Brian Cox Turned This Role Down—And Still Regrets It in 2025
Brian Cox has been in everything.
Stage. Screen. TV. Voiceovers. Audiobooks. Adverts. If you can film it or narrate it, he's probably done it. With over 250 credits across nearly 60 years, the man does not say "no" very often.
But when he did say no? It came back to bite him.
Cox revealed in his autobiography that he was offered the role of Robert Baratheon in Game of Thrones. Yes — the wine-guzzling, boar-gored king of Westeros. But he turned it down, and to this day, he's still kicking himself.
"I'm often asked if I was offered a role in Game of Thrones, the reason being that every other bugger was, and the answer is yes," he wrote. "I was supposed to be a king called Robert Baratheon, who apparently died when he was gored by a boar in the first season."
So why did he say no? Money.
"When it was originally offered, the money was not all that great, shall we say."
To be fair, no one knew at the time that Game of Thrones would become a global obsession and cultural behemoth. Cox didn't just miss out on a prestige role — he missed residuals from one of the most-watched TV series of all time.
The irony? 2011 — the year Thrones premiered — was the only year between 2009 and now that Cox didn't appear in a single TV show. Instead, he did seven films that year. None of which are remembered quite like Thrones.
Of course, Cox eventually got his major TV moment with Succession. As Logan Roy, he finally became a household name (whether he wanted that or not), won a Golden Globe, and earned an Emmy nod. Not bad for someone who used to be "that guy from that thing."
But when it comes to his brief brush with Westeros, Cox doesn't hide the regret. Mark Addy ended up taking the part, getting gored by a boar, and immortalized in Thrones lore — while Cox was left wondering what could've been... and what those paychecks might've looked like today.