Succession star Brian Cox has admitted he’s “constantly afraid of going poor again” after experiencing extreme poverty as a child.
The Scottish actor, 76, branded money as his “personal demon” and said his “penniless” childhood – which eventually got his mum down to her last 10 pounds – “hangs over him his whole life”.
He said: “I’m still scared that everything will be taken away from me and I’ll end up in poverty again. it never leaves you It’s like the Damoclean sword hanging over you all your life.
How the other half lives: Succession star Brian Cox has admitted he’s “constantly scared of falling into poverty again” after experiencing extreme poverty as a child
“When I was young I never really felt it, I was a kid and I just kept going, I literally survived. But as I got older I looked at this boy and I was like, my god, he survived, how did he do it? It’s still a mystery to me.’
The actor is now hosting a new two-part documentary on Channel 5, How The Other Half Live, which airs Thursday and examines the wealth gap between rich and poor – as well as his own complicated relationship with money.
The Golden Globe-winning star said: “It is [money] my personal demon. After my father died my mother discovered that his bank had a balance of £10. We were penniless.
“My mother only had a widow’s pension, which often expired before the end of the week. So I’d go to the fish and chip shop and ask if they have any leftovers — the bits of batter on the bottom of the fryer — and take them home for us to eat.
Honest: The 76-year-old actor branded Geld as his ‘personal demon’ in a new two-part Channel 5 documentary, How The Other Half Live (pictured on the show with model Caroline Derpienski)
Pictured: Brian with his father, a shopkeeper with socialist leanings who used to allow customers to take goods away and pay for them later – leading to a huge rift between his parents
Brian helped create the series because, after four years playing the brash billionaire media mogul Logan Roy on Sky’s hit drama Succession, he wanted to explore the growing wealth divide around the world, particularly in his native and adopted homeland of America.
The result takes him on a deeply personal journey that takes him back to the Dundee home where his father met an early death, leading to a childhood of poverty after his mother suffered a breakdown.
He also frequents the playground of the super rich in Miami and the soup kitchens in New York.
Brian left home when he received a scholarship to study acting at the prestigious LAMDA acting school in London.
From rags to riches: “After my father died, my mother discovered there was £10 in his bank. we were destitute’
Describing money as “the tragedy of the world,” he said, “Wealth is becoming concentrated in the top 1 percent and the rest of the world is suffering.
“When you’re playing one of the richest men in the world, nine months out of the year you live this life where you’re kind of cocooned, and I feel like there’s an injustice that needs to be dealt with.
“So this show draws very heavily from what I grew up with and what I saw, because I was lower middle class and had a relatively happy childhood until my father died.
“Many people lack the means to secure any standard of living. Money is the tragedy of the world.’
Last month, the acclaimed actor spoke to the Daily Telegraph about success and fortune in Hollywood, saying that while he’s a big TV star, he’s not “one of them” or a “multi-millionaire.”
He said that while money makes people “safe,” it also makes them “guilty,” saying everyone suffers in some way from their exposure to money.
Regarding leaving inheritance funds for his four children, Brian said he thinks his property will be divided among his descendants.
Admitting that no inheritance promise is too big a “safety net” for them, the actor said he still wants them to come out and “bust their asses off”.
Brian shares his two eldest children – Alan, 52, and Margaret – with his ex-wife Caroline Burt, while he also has sons Orson, 20, and Torin, 18, with his wife Nicole Ansari-Cox.
Brian Cox: How The Other Half Live airs Thursday at 9pm on Channel 5
Passionate: The doctor examines the wealth gap between rich and poor – as well as his own complicated relationship with money (Brian pictured in Question Time last month)