Brian Cox is taking a break from Succession season 4 to star in Michelob ULTRA’s Super Bowl commercial. The Scottish actor admitted in our EXCLUSIVE interview that he didn’t exactly know what a Super Bowl ad was when Michelob called.
“I’m Scottish, so I’m not acquainted with American football, but both my boys are. They are fanatical fans,” Brian said. “So they were like, ‘Dad! Dad! This is a great honor.’ I said, ‘Is it? Well, if it is, I accept your word for it.’ But I’m a novice at all this.”
Brian got to work alongside tennis great Serena Williams in the commercial. “I never, ever, thought in my life that I would be playing golf with Serena Williams,” Brian admitted. “That would be the most extraordinary thing ever and still is the most extraordinary thing ever. I still can’t get over it. She’s a lovely woman. She’s just incredibly self-contained and very impressive. Her focus was really impressive. It was a delight, an absolute delight.”
The Emmy winner will be in the stands in Arizona when the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia face off on February 12. “Oh, I’m going. On the pain of death, I’m going because my boys are coming with me,” Brian told HollywoodLife. “They are so excited. I’m happy to be doing it because of them as much as anything else. They’re going to be there. They’re young men now, but they’re still football fans.”
However, don’t call him an expert on American football or teams playing in the Super Bowl. “I know bugger all about any of that, sorry to say,” Brian quipped. “May the best team win.”
Michelob ULTRA’s Super Bowl commercial is a nod to the iconic comedy Caddyshack. “My great thing was to pay homage to Ted Knight, who I greatly admire, especially in The Mary Tyler Moore Show and the stuff he did over the years. he’s so good in the movie, so I was channeling Ted Knight. That was an honor. A real honor,” the actor said.
Brian gets to show off his swing in the commercial. While he doesn’t play golf regularly, he knows a good deal of history about the game. “I grew up 20 minutes from where golf was founded, St. Andrews in Scotland,” Brian revealed. “When I was a little boy, about 7, I witnessed Ben Hogan win the Carnoustie Open in 1953, so I actually witnessed that. I saw that. My mum dragged me there. I’m not into crowds or anything like that, but I remember I was compelled by seeing this extraordinary legend play golf. I was young. I actually had a photograph of me and him, but unfortunately, I’ve lost it.”