Brian Cox is "grateful" for the early death of his parents because it taught him to be "self-sufficient".
The 78-year-old actor had lost both his mother and his father before he turned 30 and even though it was "traumatic", he didn't really have time to grieve for them.
Speaking on the 'Turning Points' podcast, he told 'Shout' hitmaker Lulu: ""It was traumatic, but the interesting thing was, I was fine. It was hell but I was fine. And I knew it was hell, so I didn't bother, there was no point, what is the point in going oh poor me... I still miss my father to this day, and I still miss my mum, but I never dealt on it and thought oh poor me, because there was no time.
"You knew you were on your own so you had to be self-sufficient. It's a terrible thing to say but I'm actually grateful for it in many ways. It's such a complicated relationship that people have with their parents, they go through love and then hate... I never had that, I just love my mum and dad, and they were great to me."
The 'Succession' star has Margaret and Alan with his ex-wife Caroline Burt as well as Orson, 23, and 20-year-old Torin with Nicole Ansari - admitted that he "wasn't a very good father" when he became a dad himself ad struggled to "let go" of his kids when the time came.
He said: "I wasn’t very good… I wasn't a very good father. I learnt a bit, but it was hard because I had no benchmark, so I wasn't a particularly good father, and I do value the child in me. And I have never particularly wanted to let go of the child to be honest with you. I think it's important because I think you should honour the child in you. I see a lot of men who pretend they're grown up and I think - for God's sake, be a bairn, be a bit more of a bairn and show your vulnerability."
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