Brian Cox turned down Robert Baratheon role on Game of Thrones

Last Updated on January 19, 2022

Brian Cox is one of the most accomplished actors working in the business today, and while he continues to shine in the industry as Logan Roy on Succession, he could’ve been a part of the HBO family sooner via a role on Game of Thrones. However, the actor recently revealed he turned down the role because the paycheck just wasn’t quite to his liking.

During a chat with GQ on Friday, Cox revealed that he almost appeared on Game of Thrones but he turned the offer down. Cox said, “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.” The actor then added, “everybody involved earned an absolute fortune” and that the money Game of Thrones originally offered him “was not all that great, shall we say.” Cox also knew that the character he was up for, whom Mark Addy eventually played, was killed early in the show. “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”, according to the actor.

Cox didn’t stop there when it came to getting candid about his work. Cox had previously worked with Game of Thrones showrunner David Benioff on 2002’s 25th Hour, written by Benioff and directed by Spike Lee. In his book, Cox calls Lee “one of the best directors I’ve ever worked with,” partly because of his ability to collaborate with co-star Edward Norton. Cox writes of Norton, “He’s a nice lad but a bit of a pain in the arse because he fancies himself as a writer-director.” Cox then praised Lee’s ability to hear Norton’s script ideas without using them. “And the fact that he did it without upsetting Ed, who after all does have a reputation for being a little volatile, was really quite an achievement.”

Then we come to Cox turning down a role in Pirates of the Caribbean. Cox writes that he has “no regrets,” about Jonathan Pryce playing the part. “It would have been a money-spinner, but of all the parts in that film it was the most thankless, plus I would have ended up doing it for film after film and missed out on all the other nice things I’ve done.” Before ending his thoughts on passing on the Disney film, Cox then goes in of the film’s star, Johnny Depp. Cox referred to him as “so overblown, so overrated. I mean, Edward Scissorhands. Let’s face it, if you come on with hands like that and pale, scarred-face makeup, you don’t have to do anything. And he didn’t. And subsequently, he’s done even less. But people love him. Or they did love him. If Johnny Depp went for Jack Sparrow now, they’d give it to Brendan Gleeson.”

Tell us how you really feel Mr. Cox. In all honesty, Brian Cox has accomplished so much during his career that he’s allowed to tell it like is.

What are YOUR thoughts on Brian Cox turning down Game of Thrones and his thoughts on other actors in Hollywood?