USA Film Fest - Tribute to Brian Cox

While Brian Cox made an initial impression on American audiences as the first actor to brilliantly portray serial killer Hannibal Lecktor (as it was spelled in this version) in Michael Mann's 1986 thriller Manhunter, he had already established himself as one of the foremost stage and television actors in the UK. But if it took the Scottish-born Cox a while to garner attention in the U.S., he has more than made up for lost time over the last two decades, alternately cajoling and terrifying audiences with an audaciously eclectic collection of characters. Cox made audiences laugh with his sternly forgiving authority figures in Rushmore and Super Troopers while his compassionate performance in L.I.E. compelled viewers to feel some level of sympathy for a child molester. His moving performance as an old man whose canine best friend is murdered by callow youths in Red brought watchers to tears of indignation, and audience members recoiled from and were bemused by his unconventional parenting style in Running with Scissors. Spectators worried for his safety in Red Eye as much as they hated him in X2 — and make no mistake, his Hannibal the Cannibal is just as fascinating and terrifying a version of the character as any. Cox's characters are as vital and present in the modern day as they are in the 70s (Zodiac), the old West (HBO's "Deadwood") or even ancient Greece (Troy). The USA Film Festival is honored to pay tribute to this talented and unpredictable actor with two projects that demonstrate his amazing range: In The Escapist, he portrays a longtime inmate who is moved by the possibility of a reconciliation with his daughter to attempt to break his way out of prison, while in Battle for Terra, he lends his gorgeous voice to a power-mad military man who is willing to commit genocide upon an entire planet in order to provide a new home for the humans under his watch.

Information provided by the festival