Brian Cox claims Succession creator Jesse Armstrong initially snubbed his suggestion Logan Roy should have a Scottish background.
Show bosses eventually decided the media mogul should come from Dundee, just like the actor.
But the U-turn came nine episodes in to the first series of the blockbuster HBO drama, which airs in the UK on Sky Atlantic.
That’s after writers reversed plans to reveal, ahead of the wedding of Shiv (Sarah Snook) and Tom (Matthew Macfadyen), that Logan was born in Quebec.
The eighth instalment of series two saw Cox and his co-stars come to the City of Discovery.
‘That’s where I was born!’
Speaking on Good Morning Britain on Friday, the 76-year-old said: “Don’t get me started on them (writers).
“I love them, but they do things…let me give you an example.
“When the show was pitched to me, I knew straight away when the pitch came from Jesse and Adam (McKay, executive producer) I knew this was going to be a hit, a really great show.
“I suggested to them I could play this guy with a Scottish background.
“But Jesse said: ‘No! He’s got to be American! He’s got to be American!’
“Adam McKay thought it was a great idea but Jesse wouldn’t have it – ‘He’s got to come from the states’.
“It comes to my birthday (in the script) and Peter Friedman (who plays Logan’s right-hand man Frank) has to make this speech and he says I’m born in Quebec.
“As far as I know, Quebec is in Canada, not in the US, but that’s one of the things they throw at you and you adjust accordingly.
“For nine episodes I’m playing this mid-Atlantic Canadian-American character.
“And then in the ninth episode, we’re doing the wedding scene and Peter says: ‘Oh by the way they’ve changed your birthplace. You’re no longer born in Quebec.
“I say: ‘Where am I born?’ He goes to his device and looks and says: ‘Somewhere called Dundee, Scotland’. ‘That’s where I was born!’
“He’s like: ‘Well that’s a coincidence!’ I said: ‘That’s a hell of a coincidence!’
“Jesse, the writers…they don’t explain the situation. They say: ‘We thought it’d be a little surprise.’
“I said: ‘It’s a hell of a you-know-what surprise!’”
The Dundee episode saw Cox’s feared alter-ego reluctantly return to the city to celebrate 50 years in the news business by dedicating a journalism school bearing his name.
An open call in the Hilltown for 350 extras was made by Scottish agents GBM Casting in preparation for filming, which took place in June 2019.
Scenes were shot at Gleneagles Hotel, Dundee University and the V&A, which was the setting for a surprise dinner to mark Logan’s landmark anniversary.
It also saw son Kendall Roy (Jeremy Strong) surprised his father with a cringe-worthy rap while wearing a custom Logan Roy-themed baseball jersey.
Co-star’s surprise
Cox – who opened the London Stock Exchange on Friday morning – also claims show chiefs didn’t tell co-star Sarah Snook the fourth series, which starts on Monday, would be its last.
He said: “Things get revealed to you (in the scripts). Sarah Snook didn’t even know until she read the script for the final episode that it was finishing.
“Nobody told her. You’re an actor, you know what it’s like.
“They treat you with the contempt they think you deserve.”
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