Brian Cox Is Sorry For Going So Hard On Johnny Depp

Last year, Brian Cox released his memoir Putting the Rabbit in the Hat and subsequently proved he could moonlight as a literacy tutor because Brian read everyone. Brian took swings at Steven Seagal (“ludicrous“), Quentin Tarantino (“meretricious“), Edward Norton (“A bit of a pain in the arse“), and Jonathan Pryce (“An interesting fish“), among many others. But he saved most of his matches and lighter fluid to roast up Johnny Depp. Brian, who said he passed up the chance to work with Johnny on the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, described Johnny as being “so overblown” and “so overrated.” Well, Brian has thought about his thoughts, and Brian thinks he might have been just a little too harsh on Jack Sparrow in his book.

Calling Johnny Depp “so overrated” isn’t that severe of a drag. After all, some people in certain showbiz circles have been calling him the most overpaid actor in Hollywood for years. But Brian went further than that. He implied that the special effects department did all the acting for Johnny in Edward Scissorhands, and said that Johnny has done even less acting since that movie came out. Even people on Team He’s Overrated probably looked at that statement, looked over at Johnny Depp’s performance in Ed Wood, and realized Brian Cox’s comments should have come with a “Needs verification” warning.

So it wasn’t too much of a surprise when a few months after Brian’s memoir came out and those comments went viral, he back-pedaled on them, just a bit. Brian said he took some heat from Johnny Depp’s fans, who accused him of being disrespectful to Johnny Depp. Brian clarified that even if he does think that some of Johnny’s work is so overrated, he can acknowledge that Johnny Depp has done some good, even extraordinarily good, work. Those fans should feel pretty pleased today, because Brian brought up Johnny once again, this time during a recent visit to Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and here’s how Brian now feels about Johnny Depp. via Variety:

“I just thought I was being a bit harsh,” Cox told Kimmel about criticizing Depp in his memoir. “You know what it’s like, you go for the easy joke. And I went for the easy joke. That was what happened, and I sort of regretted it. Because I’m not like that normally; I was just being a bit glib, a bit flip.”

And when Brian Cox called Johnny Depp overrated, you need to understand – that’s pretty much how Brian Cox would describe anyone! At least, according to Brian Cox. Jimmy Kimmel asked Brian if he thinks most actors would consider themselves overrated, and Brian answered that he believes a lot of actors would agree. Although there are some who would truly believe they’re underrated, before stating that most actors would probably think they’re not rated at all. Here’s Brian on JKL!:

But the big question is, how did Johnny Depp feel about Brian Cox’s comments? We know how his fans felt, of course. But for Johnny, how hard could his feelings possibly have been hurt. It’s not like Brian Cox insulted Johnny’s scarf collection. You know, the entire collection he wears on himself at all times. Hearing “overrated” probably wouldn’t even register, but the “wannabe pirate” would have had tears dripping into Johnny’s whiskey.

Pic: INSTAR