Succession's Brian Cox needs to learn to read job offers more closely

The actor confesses that he agreed to Prime Video's new reality contest thinking it was a Bond film

Image credit: Prime Video

News by Graeme McMillan Staff Writer

Published on Nov. 8, 2023

Even before Logan Roy made him a household name, Brian Cox had quite a career playing prominent, threatening roles… so it only makes sense that he’d believe that he’d been asked to play the bad guy in an upcoming James Bond project. Unfortunately for him, the reality turned out to be something a little different: he was actually being asked to take part in the upcoming reality contest 007: Road to a Million.

“I thought it was the new James Bond film, “ Cox revealed about the offer during an appearance promoting the show on The Tonight Show. “So I said, ‘Oh, finally they’re getting me in a James Bond movie,” he continued. “I thought, ‘Yes, of course!’”

Unfortunately for Cox — who, let’s be honest, pretty much played a Bond villain of sorts in HBO’s Succession for four seasons — what he’d actually agreed to appear in was Prime Video’s reality competition based on Bond-esque themes and ideas, where he’ll play the Controller, described by Prime Video as “the mastermind behind the game, watching the pairs as they hunt for 10 questions he’s hidden around the world.”

“For years, I thought, you know I would love to be in James Bond. It would be really interesting. And I thought this was my moment, but it wasn’t,” he reasoned, although he confessed that he nonetheless found the experience of making the show fun: “You know, I love bossing people around, so that’s what I did,” he explained.

007: Road to a Million launches November 9. Watch the trailer below: