Legendary actor Brian Cox certainly hasn’t held back in his new memoir ‘Putting the Rabbit in the Hat’ if the extract recently published in GQ is anything to go by. Although the extract was relatively short, it was packed full of stone-cold truths, including Cox’s reasoning for turning down roles in both ‘Game Of Thrones’ and ‘Pirates Of The Caribbean’.
Cox wasn’t afraid to strike a few blows in his book too, refusing to mince his words as he called Johnny Depp “So overblown, so overrated,” and referred to the much-loved franchise of ‘Harry Potter’ as “Harry f****** Potter”.
Cox Revealed 'I Turned My Nose Up' At 'Pirates Of the Caribbean'
Speaking of his refusal to appear in Disney’s ‘Pirates Of The Caribbean’ Cox declared “I turned my nose up at the part of the Governor in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.”
“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.”
“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 Claimed Johnny Depp Didn't Have To Do Anything For His Role In 'Edward Scissorhands' And People 'Don't Love Him So Much These Days'
“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. If Johnny Depp went for Jack Sparrow now, they’d give it to Brendan Gleeson. So no—no regrets about Pirates, I don’t think.”
He also divulged that his reasoning for refusing to appear in ‘Game Of Thrones’ was largely due to the salary he was offered. “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.”
