Brian Cox, a proud Scotsman, left little to the imagination on Thursday night as he wore a kilt to the world premiere of Glenrothan, his Scotch whisky drama and directorial debut, at the Toronto Film Festival.
“Is it that bad?” an immodest Cox asked after a film-goer in the Roy Thomson Hall audience during the post-screening Q&A put up his hand to warn the manspreading Succession actor he was showing on stage far more than sturdy calves as his traditional black tartan pleated skirt unceremoniously lifted.
“Or that good?” a grinning Cox then asked the audience by now in raucous laughter. “You have to wear the kilt the proper way. The kilt is designed to make you cool and free. And it’s a fucking wonderful freedom,” Cox then insisted after finally putting his knees together.
Cox turned his attention to Glenrothan, his Scottish family drama set in the rural highlands and centering on two estranged brothers who reunite in the land of their birth. Donal, played by Alan Cumming, has returned home from America to see his older and ailing brother Sandy (Cox), only to reopen old wounds and finally reconcile with their shared past to save the family whiskey distillery.
While arguing he wanted with Glenrothan to tell the story he wanted to tell, unlike other filmmakers in Hollywood who just “cover their ass… or not,” a ruffled Cox then added with another below-the-belt jibe about his kilt fashion.
“What an unfortunate phrase. I’m really sorry about this. I never thought I’d be in this position,” Cox told the TIFF audience apologetically. Still later, when calls of “Your legs! Your legs!” were heard again from the first few rows of the TIFF venue, Cox called out to Glenrothan producer Neil Zeiger in the audience for apparently urging him to dress to kilt for the world premiere.
“Whose idea was it to wear these fucking kilts?” Cox cried out with faux outrage. “Certainly not my idea. It was the producer’s idea. They always try to fuck you up, at the end of the day. They can be so vengeful sometimes,” he added.
“You’re probably wearing underpants,” Cox then questioned Zeiger, who was himself wearing a tartan kilt and who nodded in the affirmative. “The kilt is about being free and easy,” Cox then advised, before adding sheepishly: “It’s hard not to wear underpants.”
The Toronto Film Festival continues through to Sunday.