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In his new memoir, Putting the Rabbit in the Hat, Succession star Brian Cox discusses turning down the role of Robert Baratheon in Game of Thrones.
Succession star Brian Cox’s memoir hasn’t hit shelves yet, but excerpts from it are making waves — particularly Cox’s disclosure that he almost had a role in HBO’s Game of Thrones.
In Cox’s new memoir, Putting the Rabbit in the Hat, the actor admits to turning down a role in Game of Thrones, as reported by GQ. Cox writes, “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.”
Explaining his reasons for rejecting the role, Cox continues, “Why? Well, ‘Game of Thrones’ went on to be a huge success and everybody involved earned an absolute fortune, of course. But when it was originally offered the money was not all that great, shall we say. 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.”
Indeed, King Robert Baratheon dies in Season 1 Episode 7 after a botched hunting trip, making his role in the series rather small, although even in his absence he continues to be important to the narrative.
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Cox ended up on a hit HBO series nevertheless, winning Succession fame instead of Game of Thrones fame. The acclaimed show– which took home the 2020 Emmy for outstanding drama series– stars Cox as Logan Roy, the billionaire founder of an international media conglomerate, whose declining health sparks a war between his children for control of the company.
Though younger generations may only recognize him from Succession, the veteran actor has been steadily working in Hollywood for decades, even playing Dr. Hannibal Lecktor in the 1986 Manhunter — the first actor to portray the infamous serial killer later popularized by Silence of the Lambs. X-Men fans may recognize Cox as the villainous Stryker from 2003’3 X2: X-Men United.
Season 3 of Succession debuted on HBO Max in the fall of 2021 and has been renewed for a fourth season. In addition to his role as the formidable patriarch of the Roy family, Cox has a starring role in Blade Runner: Black Lotus, a Japanese–American anime television series based on the Blade Runner franchise.
Source: GQ
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