SUCCESSION star Brian Cox has shown his support for Ukraine while accepting an award for the hit series.
The Dundee-born star, 75, took to the stage last night at the Screen Actors' Guild (SAG) awards with his co-stars to take the prize for Outstanding Performance By An Ensemble In A Drama Series.
During his acceptance speech, he spoke of the "awful" situation Ukraine is in.
He said: "One other thing I would like to add, which I think is important to me and I hope important to you, and I think as actors and performers and writers and directors… this is a thing that’s come to me about what’s going on in Ukraine.
“It’s truly, truly awful. Really, really awful what’s happening."
Succession actor Brian Cox says his fellow actors in Russia are being told they can't speak about the invasion of Ukraine #SAGAwards pic.twitter.com/LdlHXrlwr7
— The Chat (@LiveOnTheChat) February 28, 2022
The Rob Roy actor then spoke of his admiration for Ukraine's president, and said that Russians in the entertainment industry are banned from speaking about Ukraine.
He said: “It’s particularly awful in terms of how it’s affecting people, particularly in our profession. The President of Ukraine [Volodymyr Zelensky] was a comic.
"He was a wonderful comic performer. And we should respect that for him. To come to the presidency was amazing."
He added: “But the thing that’s really distressed me is what’s happening in Russia, to my fellow actors and actresses and performers and writers and critics.
“They are told, under pain of high treason, they cannot say a word about Ukraine. And I think that is pretty awful.
“I think we should all stand together, and also for those people, the people in Russia who don’t like what’s going on, and particularly the artists.
"I think we should really join in celebrating them and hope that they can make a shift. Because I believe they can."
The powerful speech earned a standing ovation from the crowd.
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