Iconic Game of Thrones Role Was Almost Played by Another Popular Actress
Having witnessed 8 seasons of Game of Thrones, it's difficult to imagine a different cast. But it appears that some pretty big names turned down roles in the show – including Gillian Anderson.
Now, there has been nothing confirmed when it comes to who the X-Files actress may have played, but there is plenty of speculation that it would have been Queen Cersei Lannister. But Anderson is on record as saying that she did indeed turn down a role in Game of Thrones – a decision her daughter Piper Maru Klotz was less than impressed with.
However, not all roads lead to her being sought after to play the long-suffering wife of Robert Baratheon. Some suggest that her possible role was that of Melisandre.
It's fair to say that Gillian Anderson could have carried off either role with aplomb – but that's not to take anything away from Lena Headey or Carice van Houten who played Cersei and the Red Woman respectively.
But Anderson does have that strength in her gaze that suits both ladies. And you can just see her scheming as Cersei and carrying on her incestuous affair. To some, she is perhaps the only other actress who could have pulled off that role.
However, had she done so, we would have been denied the brilliance of Headey. So, maybe it wasn't such a bad decision after all. Although, trying to explain that to Piper, who was 18 at the time, may have been one of the toughest roles the actress took on at the time. But you do wonder how her daughter would have reacted to seeing her mother's onscreen antics with her own twin brother.
But that's all water under the bridge now. Since turning down the opportunity to appear in the hit HBO series, Anderson has carved out a fairly successful career for herself in shows including The Crown, Sex Education, and The First Lady.
The Chicago-born actress has also said that she turned down a part in the hit British show Downton Abbey. And this would have been another interesting series for her to appear in. Despite being born in the US, Anderson was brought up in London and is able to switch seamlessly between an American and British accent, so she wouldn't have been out of place in the historical drama.
Although, her acting skills would most likely have been put to better use in Westeros than Yorkshire.