Raised in Dundee, Scotland

At age 14, joined the Dundee Repertory Company and began acting career; debuted in "Dover Road"

Spent season with Birmingham Repertory Theatre; made London stage debut with troupe as Orlando in "As You Like It"

First association with the Royal Court Theatre in London, acted in "In Celebration"; portrayed a miner's son

Film debut, as Trotsky in "Nicholas and Alexandra"

Appeared in "Hedda Gabler" at the Royal Court

Stage directing debut, "The Man with a Flower in His Mouth" (Manchester)

Reprised stage role of Steven in the film version of "In Celebration"

Began working at the National Theatre in London

TV debut, as Laurent Raquin in "Therese Raquin", opposite Kate Nelligan; aired in USA on PBS

Had title role in the National Theatre production of "Danton' Death"

Supported Laurence Olivier in the TV adaptation of "King Lear"; played Burgundy

Co-starred opposite Glenda Jackson on the London stage in Eugene O'Neill's play "Strange Interlude"

Garnered acclaim for starring role in the stage play "Rat in the Skull"

Broadway debut reprising role in "Strange Interlude", opposite Jackson

Reprised lead in Off-Broadway staging of "Rat in the Skull" at the Public Theater

Created role of Dr Hannibal Lektor [sic] in "Manhunter"

Stage breakthrough, had title role in Royal Shakespeare production of "Titus Andronicus"; also toured Europed in part

Staged "The Crucible" at the Moscow Arts Theatre

Originated role of Frankie in the London premiere of Terrence McNally's "Frankie and Johnnie in the Clair-de-Lune"

Embarked on world tour playing "King Lear"

Cast as a closeted homosexual who must confront his own sexual orientation when his son reveals he is gay in the British TV adaptation of "The Lost Language of Cranes"

Portrayed a wealthy man who has had duplicate copies of his wife made in "The Cloning of Joanna May"

Played title role in the BBC film "Grushko"

Appeared in episodes of "Sharpe"

Acted in the period epics "Rob Roy" and "Braveheart"

Received glowing notices for his performance in the one-person play "St. Nicholas", by Conor McPherson; role written expressly for Cox; reprised role in NYC

Had lead role in the L.A. premiere of David Hare's play "Skylight"

Appeared as an IRA leader in "The Boxer"

Co-starred in the HBO original "Poodle Springs"

Succeeded Alan Alda as Marc in the award-winning "Art" on Broadway

Made unsold pilot for CBS drama series "The Family Brood", playing the patriarch of an Irish Catholic family of firefighters

Cast as the school's headmaster in "Rushmore", directed by Wes Anderson and co-written by Owen Wilson

Starred opposite Wilson as an unhappily married man who takes in a serial killer (Wilson) as a boarder in "The Minus Man"

Cast as the crusty owner of a baseball team in "For Love of the Game"

Portrayed the bankrupt owner of a chip shop in "Saltwater", directed by McPherson and based on his play "This Lime Tree Bower"

Acted in McPherson's play "Dublin Carol" at the Old Vic and then the Royal Court

Co-starred in "Longitude"; aired in USA on A&E

Portrayed Nazi war criminal Hermann Goering in the TNT miniseries "Nuremberg"

Featured in two motion pictures premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, "Super Troopers" and "L.I.E."; cast as a pedophile in the latter and won nearly unanimous critical praise for his performance

Played supporting roles in "Strictly Sinatra" and "The Affair of the Necklace"

Co-starred with Matt Damon in "The Bourne Identity"

Had co-starring role in the ABC 2001-2002 midseason replacement "The Court"

Had supporting role in "The Reckoning"

Appeared in the supernatural/high-tech thriller "The Ring"

Portrayed real-life screenwriting seminar instructor Robert McKee in Kaufman's pseudo-autobiographical film, "Adaptation"

cast in director Spike Lee's "The 25th Hour"

Played the villainous, anti-mutant crusader Stryker in "X2," the sequel to "X-Men"

Cast as Agamemnon in director Wolfgang Petersen's Greek epic "Troy"

Cast opposite Paul Bettany and Willem Dafoe in "The Reckoning"

Revised role of Ward Abbott in "The Bourne Supremacy" opposite Matt Damon

Co-starred in Woody Allen's "Match Point"

Joined the cast of HBO's "Deadwood" as theater owner, Jack Langrishe

Played Dr. Finch, the oddly hypnotic psychotherapist in "Running With Scissors"

Played Melvin Belli, a celebrity defense lawyer in David Fincher's thriller "Zodiac"