By Shawn Adler in Los Angeles

Brian Cox says he thinks of himself as a big softie. Honestly, just based on the roles he’s played on film, could you think of a man you would less like to meet in a dark alley than Brian Cox? Sweet Mother Mary and Joseph this guy plays tough men. Hannibal Lector? Agamemnon? William Stryker? These aren’t soft people we’re talking about here. These men eat silver dollars and crap out change. These men could kick your ass.

This summer you can add another brilliant Cox creation to that list. Reprising his role as shady CIA director Ward Abbott in "The Bourne Supremacy," Cox once again shows why he’s one of the best actors working today, infusing believability and purpose into every scene.

I may not want to have to fight one of these characters, but as a film lover, I’m damn glad Brian Cox is around to play ‘em.

Brian recently sat down with Cinema Confidential in Los Angeles to discuss his work on "The Bourne Supremacy," and to tell us why he’s the most misunderstood nice guy in Hollywood.

Q: You’ve done a remarkable job with films in this genre. I loved you in "The Long Kiss Goodnight" and thought the humor you brought to the role was fantastic. How is it different for you to approach a role like this where you’re really playing it straight?

BRIAN: Well, I think this character is a very identifiable character because there are a lot of these men around at the moment. And they are making certain decisions about our lives. So I don’t see it quite in the humor-ful vein, as it were. It’s very interesting: When I started playing this role, I had no idea where I was going. I knew there were these faceless guys – who actually were more faceless then who’ve become less faceless subsequently. The way Ward Abbott has developed has sort of mirrored what’s been going on in American politick, shall we say? That to me is what’s quite interesting.

Q: When you did the first film, did you know they were setting up things that could bring you back?

BRIAN: I had no idea. It was a surprise to me. I knew there were these Bourne books but, you know, we’ve only used the Lundum books as a sort of template. We’ve kind of moved on from them – basically those books were about Cold War. The present stories are more about now. But it has to have that feeling, which is why the European, sort of minimalist feeling is very good. It’s not like the usual blockbuster. It has a grainy verite, almost documentary feel about it. The characters have developed. Of course, the nice thing about it is that one has had a say a little bit in the development of the characters.

Q: Was there something you were able to do the second time around that you wished you had been able to do the first time?

BRIAN: Well, as I say the first time the character was much less declared, which is also very good in terms of film acting. You can keep all your actions open, because you don’t know where it’s going to go. In the first film we did a lot of reshoots, and one of the reshoots we did was we actually shot a whole end to the film where Ward’s character becomes much more apparent. Now that became the springboard for the second movie. In fact, at one time they thought they were going to use that scene to start the second movie off. But it was great because it allowed me a marvelous way to get into the second movie. I feel very good because I was able to not play all my eggs in one basket in the first movie, and I think now in the second movie the character really comes to fruition. It’s very interesting because in the same way that Jason is being revealed these other characters are being revealed as well. I think that’s one of the pluses of doing a sequel, particularly doing a sequel in this style.

Q: A lot of times sequels suffer if there is a different director brought on board and this one surprisingly doesn’t. I wonder if you could observe on the differences between the two directors [Doug Liman and Paul Greengrass] and talk about what sort of energy Greengrass brought to this project.

BRIAN: You know, back home in Britain he [Greengrass] has done a lot of amazing television work, and he made a film called ‘Bloody Sunday.’ The thing about Paul is that he’s very politically rooted as a filmmaker, so he’s got a real sense of political drive. And I think that comes from very much a British tradition, and I think Paul is very inherent in that. But he’s actually now taken it to another level. I think it was difficult for him. I think he had a tough time on this movie, because he’s never worked in the so-called ‘Hollywood System’ before. But I think the proof is in the pudding, and I think it’s amazing what he’s achieved. We had a few different writers on this, which was part of the technique of how these movies have evolved. So I think for Paul to come into that was very, very hard. But he played it very well. He kept his counsel. He got quite exhausted, but I think in the end it didn’t stop him from complimenting [the film] and doing his great work.

Q: So how much of your acting is directed, and how much is you?

BRIAN: All that, that’s me. I mean, directors have no idea about that. You have to understand: directors are very lucky to get you. They’ll pretend. You always think about the auteur, you know, that he did this, gave you that wonderful– bullshit. They don’t even notice that stuff half the time.

Q: Can you talk a little bit about working with Joan Allen, because she’s such a great foil for you?

BRIAN: She’s just one of the best actresses I’ve ever worked with. It’s like playing tennis. What you always ask for is to have someone who really knows how to volley, and Joan really knows how to do that. Hopefully, I can reciprocate. We had a very good relationship. It was tough for Joan, again, because she’s never really done this type of movie before. I’ve done a lot of these kind of movies, so I know the territory. Joan comes from much more psychologically based work, where you have to deal with facts. The whole thing is much leaner. It’s all dealing with lean meat. There’s no fat on this stuff, so you have to do everything in the meat. It’s all in the meat. But there are different dynamics within that, which are quite exciting to work with. She’s an actress, and a consummate one. This is a great creation, but that’s not Joan Allen. That’s Joan Allen the actress. I have nothing but admiration and I’d love to do something else with her.

Q: We’ve seen you play some real authoritarian characters – in "X2" and in the "Bourne" movies, for example. A lot of actors talk about the difficulty in playing against type. Will we ever see you play something softer?

BRIAN: I’d love to play something softer! I actually think of myself as sort of a soft person. I don’t see myself as this kind of rather fierce, authoritarian type person at all. I don’t think of myself in that line. I am dying to play something really quite different.

I’m actually doing a Woody Allen film at the moment, and I’m playing someone who’s very upper-class, which is more difficult for me, actually, than playing American!

Q: Why is that?

BRIAN: Well, because it’s all my demons, all my feudal demons. The nice thing about living and working in America is that it’s a fundamentally equalitarian society. It doesn’t matter what school you went to. Whereas, even Woody Allen has written these characters, and they’re of a certain type. I kept thinking this was the first time that anyone has ever offered me anything posh. And of course it would only be an American who would do it, cause he wouldn’t know the difference really. When I first came to LA years and years ago, this is like 20 years ago, they said, "We’re going to put you up for playing the Edward, the Duke of Windsor." I said, "I can’t play the Duke of Winsdor." They said, "No, it’s fine, he’s English." I’m Scots. That’s really hard. I’d rather play a hick from some place in mid-Texas, than play the Duke of Windsor.

Q: You mentioned that you had some input into your character this time –

BRIAN: Well, basically, the point was that both Matt and I felt that there had to be a showdown between those two characters, and in the original script there wasn’t a showdown. Paul was of the feeling that there should be a showdown. There was a great deal of contention and to-ing and fro-ing. When I read the first script I thought there was stuff that really needed to be included. I think eventually we got there. It’s an unusual form of movie making.

I mean, if you work with somebody like Bryan Singer you got the writers there present all the time, and the scenes are constantly being reshaped as you go along. This is a slightly different situation because Bryan was also producer/director. Paul was director but not producer. Actually, it’s quite exciting. Apparently, the film is quite good. I don’t know, I haven’t seen the film.

Q: It’s exceptional.

BRIAN: You know more about this film than I do! You know, I just do it, and that’s also the great thing about it. I just do it. That’s why I never watch films. If you could only see it from my point of view, it’s very exciting. The doing of it is much more fun than the watching of it, because you’ve got more possibilities.

Q: So you don’t sit at home on weekends with the Brian Cox library?

BRIAN: Oh no. If I sat at home with a library of Brian Cox I would be very disappointed.

"The Bourne Supremacy" opens in theaters July 23rd.