Back in 2011, Game of Thrones was a big break for people who we now consider to be among the best actors of all time. Jason Momoa, for instance, only appeared in one season but has since gone on to superhero movie blockbusters, the Fast and Furious movies, and more. But back when it first started, nobody had any idea just how big Game of Thrones would become. And that was reflected by the money offered to stars signing up for the first season of the fantasy series.
The slim financial compensation is, as it turns out, the thing that put Succession star Brian Cox off from accepting a role on the series. In a passage from his upcoming memoir, he explained how he turned down the part of Robert Baratheon because “the money was too little.”
“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 writes. “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 Succession cast member 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. 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 lied. I did Google it.)”
Poor Brian. We’ve all dug online a little too much and hurt our own feelings. But if you want to return to the world of Westeros, check out our guide to the House of the Dragon cast. Or, check out our feature on why Succession means so much to us.