'Succession' star Brian Cox turned down the chance to play King Robert on 'Game of Thrones'

• Brian Cox was offered an opportunity to star in "Game of Thrones" but turned it down.
• The "Succession" star was up for the role of King Robert Baratheon on season one of the HBO series.

Actor Brian Cox had the opportunity to be a part of the HBO hit series "Game of Thrones" but rejected the role that was offered partly due to the pay.

An excerpt from his new memoir was published by Esquire on Friday, in which the "Succession" star touched on notable acting jobs he had turned down.

"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.

Mark Addy ended up being cast for the role of Robert Baratheon in season one of the HBO series. As for Cox's reasoning for rejecting the role, he wrote: "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 say."

He continued: "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."

The majority of the cast for "Game of Thrones" didn't have much name recognition prior to the show's premiere. Sean Bean (who played Ned Stark) was the highest-profile star. He was famously killed off in the first season of the show. By the final season of the series, the top stars were paid more than $1 million per episode.

As previously reported by Insider correspondent Kim Renfro in her book "The Unofficial Guide to 'Game of Thrones,'" the series went through several casting changes during the pilot stage of production. But Mark Addy's Robert Baratheon was there from the very start — even the failed first attempt at a premiere episode.

Cox now stars as Logan Roy in HBO's beloved series "Succession," which recently wrapped its third season.

Cox's memoir, titled "Putting the Rabbit in the Hat," debuts on January 18.