played him, Brian Cox, could be every bit as powerful and terrifying as the figure he was portraying, according to Sarah Snook.

In an interview with U.K. outlet The Times, Snook, who played Logan’s only daughter, Shiv Roy (and earned an Emmy this year for the role), revealed that Cox would occasionally fly into a “diabetic rage” on the set and his “thunderous” voice could be “terrifying.”

“He has a habit of sometimes going into a false — or could it be real, who knows? — diabetic rage,” Snook revealed. “I think part of it’s a little of trying to just jolt the energy of the set and rustle a few feathers, get it going and moving faster. The quality of his voice can be very terrifying sometimes. Thunderous.”

Kieran Culkin, who won an Emmy this year playing Logan’s son Roman Roy, has also said Cox was prone to yelling on set, noting in a 2023 Esquire interview, “The screaming, both of them with the screaming. But with Logan it’s terrifying and with Brian it’s hilarious because there’s no actual weight behind it.”

He added, “Even when he’s frustrated and he yells something, it makes everyone chuckle. He’s hungry and impatient.”

Cox has even admitted as much about himself. In 2023, while visiting ITV’s This Morning, Cox told host Alison Hammond (whom you’ll recognize from the latest season of The Great British Baking Show), “I do get hangry because I’m diabetic… I need my food.”

Snook also revealed in her interview with The Times that she is not at all like the woman she played, and she was often concerned that she’d be typecast in roles like Shiv.

“When you are known for a particular role internationally, there is a fear, I suppose, as an actor, that you might get constrained to roles like that. The things that had come in during the time that I was shooting tended to be of Shiv nature,” Snook said.

She added, “For me personally, that’s just so far from who I am as a person — and not that I wanted to play myself, but I wanted to be able to stretch my wings a bit and kind of say, there’s a little more ’round here.”

Since Succession came to an end, Snook has appeared in the Australian animated comedy series Koala Man, and in the Apple original film The Beanie Bubble, safely avoiding any typecasting.