Brian Cox Explains Why He Told Meryl Streep That He “Never Liked” Her Because He’s “Jealous” Of Her Talent

With “Succession” now over, it’s time for Brian Cox to find a new major role. Recently, he’s kept busy with smaller indie pics like “Mending The Line,” “Prisoner’s Daughter,” as well as “The Independent” on Peacock. And in the next couple of years, he’ll star in The Russo Bros.‘ “The Electric State” on Netflix and provide voice work for “The Lord Of The Rings: The War Of The Rohirrim.” But EW reports there’s something on Cox’s acting wishlist before he “snuffs it,” as he puts it on Variety’s “Actors On Actors” interview: he really wants to work with Meryl Streep.

READ MORE: Brian Cox Hasn’t Watched The ‘Succession’ Finale Because “Dead People Don’t Watch Things Like That’

And Cox has a story about a funny exchange between him and the esteemed actress when they first met. “I met her once, and I said, ‘I never liked you.’ And she went, ‘What?'” Cox told Emily Blunt during the Variety interview. “I said, ‘I never liked you because I was jealous.’ How can anybody be that good?” Of course, Blunt knows Streep’s talents all too well: her breakout Hollywood role came in 2006’s “The Devil Wears Prada” starring opposite Streep.

Blunt talked to Cox abot about that film and working Streep, and said its success caused an “extraordinary overnight shift in my life” afterward. In the film, Blunt plays Emily, an editorial assistant to Streep’s big and bossy fashion editor Miranda Priestly. Cox admired the film when he saw it. “I loved it,” the actor told Blunt. “And to work with one of the greatest screen actresses of all time, I so envy you. One of my ambitions, before I snuff it, is to work with Meryl.”

“Oh, don’t say ‘snuff it’!” Blunt teased back. “You will. She’s amazing and was slightly terrifying on that film. She said it was one of the first times she’s tried Method acting.” Although Blunt did say Streep didn’t entirely enjoy her role in “Prada.” “But it made her so miserable, playing Miranda.” Funny that Blunt should mention Method acting to Cox. His comments about “Succession” co-star Jeremy Strong and his “f*cking annoying” Method acting style in a Town & Country profile sent shockwaves around the industry.  

“There’s this whole debate about Method acting and all that,” Cox said in that interview. “I’m all for whatever gets you through the day. But the great thing is how you transmit energy. If you hit it right, it just works. That’s the most important thing that we have as actors, that ability to go into something very quickly and come out of it. Not to dwell.”

So will Cox and Streep ever appear in a film together? Technically, they already have–twice. Both actors appeared in the Spike Jonze dramedy “Adaptation” from 2002, but they didn’t share screen time. The other movie?  Wes Anderson‘s 2009 Roald Dahl animated adaptation “The Fantastic Mr. Fox,” in which Cox and Streep provided voice work. But maybe something in the future? It’d be a dream come true for Cox, but also for movie audiences at large. Both are generational talents, even if Cox is a little envious of Streep’s massive talent.