Lord of the Rings anime movie star Brian Cox feels that he has "somehow been avoiding" Tolkien until now, despite being "up for" a role in the live-action films

Ahead of the release of The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, star Brian Cox hadn't dived into author J.R.R. Tolkien's books.

The Succession actor lends his voice to Helm Hammerhead, a former King of Rohan in the anime prequel that is set 183 years prior to the events of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings.

Drawn from the appendices of Tolkien's books, the film sees Wulf (Luke Pasqualino) take vengeance on the line of Rohan after the princess Héra refuses his hand in marriage, with King Helm then killing his father in one swift punch.

In a recent interview with GamesRadar+, Cox admitted that he had been somewhat "avoiding" Tolkien even though he was once "up for" a role in the live-action trilogy back in the early 2000s.

"Somehow I've avoided or been avoiding it," Cox said about The Lord of the Rings and Tolkien's extensive work. "I don't know, I think every other British actor I know is in Lord of the Rings, but that's nothing unusual for me. I think it happened in one other thing I did as well. I think it's my background, probably."

"I think there was one role that I was up for," he reminiscences about the original trilogy, "but I can't remember what it was."

After finishing work on this movie, Cox has "of course" read all the books and The Hobbit, as well as dived into Jackson's films. Yet, it was appealing to him to come into the project with fresh eyes, rather than know the weight of Helm's legacy in Middle-earth from the beginning.

"Sometimes it helps just not to know the legacy," he says. "So, you come out with a fresh vision. You come at it from your point of view rather than some perceived point of view and I think there's an advantage in that."

Now that he’s familiar with Tolkien, Cox would be keen to return to The Lord of the Rings either for another animated or live-action project. "Yeah, if the part is good," he says about the possibility of a live action return adding "and if I’m fit enough!"

"[Ian] McKellen is an old pal of mine. He found it great. He loved it. He's a huge, huge fan of those films [The Lord of the Rings], but he did find it physically demanding."

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim arrives in theaters worldwide on December 13. For more, check out our The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review, as well as how to watch The Lord of the Rings movies and shows in order.