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'Succession' Star Brian Cox's New Memoir Reveals Why He Was Not In GoT, Harry Potter; Blasts Johnny Depp

Logan Roy in 'Succession' does not mince his words at all and that is something Cox has in common with the role he plays.

Source: Getty Images/Kevin Winter / Staff

Brian Cox plays Logan Roy, the ambitious patriarch of a billion-dollar media conglomerate on the HBO show, Succession. His curt and gruff on-screen persona makes Logan Roy an unapproachable figure. Logan does not mince his words at all and that is something Cox has in common with the role he plays. 

'Succession' Season 3

In his memoir, Putting the Rabbit in the Hat, Cox has revealed why he did not take up the offer to act in some of the biggest and most successful franchises that exist today including the Harry Potter series, the Pirates of the Caribbean series, and the Game of Thrones.  



 

"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 in his memoir as per the excerpt published in GQ. "I was supposed to be a king called Robert Baratheon." Having rejected the role, he admitted with a hint of regret that he didn't want to look up the future of his character in case it went on to become an important one. "When it was originally offered the money was not all that great, shall we say," he said. "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."

Brian Cox, Brendan Gleeson in Troy Source: IMDb

Cox also revealed that people often asked him why he was not a part of Harry Potter. "I think someone had a burning cross held up for me not to be in Harry Potter because all my pals were in it," he said. He said that he would probably play Mad-Eye Moody which went to Brendan Gleeson because according to Cox, "Brendan was more in fashion than I was at that point." While he expressed a sense of regret for not being a part of these franchises, he had the opposite view about being offered the role of Governor in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.



 

"It would have been a money-spinner," he acknowledged but also thought the Governor's role was "the most thankless."  He went on to say, "Another thing with Pirates of the Caribbean is that it’s very much the 'Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow' show, and Depp, personable though I’m sure he is, is so overblown, so overrated." He even harshly criticized his role in Edward Scissorhands stating, "if you come on with hands like that and pale, scarred-face make-up, you don’t have to do anything. And he didn’t." Without a hint of regret in this case Cox admitted, "I would have ended up doing it for film after film and missed out on all the other nice things I’ve done."



 

Much before the fame he found as Logan Roy, Cox had already made a name for himself as a thespian who had extensively worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre. He gained recognition for his portrayal of King Lear. He was then a part of various hit films such as Manhunter in which he played Dr. Hannibal Lecktor, Braveheart, The Bourne Identity, Churchill, and lent his voice in films including Battle for Terra, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and Her. He has won several awards including Primetime Emmy Awards, BAFTA Scotland Awards, and Golden Globe Awards among others.