Brian Cox: "I always thought I'd be a very good Bond villain"

In Prime Video’s new Bond-inspired adventure series, 007: Road To A Million, nine pairs of contestants are in with the chance of winning £1 million. Played by Succession star Brian Cox, The Controller has hidden 10 questions around the world for each pair. To reach these questions, the contestants face Bond-inspired challenges, pushing their physical strength and mental resilience to the limit.

It's rip-roaring and wildly entertaining stuff, with Cox excelling as the all-knowing Controller. First coming to international prominence as the first actor to play Hannibal Lecter, in Michael Mann’s cult classic 1986 film Manhunter, Cox subsequently made memorable appearances in everything from schlocky video game hit Manhunt, to widely acclaimed 2007 thriller Zodiac.

Undoubtedly, though, the 77-year-old’s crowning achievement was playing Logan Roy, the intimidating patriarch in Jesse Armstrong’s sublime comedy-drama Succession. Simultaneously a skewering of corporate America, intense family saga and piercing take on 21st century media and politics, Succession was a zeitgeist-defining hit now generally acknowledged as one of the greatest TV shows ever made.

What made Cox want to take on Road To A Million as his first post-Succession project?

”I’m always up for a new adventure,” he says. “That’s how you keep young when you get to my age, by not ruling anything out. You just go, ‘Okay, I’ll see what happens.’ And I really enjoyed it. The guys who made the programme were very efficient, I was very impressed with them, and they made my job easier by being so organised which is always good.

“It was fascinating to watch the contestants and it was just fun. I don’t know if ‘risk’ is quite the right word, but certainly, it’s unusual territory for me. It’s very hard when you go from a show like Succession and try to work out what you’re going to do next: it’s what I would call bobbing and weaving.

”But now I can finally say I’ve been in a Bond production. I’ve never been in a Bond movie, and I always thought I’d be a very good Bond villain, but nobody’s ever come up with the offer, so at least by doing this I’m doing it somehow. Having played one of the most misunderstood men in television history, it was a no-brainer to be a Bond villain of sorts.”

Brian Cox

Producer Barbara Broccoli explains the background to the project.

“The genesis of the idea came from David Glover, CEO of 72 Films,” she says. “He envisioned a unique blend of unscripted adventure and cinematic storytelling. 72 Films pitched the concept to Dan Grabiner at Prime Video, who suggested a collaboration with EON to infuse elements from the Bond franchise. We loved the concept as well as the creative team behind the project.”

What was it about the 007: Road To A Million concept that made it the right project for Bond?

“It’s an audacious blend of adventure, intelligence and glamour, which is an intrinsic mix for us,” says Broccoli’s fellow producer, Gregg Wilson. “The show doesn’t just offer a thrill ride; it provides real people the opportunity to tap into their own resourcefulness, wit and daring in high-stakes situations - qualities that are quintessential to Bond.

”We love the idea of giving a once-in-a- lifetime adventure to the people who make up our audience. Moreover, we wanted to craft a series with the high production values that audiences have come to expect from Bond films.”

”The ambition for this show was to make a spectacle on par with the legacy of the Bond franchise,” adds Broccoli. “We’ve meticulously chosen iconic Bond locations for filming and integrated elements from some of the franchise’s most memorable scenes.”

”Our contestants represent a diverse cross-section of the UK,” says Wilson. “The unique pairs - ranging from families and friends to co- workers - are bound by genuine relationships, which lend an emotional depth to their journey. Each pair compete for a life-altering sum, adding even more stakes to their adventure.”

Returning to Cox, he’s in no doubt who his favourite Bond is.

”It has to be Sean Connery, as a fellow Scot,” he says. “I always thought it was so ironic that Sean short of talksh like thish and he doesn’t sound like he’s from Gordonstoun! The real James Bond would have been frightfully posh, not like Sean at all. So that was wonderful to see. I was extremely proud that another Scot had fooled everybody to such distraction that they cast him in a wonderful lead role, and he brought something unique to it.

“But then I also had a lot of respect for Roger Moore, because he was a proper actor and I think people underestimated him, but he was so witty. He was genuinely so funny as Bond because he never took it too seriously. And of course, because he was so English, you had that wonderful English sensibility that Bond relies on. I absolutely loved Roger. They’re polar opposites in a way, but I think they were both very hard acts to follow.”

What did Cox think of the casting of the contestants on 007: Road To A Million?

”The casting of the contestants is very important because they’ve got to be the show,” he says. “The more idiosyncratic they are, of course, it creates a lot of fun. That will be the strength of the show. There are other shows, of course, with fantastic casting, but what’s different about this is the Bond theme, and those two aspects alongside each other mean it will work very strongly.”

Finally, how do you think you would have coped as a contestant?

”Probably dreadfully!” chuckles Cox. “Well, I might be okay on some of the general knowledge parts, but I definitely think I’d fall at the hurdle of the physical challenges. Anything involving helicopter shots would be out.”

007: Road To A Million is available to stream now on Prime Video.

Road To A Million contestants Beth & Jen.