Brian Cox explains why unusual living situation with wife is important for successful marriage

Sustaining a happy, long marriage is an art that few people ever learn to master.

But Brian Cox and his wife, Nicole Ansari-Cox, appear to be the exception to the rule.

During a new interview with The Times, the 79-year-old Succession star opened up about his relationship, revealing the secret to the couple's long, happy union.

While most think that spending as much time as possible with their significant other will nurture a marriage, Cox has other ideas, insisting that living apart from his wife keeps is what keeps them happy.

The actor lives in the UK but lives entirely separate from his wife, 57. The pair live in two homes just a nine-minute walk apart in Primrose Hill, London.

Additionally, they also keep themselves separate in the US too, with separate bedrooms in their two homes, one which is in Brooklyn and the other in upstate New York.

“By keeping things separate, we are responsible for our own mess,” he told the outlet.

The couple have been married since 2002 (Photo by Dave Benett/Getty Images for GQ)

“It’s as simple as that. Her space is very important for her, and my space is very important for me. I think if we’re thrown together, we feel locked together, and that’s not a good creative relationship."

"You should be free," he added, in an answer that would leave many couples aghast.

In addition to living separately, the pair maintains a happy union by incorporating therapy into their relationship.

“Nicole gave up a lot for me. It was tricky for her, but she gave up a lot, and I feel that she needs to be honored,” he said.

The couple, who tied the knot in Las Vegas in 2002, first locked eyes when Ansari-Cox saw Cox performing as King Lear in Hamburg, Germany, in 1990.

There, they got to know each other at an afterparty. But it wasn't until eight years later that they became an official couple after meeting by chance in New York.

In addition to living separately, the pair maintains a happy union by incorporating therapy into their relationship (Photo by Pablo Cuadra/Getty Images)

“We’re about to have our silver wedding,” Cox went on to share.

The Scottish actor and his wife also share two sons – Orson, 24, and Torin, 21 – and Cox is also the father of daughter Margaret and son Alan, both of whom he welcomed with his second wife, Caroline Burt.

Admiring his current wife, Cox said of his wife: "She’s considerable. She’s one of the most generous and caring people."

"The problem with Nicole, and we discuss this, is she’s got too many friends," he continued jokingly.

"At my age, I’m trying to get rid of them. Well, most of mine are dying off," he joked.

Brian and Nicole shared two sons together (Kate Green/Getty Images)

During a previous interview on Live with Kelly and Ryan in 2023, the Troy actor reflected on his wedding more than two decades ago.

"Well, it's like, stuck in my brain," he said.

"It was a very, very - my lovely wife and I decided to get married. We'd actually been apart for a while - she'd been traveling - and then we sat down, and we said, 'Where do we go from here? Do we finish or do we go on?' And we thought, 'Well, let's go on and get married.'"

"I think she agreed," he recalled, before asking his wife, who was sitting in the audience at the time of the show. "You agreed, didn't you, honey?" he asked.

They married at the Little White Chapel in Vegas, though Ansari-Cox did not initially agree on who would officiate their vows.

"Nicole, I think, was reasonably keen on the idea of Elvis," he explained.

"I said, 'No [pretended to censor himself] way!' "

It was then the mother of their officiant who played the piano during the union, opting for the theme from Braveheart as they strolled down the aisle.