Michael Ironside initially turned down the role of Splinter Cell's Sam Fisher

Michael Ironside almost turned down the role of Sam Fisher in Splinter Cell. Speaking for all of us, I'm super pleased he changed his mind.

Michael Ironside paid a visit to Microsoft to appear in the latest episode of Inside Xbox.

During the show he discussed reprising his role as Splinter Cell's Sam Fisher in Ghost Recon Wildland's Special Operation 1.

According to Ironside, he turned down the role of Fisher at first, as he felt the character was a "one-line, two-dimensional character."

Feeling Fisher lacked "organics," Ironside said he helped rewrite Fisher alongside Splinter Cell developer Ubisoft Montreal.

The actor said his inspiration for Fisher's backstory was based on a 70's era encounter with a Ukrainian mercenary at a wedding (thanks, IGN).

If you're interested in the interview, you can watch the latest episode of Inside Xbox on YouTube. It starts around the 21 minute mark. During the show, it was announced 19 original Xbox games were added to the backwards compatible library.

Special Operation 1 is live, and can be played as part of the Ghost Recon Wildlands free weekend from April 12-15. The exclusive Splinter Cell mission rewards will be available until the challenge ends on May 16.