Scottish actor Brian Cox is one of his generation’s most talented and accomplished actors. Classically trained Shakespearean actor, Cox has worked extensively on stage and screen. With his acting debut in 1961, at age 14, Cox’s career spans over six decades. While a brilliant and versatile actor, Brian Cox is often typecast as a villain—a role he has played to so much perfection.
Brian Cox excels in these roles because of his ability to embody authority figures or morally ambiguous characters. His commanding screen presence and deep and resonant voice also make him an archetype of the villain. With a long and varied career in film and television, here’s a look at the roles that make Brian Cox the perfect screen villain.
1. Dr. Hannibal Lecktor in Manhunter
Many of today’s film audiences may not know that Brian Cox is the first actor to portray the iconic screen serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter. However, Cox’s character’s name was spelled as “Lecktor” instead of Lecter. Michael Mann’s 1986 thriller Manhunter was the first on-screen adaptation of Thomas Harris’s 1981 novel Red Dragon.
Unlike later portrayals of the character, particularly Anthony Hopkins’ famous version in The Silence of the Lambs, Cox’s performance was more understated and grounded. For many viewers, his portrayal had a more chilling sense of the realism of how a real-life serial killer would behave. Manhunter was one of Brian Cox’s earliest film roles. Although critical reviews were initially mixed after its release, Manhunter has been reassessed and dubbed one of the best screen adaptations of Harris’s Red Dragon novel over the years.
2. Hermann Göring in Nuremberg
Brian Cox’s performance in Nuremberg (2000) is one of the actor’s underrated roles, although it was greatly appreciated after its release. In the Canadian-American two-part docudrama Nuremberg, Brian Cox portrayed German politician, military leader, and war criminal Hermann Göring. Cox starred alongside Alec Baldwin (as Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson, and Christopher Plummer (as Sir David Maxwell Fyfe).
Nuremberg focuses on the trials of major Nazi war criminals held after World War II. Hermann Göring, the highest-ranking Nazi official prosecuted at the Nuremberg trials, was a central character in the film. Nuremberg was critically acclaimed and set a record with its viewership numbers. Added to his performance as Dr. Hannibal Lecktor, Brian Cox quickly grew a reputation as a worthy screen villain. Unsurprisingly, his performance as Hermann Göring earned Cox his first Emmy nomination and only win so far in his career.
3. Ward Abbott in The Bourne Films
Brian Cox joined The Bourne franchise as Ward Abbott in its first installment, The Bourne Identity. His character is the CIA Deputy Director and a high-ranking official in Operation Treadstone, a CIA black ops program. Cox’s Abbott character is depicted as manipulative and morally ambiguous. Ward Abbott is cast as the secondary villain in The Bourne Identity but assumes the role as the main antagonist in the 2004 sequel, The Bourne Supremacy.
In the first film, Ward Abbott’s role expands as Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) uncovers more about Treadstone’s corruption and Abbott’s complicity in illegal activities. In The Bourne Supremacy, Abbott ultimately faces the consequences of his actions, choosing to kill himself after being confronted by the new CIA Deputy Director Pamela Landy (Joan Allen). Both films were critical and commercial successes, grossing a combined $504.6 million at the Box Office.
4. William Stryker in X2
Brian Cox’s most iconic villain role in the 2000s is portraying William Stryker in Bryan Singer’s 2003 X2 movie. The film was the second installment in the X-Men film series and a sequel to the 2000 X-Men. When offered the job to direct the sequel, director Bryan Singer had Brian Cox in mind, as he was impressed by Cox’s Dr. Hannibal Lecktor’s performance in Manhunter.
In X2, Cox’s William Stryker is a powerful and influential military scientist who considers mutants as a threat to humanity. Stryker is X2’s main antagonist, orchestrating a plan to eradicate mutants using a version of Professor Charles Xavier’s (Patrick Stewart) Cerebro and manipulating Wolverine’s (Hugh Jackman) past. Brian Cox’s performance brought depth and menace to the character, making William Stryker a memorable villain in the X-Men film series.
5. Agamemnon in Troy
In Wolfgang Petersen’s 2004 epic historical war film Troy, Brian Cox portrayed King Agamemnon. His character is the ruthless and power-hungry leader of the Greek forces. King Agamemnon serves as the film’s primary antagonist, embodying ambition, arrogance, and a thirst for conquest. Cox’s Agamemnon is a strategic yet egotistical ruler who uses the abduction of Helen (Diane Kruger) as a pretext to launch an invasion of Troy. Troy’s critical and commercial success makes the movie one of Brian Cox’s most famous villainy performances. He joined the star-studded Troy cast, which included Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom, Sean Bean, Rose Byrne, and Brendan Gleeson.
6. Logan Roy in Succession
Although he has starred in several other projects since 2023, HBO’s satirical black comedy-drama series Succession is Brian Cox’s biggest project of the last decade. In Succession, Cox played Logan Roy, the Dundee-born billionaire and ruthless patriarch of the Roy family (interestingly, Brian Cox was also born in Dundee, Scotland). Logan is also the CEO and founder of Waystar Royco, a global media and entertainment conglomerate.
His character is central to the show’s storyline, as his leadership, declining health, manipulative tactics, and strained relationships with his children drive much of the drama and conflict. Brian Cox’s powerful performance as Logan Roy earned widespread critical acclaim. During Succession’s run from June 3, 2018, to May 28, 2023, Brian Cox was nominated three times for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at the Emmys. If you enjoyed reading about Brian Cox’s top villainy roles, here’s more about his life and career.
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