A truly sweet gift is the joy that results whenever venerated actor Brian Cox uses his rich voice to swear about something. Today, I’m pleasantly reminded of that fact, as the 2024 movie schedule finally marks the realization of the former Succession cast member's dream to be a part of Peter Jackson’s Middle-earth Saga. CinemaBlend recently spoke to him about his past desire to join Jackson's live-action films, and Cox delivered a choice F-bomb while recalling his feelings amid those films' production.
Mr. Cox’s dream finally came true when he was tapped to p;au the role of Helm Hammerhand in The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim. With that production's release on the docket, I was present during Warner Bros.’ press day for director Kenji Kamiyama’s new anime picture, and I chose to dig deeper into Cox's interest in joining the fold. When asked about this wish, and what character he would have liked to have played, Cox told me the following:
Oh, no. I just, I just wanted to be part of the adventure, you know? I thought maybe I could be a King of the Dwarfs or something like that, you know. It's hard to know where you place yourself, and it never happened. I used to think ‘Everybody's going off to New Zealand, to do The Lord of the Rings, and nobody's asked me,’ so I thought, ‘Okay, fuck it, I'll just go on with the rest of my work.’ But then this came along and it was a great gift, a tremendous gift. And then the plus on the gift was Philippa Boyens who [produced], and was wonderful to work with, and trusting.
As I’d pointed out in our The War of the Rohirrim review, the casting of actors like Brian Cox and Miranda Otto was already a huge advantage for Kamiyama-san’s breathtaking action anime. In the same year that audiences saw Cox’s bespoke Santa for This Christmas deliver heartfelt lessons on life, they're also able to hear the Emmy winner lend his oaken pipes to the loving but stern last king of Rohan.
Considering the fact that Cox always wanted to be in Peter Jackson’s original trilogy of Lord of the Rings movies, his casting in War of the Rohirrim makes even more sense. Though I have to admit, if I was an actor in his position, I’d have felt envious of anyone who’d been asked to be part of that unique undertaking.
I'm sure a number of other performers would agree, and there have been plenty of stories in regard to those who weren't cast. For example, there's the situation regarding how Sam Neill missed out on Lord of the Rings. That being said, I have to remind everyone that the profanity in question wasn't similar to a dismissive insult from Succession's Logan Roy actor.
Rather, it was more of a matter of fact utterance that signaled it was time to move on and make other movies (which turned out to be Super Troopers, The Bourne Identity, and X2: X-Men United) instead. So much like Mr. Neill, Brian Cox followed his professional path accordingly though, if asked about LOTR, he'd have a great story to share with nosy journalists.
It may be too late to cast Brian Cox as a dwarf king in either The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings trilogies, but he’s at least realized his dream through playing royalty in The War of the Rohirrim. (On the other hand, it’s not too late to cast Brian Cox as James Bond villain.) Whatever the case, I'm really hoping Hollywood doesn’t make the mistake of overlooking the hopes and wishes of Cox and his formidable talents moving forward.
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is now in theaters and ready for fans to ride in the aid of Rohan at the box office. And, if you feel like taking the full journey in order, you should stream The Hobbit and then The Lord of the Rings films - which anyone with a Max subscription is able to do.
