Brian Cox thought his chance to direct had passed before Glenrothan

Brian Cox thought the "moment had passed" for him to make his feature directorial debut before Glenrothan came along.

The Succession actor directs and stars in the upcoming drama, which follows Donal (Alan Cumming) as he reluctantly returns to the Scottish Highlands to reunite with his estranged brother Sandy (Cox) after 35 years in Chicago.

While Cox has directed stage productions and a 2000 TV episode, he never expected to make his own movie, especially in his late '70s.

"I didn't expect this to come at my age. I thought, you know, my moment had passed," he told Cover Media, admitting that he experienced an "element of uncertainty about it" before he surrounded himself with a talented cast and crew and let them "do their job" instead of dictating what to do.

"I wanted everybody to do what they do best," he shared. "I'm not one of these people who says it's got to be this way. I believe that if you get a team, you have to make that team excel in whatever they do, and you've got to give them the total status that they deserve."

The Troy actor, who turns 80 in June, revealed that directing Glenrothan wasn't his idea, and he was told that he was directing it "in no uncertain terms" by his friend Neil Zeigler, the film's producer.

"What happened was that Neil came to me and said, 'You're directing this film.' And I said, 'What?!' He said, 'You're directing (screenwriter) David (Ashton)'s film.' I said, 'Well, really, is that a fact?' He said, 'Yeah, you're directing it.' I said, 'Oh, okay,'" he recalled.

"It was a great experience. I mean, I had to think about, you know, the directors I've worked with and the ones I've worked against over the years, trying to ascertain some kind of standard," he added with a chuckle.

Glenrothan, also starring Shirley Henderson and Alexandra Shipp, is in cinemas from Friday 17 April.