Brian Cox shares blunt thoughts on ‘very unpleasant’ Hollywood strike

The writers' and actors' walkout has brought Hollywood to a standstill

Brian Cox also branded AI 'the boogeyman' following concerns about it imitating actors' faces and voices. AFP

Brian Cox, star of Succession, says the Hollywood actors’ strike could go on until the end of the year, calling the circumstances “very unpleasant”.

"It's a situation that could get very, very unpleasant,” he said in an interview with Sky News. "It could go on for quite some time. They'll take us to the brink and we'll probably have to go to the brink. So it may not be solved ... until towards the end of the year."

The Sag-Aftra strike, which began on Friday, centres on fair compensation and concerns about artificial intelligence. Cox, 77, said the acting union also supports the Hollywood writers who went on strike in May seeking higher wages and protection against AI.

He said thanks to writers, there were successful shows such as White Lotus and Succession. Cox's best-known recent role was as media mogul Logan Roy in Succession, which won him an Emmy and Golden Globe.

He added the system had been "failing rapidly" and payments were vital for funding actors' healthcare. Sag-Aftra, which has more than 160,000 members including A-list stars, wants their demands met over dwindling pay.

"If our residuals go down it means our health insurance isn't going to be met," said Cox.

He added: "In a way, the streaming services have shot themselves in the foot because they've said: 'Oh, we're going very well on this front.'

"And when we called them to task and said: 'What about our residuals, what about our money?', everything kind of closes down and ... you know, it's not going to happen."

He also discussed the use of AI and using the likeliness of actors – something that was touched upon in a recent episode of Black Mirror.

"One of the problems is we really don't know enough about it," he said.

"We don't know the extent to which it [AI] can operate. It's the boogeyman, it really is the boogeyman."