Brian Cox is one of Britain’s hardest working actors. Much like a Scottish Christopher Walken he turns up in a whole host of movies that sit on the critical and commercial spectrum, bringing a gravitas to even the most turgid of bargain bin dross. And much like Christopher Walken his range of dialects doesn’t quite match his emotional range when it comes to mixing up his characters. Whether he be a cowboy, a serial killer, a small town Sheriff or the latest in a long line of Georgian power brokers (the state, not the country although it woudn’t really matter which they’d both sound the same) all of his characters share one unique trait; they are all strangely Scottish. Ewan McGregor might do a pretty terrible American accent but at least he tries to make his American characters sound like they come from within some reasonable distance of where they are supposed to!

So in honour of his remarkable stubborness here are the top 5 roles that really didn’t need to be Scottish, but he did it anyway

5. Rise of the Planet of the Apes

As the nefarious and duplicitous owner of the Bay Area ape sanctuary/ape prison that is the catalyst for Caesar’s rise to power there is no reason for him to be Scottish. Anyone else would have played it with a slight redneck twang. Not Cox. This Bay Area badboy is straight out of Scotland.

4. The Ring

Gore Verbinski’s remake of the classic Japanese chiller takes place in large parts on a windswept island on the outer reaches of the Washington State coast line. There is no good reason for anyone there to sound Scottish, or at least not without explanation. Yet long time inhabitee Richard Morgan (Cox) has a definite Paisley twang to his Washington accent.

3. Troy

Who knew Agamemnon was from Glasgow? That never came up in my Classics class

2. The Campaign

Few actors would have had the balls to play a WASPish political power broker from southern Georgia with an almost bored Scottish accent. Yet Cox did. That man has two big haggisy balls.

1. Super Troopers

……………………………………..HE’S A SMALL TOWN SHERIFF WITH NO BUSINESS BEING SCOTTISH. AT LEAST TRY TO SOUND LIKE YOU’RE FROM THE SAME CONTINENT.

The man really is a treasure though. Love his work