#Brian Cox Was The Original Choice For Robert Baratheon On Game Of Thrones

The role of Robert Baratheon ultimately went to Mark Addy. So why exactly did Cox turn it down? Simply put, it all came down to money. He explained:

“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.”

I just watched the pilot episode of “Succession” in the New Year to finally see what all the hubbub was about, and the show struck me as an anti-“King Lear” for the New York jet set (or helicopter set, as the case may be). Instead of dividing his kingdom among his three daughters like Lear, Logan Roy decides that he’s not ready yet to bequeath his media empire to his two sons and one daughter.

Even though Cox didn’t wind up playing the official “Game of Thrones,” he’s still playing an unofficial one on “Succession.” Both shows are streaming on HBO Max, while Cox’s memoir, “Putting the Rabbit in the Hat,” goes on sale Tuesday, January 18, 2022.