Brian Cox has revealed he originally signed onto a new James Bond-inspired series incorrectly believing it to be the next 007 film.
The actor, known for numerous roles, including Hannibal Lecter in Manhunter and Logan Roy in HBO series Succession, appears as the gamemaster in a new reality show titled 007: Road to a Million.
Prime Video’s new series will see contestants compete in challenges set in iconic Bond locations, such as the Scottish Highlands, Venice, and Jamaica, for a chance to win up to £1m.
According to the actor, though, he signed onto the project believing he had finally been offered a role in a new Bond film.
He said on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon: “I thought it was the new James Bond film. So I said, ‘Oh, finally they’re getting me in a James Bond movie.’ I thought, ‘Yes, of course!’
However, after signing onto the project, Cox said he swiftly realised “there was no script and there was no James Bond movie”.
He told Fallon: “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.”
Cox still had “fun” assuming the role of the gamesmaster, referred to in the series as The Controller, whom “revels in the increasingly difficult journeys and questions the contestants must overcome”.
“I got to see how ordinary people would cope with being on a James Bond adventure,” Cox said of his participation in the show earlier this year. “As they travel the world to some of the most iconic Bond locations, it gets more intense and nail-biting.
He added: “I enjoyed my role as both villain and tormentor, with license to put the hopeful participants through the mangle.”
He previously said during an appearance on The One Show: “It’s a great show, actually, and the team who made it were wonderful. I just came in and sat at a desk and did all this stuff post, really.”
According to Bond producer Barbara Broccoli, the 26th instalment in the film series, which will be without Daniel Craig, is nowhere near entering production, with a decision yet to be made on Craig’s successor.
His replacement rumours include Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Regé-Jean Page, Richard Madden and Tom Hardy. The most recent Bond film was No Time to Die, which was released in 2021.
