Brian Cox, star of Succession and many, many other films and television programs over the years, has revealed his near-brush with Game of Thrones in GQ, where an excerpt of his new memoir—titled Putting the Rabbit in the Hat (Amazon affiliate link)—discusses his views on the monetary side of the acting business, and the sheer chance by which some programs become global hits and others fall flat. In the course of the excerpt, Cox writes that he’s often asked if he was ever offered a role in Game of Thrones:
As we’re on the subject, 25th Hour was written by David Benioff, who of course went on to be showrunner for Game of Thrones. 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. 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.
Sad news today, when it was announced that John Jos. Miller had passed away on January 5th. He was 67 years old. A long-time friend and collaborator with George R.R. Martin and other members of the Wild Cards Consortium, Miller was a founding member of the Wild Cards group and extended his influence into the RPGs from which that shared universe sprang by writing Wild Cards source books for Steve Jackson Games and Green Ronin.
A vintage photo of Wild Cards writers in the wild, wearing t-shirts featuring some of their signature characters. From left to right: John Jos. Miller, his wife Gail Gerstner-Miller, Walter Jon Williams, and GRRM.