Watch out, Sydney Sweeney—Brian Cox is coming for your Emmy. During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Monday, the Succession star submitted his unofficial audition tape for another popular HBO drama, stepping into the role of Euphoria’s resident emotionally unstable hot girl, Cassie, to recreate a viral scene from the show’s second season.
The digital short sees Cox edited into the endlessly memed scene where the Euphoria girlies are convening in the high school bathroom. It’s nearly identical to the original scene, except with Logan Roy himself delivering Cassie’s melodramatic lines instead of Sweeney. He’s even dressed in a periwinkle gingham top that resembles the one Cassie wears in the actual show (albeit with just a tad less cleavage on display).
Zendaya’s strung-out Rue asks, “Wait, are you in the play?” In his recognizable gruff voice, Cox self-consciously asks, “Oh my god! Do I look like I’m in Oklahoma!?” Barbie Ferreira’s Kat points out that his outfit (topped off with a cowboy hat) makes him look like a country music star. When he asks if she means it in a good way or a bad way, we get to hear Alexa Demie indirectly lambaste the legendary Laurence Olivier Award-winning actor with the line that launched a thousand memes: “Bitch, you better be joking.”
But Cox really gets to flex his acting chops when it comes time to deliver Cassie’s unhinged monologue about her secret affair with Jacob Elordi’s character. “Fuck it! I’m in love with Nate Jacobs and he’s in love with me, and don’t you fucking give me that look, Maddy, because I didn’t fuck your boyfriend,” he rants. “You two were broken up for three weeks and three days before we even had sex! So I didn’t betray you. Plus, you guys are terrible for each other and you know, you know I’m right. And you guys, you can all judge me if you want, but I do not care. I have never, never, ever, ever been happier!”
OK, so Cox’s take on the outburst is not quite as Girl, Interrupted as Sweeney’s. But swap having sex with his best friend’s boyfriend for selling out his three children to maintain power over his corrupt media conglomerate, and it could easily be a scene from Succession. The cuts to the Euphoria cast members’ shocked and confused expressions make the monologue even more hilarious.
In its final moments, the sketch diverges from the original scene as Rue reveals that Cox-as-Cassie didn’t actually say all that. “In fact, it was much weirder,” she says. Turning back to face the mirror, Cox threatens, “Don’t fuck with me, Maddy. I’m one crazy-ass bitch.”
