In a new excerpt from his upcoming memoir, Putting the Rabbit in the Hat, prolific actor Brian Cox reveals that he was offered. a role on Game of Thrones, but turned it down because the money “was not all that great, shall we say.” In a truly curmudgeony style reminiscent of his role as Logan Roy on Succession, Cox opens up about people constantly asking him why he wasn’t on the fantasy series and how he doesn’t want to know if the role he turned down ended up being crucial to the show. Via GQ:
I’m often asked if I was offered a role in Game of Thrones — reason being that every other bugger was — and the answer is, yes, I was supposed to be a king called Robert Baratheon, who apparently died when he was gored by a boar in the first season. I know very little about Game of Thrones so I can’t tell you whether or not he was an important character, and I’m not going to google it just in case he was, because I turned it down.
As Cox goes on, he reveals that Game of Thrones isn’t the only franchise that he’s pestered about. Harry Potter is also a constant source of questions. Although, he seems to be genuinely disappointed about never getting an offer to join the wizarding world and can we just say Brian Cox is one hell of a writer. The man has a way with words.
“Harry Potter. That’s another one they ask me about,” Cox writes. “Harry f*cking Potter. I think someone had a burning cross held up for me not to be in Harry Potter, because all my pals were in it.”
(Via GQ)