Brian Cox: 'I was transfixed by actress's stockings and called 'darling' on my Dundee Rep debut'

The Courier

19-07-2025

Brian Cox has recalled being 'transfixed' as he watched an actress's stockings slide down her leg during his first-ever stage appearance at the old Dundee Rep Theatre.
As the Emmy-winning Dundee born and bred star of Succession returns to his theatrical roots in Make It Happen, he's spoken with warmth and candour about his formative years as a teenager at the theatre, dating back to the early 1960s.
'The first thing I ever did was a play called The Dover Road,' Brian recalled in an interview with The Courier.
'I was just a wee boy – maybe 15 or 16 – and I was playing a servant.
'I was standing behind a girl, a bona fide actress, and I remember her stockings hadn't been done up properly.
'Slowly, they just came down her leg. I was transfixed!' he laughed.
Cox, now 79, is back on the modern day South Tay Street stage more than 60 years after first setting foot in the Rep's original venue on Nicoll Street.
That theatre – which tragically burned down on Cox's 17th birthday, June 1 1963 – holds a sacred place in his heart.
'The Rep was my salvation,' he said.
'I left school at 15. My school was a disaster – St Michael's Junior Secondary – designed to send me into the building trade.
'I was meant to be a brickie. But I wanted something different. I wanted to be in the theatre.'
It was in the old Nicoll Street building that Cox found not only his craft but his sense of belonging.
'I remember coming into the front of the theatre and this wifie in the box office said, 'You cannae get to the front fae the front, son – you've got tae go tae the back,'' he chuckled.
'So I did. And as I came in the back, I walked into a row between two actors.
'One of them was Nicol Williamson – a big name back then – and they were knocking hell out of each other. I just wanted to get past them and upstairs.'
Another unexpected moment was waiting at the top of the stairs.
'There was this guy, just smoking away, and he looked at me and said, 'Are you alright, darling?'
'I thought, bloody hell, this is the place for me. Chaos downstairs, affection upstairs. That contrast – it stayed with me.'
During his two years at the Rep, Cox immersed himself in all aspects of theatre life.
'I lived there,' he said. 'I used to sleep under the stage. Never went home to my mum in Tullideph Road.
'I hated where we'd moved to on Brown Constable Street, so I stayed in the theatre.'
Those early performances weren't without hiccups.
'One time I had to serve food on stage,' he recalled.
'I got white sauce on my sleeve and leaned across the lead actor – splashed it all over him.
'Another time I dropped a bit of fish on the floor and thought, 'Nobody's looking' – there's a full audience in – and I slapped it back on the plate!' he laughed.
The old Dundee Rep may have burned down in 1963, but the fire it lit in Cox never dimmed.
After stints performing in temporary venues, he left Dundee to attend drama school in London.
It was the beginning of an illustrious journey that would eventually see him become a star of stage and screen, win a Golden Globe and command stages from Broadway to the West End.
Cox has returned to Dundee Rep several times since, notably in 1994 with The Master Builder and a special 'Evening With' event.
He's now proud to be a patron of the theatre that launched his life.
'Yes, the Rep was great for me. It was my home,' he said.
'When it burned down, I was heartbroken. Theatre has given me everything.'
His latest return to the Rep – starring in Make It Happen as the spirit of Scottish economist Adam Smith, a powerful new production celebrating resilience and creativity – feels like a full-circle moment for the veteran actor.
'I just fell in love with the job,' he said.
'That was my vocation. And I was so lucky to be welcomed here – to be part of something. I've never forgotten that.'
Brian Cox, who recently called on Dundee's city father to 'sort the f***ing High Street out' in a Courier interview, appears in Make It Happen at Dundee Rep from July 18 to July 26.
Dundee Rep artistic director Andrew Panton confirmed that Cox has been living up to his 'sweary reputation' in the rehearsal room.
Brian is also set to host another special one-man Evening With Brian Cox' event at the Caird Hall this October.
After Dundee Rep, Make It Happen, a co-production with the National Theatre of Scotland, runs at the Edinburgh International Festival.