'Succession' star Brian Cox reveals he turned down 'GOT' due to this reason

Emmy-winning actor Brian Cox, widely known for his role as Logan Roy in the HBO series `Succession`, recently revealed the reason he was never seen in major franchises such as `Game of Thrones` and `Pirates of the Caribbean`.

The actor revealed the reason in his new memoir `Putting the Rabbit in the Hat`, reported Variety. Cox turned down the role of King Robert Baratheon in the first season of `GOT`. Fellow UK actor Mark Addy was cast in the role."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," Cox wrote in the memoir."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," he added.

Revealing the reason behind rejecting the role, he wrote, "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."He added, "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."Cox also shared, "I turned my nose up at the part of the Governor in the `Pirates of the Caribbean franchise,` a role that was eventually played by Jonathan Pryce."A role in Disney`s `Pirates` movies would`ve given Cox his second franchise after starring as William Stryker in `X2: X-Men United`.

Cox said, "The guy who directed `Pirates` was Gore Verbinski, with whom I made `The Ring,` and he`s a lovely chap but I think I blotted my copybook by turning down the Governor. 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."

However, there was one more reason why Cox decided to pass on the franchise -- namely, his would-be costar, Johnny Depp."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," Cox said.

"I mean, `Edward Scissorhands.` Let`s face it, 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. And subsequently, he`s done even less. But people love him. Or they did love him. They don`t love him so much these days, of course," he added. Cox's memoir 'Putting the Rabbit in the Hat'will debut on January 18.