Succession's Brian Cox calls Joaquin Phoenix's Napoleon performance ‘terrible’, says he'd have done a better job

Twitter is calling Succession star Brian Cox a ‘hater’ after his latest comments against Joaquin Phoenix. The actor thought he'd have done a better job in Ridley Scott's Napoleon, which released last year, than Joaquin did. (Also read: Joker: Folie à Deux trailer – Lady Gaga's Harley Quinn joins Joaquin Phoenix's frenzy. Watch)

'Whackeen Phoenix'

Speaking at HistFest on Wednesday, Brian called Joaquin's act ‘terrible’. "Terrible. It’s terrible. A truly terrible performance by Joaquin Phoenix. It really is appalling. I don’t know what he was thinking. I think it’s totally his fault and I don’t think Ridley Scott helps him. I would have played it a lot better than Joaquin Phoenix, I tell you that. You can say it’s good drama. No – it’s lies.” Yikes!

He also gave Joaquin a mean name. “I think he’s well named. Joaquin…whackeen... whacky. It’s a sort of whacky performance.”

Twitter reacts

Fans of Joaquin have been calling out Brian. “Why is a great actor hating another great actor,” wrote a person. “Triggered old man,” said another Twitter user. “Oh he is a certified HATER lmaoo,” read a tweet.

A few, however, also agreed with him. “Well, he’s not wrong about that. It is the worst JP’s performance ever in his entire career. Ridley should’ve gone with Jesse Plemons + Daniel Radcliffe + Haley Joel Osment instead, those amazing actors would gave better Napoleon than Phenix!” Another person wrote, “I gotta agree; Joaquin is one of the best actors of his time, but this was a misstep (may have been writing/directing causing it of course). every great actor has had a few stinkers (except Daniel Day Lewis and Jack Nicholson).”

Brian also let his thoughts on Former US President Donald Trump be known at the event. “It’s very hard to govern America and you certainly don’t need idiots like Trump doing that,” Cox said. “I do think that Biden is a good man but he’s too old." When asked if he would leave US iff Trump gets re-elected, he said, “I probably will.”

Brian played media mogul Logan Roy in HBO's hit family drama Succession. He is also known for his work in Troy, X2 and others.