- Nicholas Ball, Lifeforce, 1984.
- Christopher Gable, Doctor Who #135: The Caves of Androzani, TV, 1984. Mixed signals about Sharez Jek… Rock idols like David Bowie, Roger Daltrey, Mick Jagger and the rockerish Tim Curry – or actors Patrick Allen, Nicholas Ball,Steven Berkoff, Brian Cox, Christopher Gable, Michael Gambon, Julian Glover, John Hurt, Derek Jacobi, Martin Jarvis, Michael Jayston, Oliver Tobias. Cox also up for…
- Robert Glenister, Doctor Who #135: The Caves of Androzani, TV, 1984. When Christopher Gable was switched from Major Salateen to Sharez Jek, eight regular Whoversers had to bow to newcomer Glenister – Cox, Nicholas Ball, Ralph Bates, Christopher Cazenove, Tom Chadbon, Nicholas Clay, Donald Sumpter.
- Maurice Roëves, The Last of the Mohicians, 1991. Colonel Munro was offered by Michael Mann – who directed Cox as the first Hannibal Lecter in Manhunter, 1986. Roëves didn’t stave off my boredom. I fell asleep.
- Sam Shepard, Thunderheart, 1991. UK director Michael Apted’s first thriller was inspired by 57 unsolved murders on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in the 1970s as The Traditionals fought Tribal government goons… making Pine Ridge (pop: 1100) the Murder Capitol of the Nation. The only clichéin sight is the usual pairing of old cop-young cop (or FBI agents here), the rest was the usual Apted brilliance. He shuffled eleven choices for the older agent, Frank “Cooch” Coutelle: Brian Cox, Robert De Niro, Scott Glenn, Dennis Hopper, Tommy Lee Jones (also up, at 45, for the younger Ray Levoi), Harvey Keitel, Stephen Lang, Jack Nicholson, Al Pacino, Ron Perlman. So where was Marlon Brando? “He’s gone on record so many times about the current state of the Indians, I almost expected him to ring me,” Apted told me in Deauville, France. “I asked him to play the head of the FBI – just one day’s work in Washington. I thought it might appeal to him – as a cause.” It did not.
- Bob Peck, Jurassic Park, 1993.
- David Ogden Stiers, Pocahontas, 1994.
When did you ever hear anyone say: Man, I hated the movie, kept trying to work out where I’d heard the Governor’s voice before… Disney barred Richard White from voicing Governor Ratcliffe because the public would recognise him as Gaston’s voice in the 1990 Beauty and the Beast toon. As if actors cannot change their voices. And then… and then !!… they gave it to DOS and had him also voice his own manservant, Wiggins! Which rather underlined my point abut an actor being able change his voice … Five Brits were also in the frame: Brians Blessed and Cox, Rupert Everett, Stephen Fry, Patrick Strewart. Well, there were no US accents in the 17th Century. - Eric Roberts, Doctor Who (The Movie), TV, 1996.
- Gabriel Byrne, Ghost Ship, 2002. No one was keen on (or saw) thishaunted house at sea.
- Bob Hoskins, Danny The Dog (UK/US: Unleashed), France-UK-US, 2004. Joined Michael Caine and Albert Finney in rejecting producer Luc Besson. Hoskins had to cut Jet Li’s hair in the drama.Li had once famously declared: “You can beat me up, but don’t touch my hair, I will kill you!”
- Liam Neeson, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, 2005. What is it about Scottish lions…? Cox was first booked to voice Asian, CS Lewis’ legendary, not to say Christ-like lion. Next? Another Scot, Gerard Butler. Back in 1993, Sean Connery was first asked to play The Lion King!
- Ken Stott, Rebus, TV, 2006. Sean Connery ruled himself out in 2005 as too old to bring Ian Rankin’s Edinburgh cop, John Rebus,to the movies,Cox(the BBC radio Rebus) and Ken Stott were considered for the film – which became a(second) TV series instead.
- Kevin Bacon, X-Men: First Class, 2010. Once Cranston broke bad and split for Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive, Dr. Klaus Schmidt (hiding his Nazi past as Sebastian Shaw) became a battle between Bacon and Colin Firth. Bacon poved better at menace but Firth really won – being chosen for Galahad aka Mr De Vere aka Harry Hart by the same director, Matthew Vaughn, in 2013 for his comicbook franchise: Kingsman
Birth year: Death year: Other name: Casting Calls: 13