Nicole Ansari-Cox caught the acting bug when she first watched “Casablanca” at five years old and told her mom, “When I grow up, I want to do what she [Ingrid Bergman] does,” Nicole told Hamptons. “Whether it was the adventure, the incandescent beauty, or the fact that she got Rick! Around the same time, I got to play the fire in Rumpelstiltskin at my sister’s kindergarten performance and my fate was sealed,” she recalled.
It was Nicole’s love of theater that brought her and Brian Cox together. They met in 1990 while Brian was performing in “King Lear” in Hamburg, Germany, which Nicole went to see eight times. “I met Brian at a party and there was just an instant connection — It was like meeting a soulmate. He understood me. We were just talking, talking, talking,” she told Scotland’s The Herald. Their relationship became serious in 1998 and she moved to England to be with Brian. Unfortunately, Nicole didn’t find success with her acting career overseas. “In England, it’s difficult as a foreign actress. They don’t even give you a chance,” she explained.
Read Related Also: Peyton Hillis praised as a 'remarkable dad' as he remains hospitalized after rescuing kids
After she and Brian got married in 2002 and had their sons Orson and Torin, they settled in New York City. Since then, Nicole and Brian have starred in the Tom Stoppard play “Rock’n’Roll” together. Cox also directed his wife in the play “Sinners: The English Professor” in 2020. While Nicole’s first love was acting, her decision to switch careers propelled her in a different direction.
