Succession star Brian Cox revealed the reason why he didn’t jump at the chance to star in Game of Thrones was simply that ‘the money was not all that great,’ at the beginning.
The medieval fantasy, which turned into a global phenomenon, ran for eight seasons and starred Emilia Clarke, Kit Harrington and Maisie Williams.
While many stars were desperate for a cameo in the hit series, the 75-year-old actor wasn’t so keen to play Robert Baratheon, which saw Mark Addy featuring in seven episodes.
In his latest memoir Putting the Rabbit in the Hat, which was shared by GQ, he wrote: ‘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.
‘But when it was originally offered the money was not all that great, shall we say.’
He continued: ‘Plus I was going to be killed off fairly early on, so I wouldn’t have had any of the benefits of the long-term effects of a successful series where your wages go up with each passing season.
‘So I passed on it, and Mark Addy was gored by the boar instead. (I lied. I did google it.)’
In a 2016 interview with Vodzilla, Brian who played Logan Roy in hit American drama Succession revealed he felt very ‘silly’ for turning down the role at the time because, like many others, he became obsessed.
‘Now they have more money. And I was silly. I was silly, it was silly because I’m a complete addict now,’ he said.
Well, it looks like Brian has put the regret behind him as Succession recently triumphed at the Golden Globes.
The programme’s lead star Jeremy Strong won best actor in a TV drama series for his role as the devious Kendall Roy, while Sarah Snook – who plays Siobhan Roy – won best performance by an actress in a television supporting role.
Game of Thrones is available to watch on Sky and NOW.
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