Josh Brolin

By: Written by Jordan Tappis | Photography by Michael Muller | January 30, 2009 | Film Lifestyle Profile Talent

THE POET
Josh Brolin composed his first poem at the age of 8. Since then he’s written hundreds of poems and attended many poetry readings all over the country. “Josh was one of the youngest, if not the youngest, writers to read in the Great Writers Series,” says father James. “He has thousands of pages of poetry. The only thing he’s ever allowed to be published is a book he gave to his wife.” Continues Josh, “I was interested in writing very early on. According to my mom, my first attempt was a circular poem about death or something. It scared her. Later on I met (stage actor) Anthony Zerbe, who is my good buddy, and (actor/director) Roscoe Lee Brown, who died recently. They did this poetry compilation. Remember [how] poetry readings were big in the ’90s and all of these actors were doing it? Anyway, I’d watch Anthony and Roscoe do their thing and it had a profound impact on me. They’d be reading hours of works by W. H. Auden and E.E. Cummings —writings from the most extraordinary poets — and to me it was so compelling, so unbelievably compelling.” Still, it wasn’t until Josh heard his original works performed live that he felt validated as a writer. “One time, early on, when I first started working with Anthony, I gave him a couple of my poems because I’d heard him reading and I was awestruck by his talent. He got up there and read my poems to an audience, and it sounded perfect. When I heard it through his mouth … it was the only time I thought my work was any good. After that, I started writing profusely.” James points out, “Josh has some really bizarre writings. He’ll talk with a Mexican whore all night and then go home and write poetry about it. Who does that anymore?”

It was during this conversation with Josh’s father that something profound occurred to me regarding Josh’s character. I’d made an incorrect presumption earlier by feeling sorry for him. The two of us didn’t hit it off because Josh needed some kind of simplicity in his life, or because we have so much in common. Our connection evolved due to a key aspect of Josh’s personality: He loves to communicate. Within the span of a few hours, I learned of three separate occasions during which Josh had spent abnormally long amounts of time making connections with total strangers. Josh is an insatiable observer of human nature; whether he’s exposing his feelings to a random journalist, receiving a lesson in personal finance from a stranger on an airplane or conversing with a Mexican whore until the wee hours of the morning, he is always tuned in. Always listening. Underneath his almost brutish exterior there is an extremely inquisitive, intelligent, examined man tirelessly working to understand the world and the people around him. It speaks of his character as a man, but it also speaks volumes about the origins of Josh’s deep well of talent as a poet and as an actor.

THE ACTOR
“There are times when I hate acting, man. I don’t like the politics. I don’t like everybody complaining about why their herbal tea’s not hot!” Author Tom Robbins suggests that all truly great men are riddled with contradiction. That philosophy applies strongly to Josh. He is a healthy surfer who drinks regularly and smokes incessantly. A rough-and-tumble man who writes poetry and weeps frequently. And despite his aversion to the petty nonsense of Hollywood and prima donna behavior, Josh Brolin is an actor — and a damn fine one at that. His overt contradictions are ever present, but Josh’s process is remarkably disciplined, and he respects the craft immensely. “I love my job. I feel very fortunate being able to do what I do for a living.”

Over the past 24 months, one would be hard pressed to find an actor with a better resume than Josh’s. For a guy whose most noteworthy credit prior to 2005 was the cult booty-hunting film The Goonies, Josh Brolin has accomplished the impossible: He successfully slid out from relative obscurity in his late 30s into having one of the most credible and sought-after careers in the industry. That being said, it’s not as if Josh has been on hiatus for the last decade. In fact, since 1985 there has never been a 12-month period in which Josh didn’t participate in some kind of production as an actor. He’s simply chosen roles that were less about achieving fame and fortune, and more about developing his craft and enhancing the project.

Despite the fact that he lives and works in Hollywood, Josh operates like an outsider, as if being a professional actor is merely one small aspect of his life. He doesn’t attend all the galas, the ceremonies, the premiers and the parties — a lifestyle that is historically synonymous with the trade. The result is a grounded professional with a strong sense of himself.

“I have to tell you, you can’t have an ego when you’re an actor. A lot of actors have them, but in reality most of those people are just sensitive artists dying for a hug and a compliment.” Perhaps it’s not ego but thick skin that’s required to survive as an actor. Traditionally, offers for roles come in only after filmmakers have exhausted all other options. In Paul Haggis’ gripping film In The Valley Of Elah, country music star Tim McGraw was originally slated to play the character of Chief Buchwald — a role that eventually went to Josh. Heath Ledger was offered the role of Llewellyn Moss in No Country For Old Men, and in Milk, the role of Dan White was supposed to be played by Matt Damon. “Matt is a great actor, but he would have played Dan White very differently from the way I played him. He might have been better, he might have been worse. It’s beside the point. There is no ‘right’ person for any role, there is only an interpretation and a performance.”

Almost immediately after selling the ranch, things really started happening for Josh on the acting front. Ironically, the moment he didn’t need acting to survive, opportunities he didn’t necessarily have before began coming his way — starting with Grindhouse.

Josh knew director Robert Rodriguez from back in the early days. At some point in early 2006, the two men started emailing each other about a concept film Rodriguez was working on with Quentin Tarantino called Grindhouse. Together, they eventually created the character of Block, a diabolical wife-murdering physician. The film was a critical success, and Josh garnered rave reviews for his performance. But that’s not even the best part of the story. During the filming of Grindhouse, something extraordinary happened. The Coen brothers found themselves in the precarious situation of having no leading man for a film that was already in advanced pre-production. That film was called No Country for Old Men and Josh was determined to play the role of Llewellen Moss. The Coens, however, weren’t interested in seeing him for the part. Josh’s longtime agent and good friend Michael Cooper prodded and pleaded to get Josh in to read for the Coens, but the notoriously particular brothers didn’t want to see him. Josh remembers the feedback clearly, “They’re not interested. We’re not even going to pass it on to Joel and Ethan. They’ve already passed on Josh. It’s over.” But Josh refused to give up, and so began a tale that is destined to be retold inaccurately for decades.

Josh figured that if Joel and Ethan Coen could see him as Llewellyn Moss on film they would at least give him the chance to audition in person. Like something out of a Larry McMurtry book, Tarantino and Rodriguez agreed to put Josh Brolin on tape for No Country for Old Men while on the set of their $55 million film Grindhouse. As Josh recalls jovially, “My audition for No Country For Old Men was shot by Robert Rodriguez using a $1 million Genesis camera. So literally, it was the greatest looking audition that you’ve ever seen.” And still, the Coen brothers weren’t interested in bringing him in for the role. “They said the audition looked amazing, but that I wasn’t the guy. At that point, I was over it. I figured I had done everything I could possibly do.”

Apparently Cooper felt the role was still worth fighting for and he managed to get the directors’ phone numbers and started calling them repeatedly to no avail. Months later, after the brothers had exhausted all other options, they finally agreed to bring Josh in for a proper audition.

“They called me at 9 p.m. the night before the audition. I was in Santa Barbara at the time. They said, ‘We’ll see you if you can come in first thing tomorrow morning.’ ”

After months and months of persistence, Josh was finally going to get his shot. At 11 p.m., he received the sides (pages in the script pertaining to the material he would be reading the next morning) and studied until 1 o’clock in the morning.

“I woke up at 6 a.m., drove down to L.A., arrived at 8:30 a.m., auditioned at 9 a.m., and got the part that afternoon.”

In No Country for Old Men, Josh delivered one of 2007’s most memorable performances. And while he wasn’t nominated for any major awards, the Academy Awards were kind to the film. It picked up best picture, the Coen brothers won for best directing and best screenplay, and Javier Bardem picked up the award for best supporting actor. “That was great,” says Josh, “It was one of the most gratifying experiences of my life.”

No Country for Old Men changed Hollywood’s perception of Josh Brolin. Almost overnight, he had become a bankable star, earning a reputation as a consummate professional with leading-man looks and serious chops. Filmmakers, producers and Hollywood executives from all over the world began to pay very close attention. “Out of nowhere, I was no longer, ‘Wasn’t he that guy from The Goonies?’ ” Josh had successfully transitioned from a grinder into a viable box-office star. “Look, it was undeniably great for my career. My success gave other 40-year-old actors hope, but I have to say, part of it really pissed me off. All of a sudden this big microscope got turned on, and I felt like I had to defend the last 10 years of my life. I was proud of the work I had been doing for the most part. I always worked only one or two times a year, but I was given the gift to stay home and raise my kids. Nobody in Hollywood seemed to get that.”

“He’s the best father I’ve ever seen,” says James Brolin. “I was a typical guy who was gone all of the time. When I finally did get home, I’d try and show the kids a good time, but I had a lot of other things going on. Josh always put his family before the work. I respect the hell out of him for that.” That was Josh’s cue to jump in. “Ahhh, he’s just saying that because you are a reporter … and a surfer,” says Josh. “Don’t believe a word he says.”

THE ID VS. THE SUPEREGO
The process of choosing which movies to participate in used to be labor intensive for Josh, “I would fucking wrack my brain like crazy trying to figure out which films I wanted to be in. Is this going to be good? Is this the right filmmaker? What other actors are involved? Where does it shoot? I’d ask myself all these questions rather then follow my instincts.” These days, Josh has a far more pragmatic approach. “There shouldn’t be so many factors. Decisions should be based on two things: great script, great director. Period. With American Gangster, I didn’t care. It was Russell Crowe, Denzel Washington, Ridley Scott and Brian Grazer. It was a no-brainer.”

I don’t know if there was a right person to play George W. Bush in Oliver Stone’s ambitious 2008 film about the former president, but after watching Josh’s performance, I can’t think of anyone who might have done a better job. Josh, however, turned down the role twice before finally agreeing to sign on. “I honestly didn’t think people would respond to the character. The guy went from a 90 percent approval rating to a 23 percent approval rating. If the country didn’t care about the man, why would they care about the picture?” But after reading the screenplay, Josh realized that W. wasn’t about President Bush per se. “It’s more about this floundering, average guy who somehow became president of the United States — twice.” It was the script that changed his perception of the film, but it was Stone who really tipped the scales. In an interview with Los Angeles Times writer Robert Able late last year, Josh recalled a conversation he had with Stone during the making of W., “I said, ‘Oliver, man, you have to be my rock. I’m willing to be totally humiliated in front of a hundred people in order to not be humiliated in front of a million people.’ ”

“Milk was another easy one for me. Sean Penn is a great friend and Gus Van Sant is a serious filmmaker who I respect immensely. My daughter and I watched the documentary The Times of Harvey Milk by Rob Epstein, and we were both balling at the end. I signed on as soon as I could.” Josh’s performance as Dan White, the San Francisco city supervisor who murdered gay activist and fellow City Supervisor Harvey Milk, has already earned him the prestigious New York Film Critics Circle Award in the Best Supporting Actor category (last year Javier Bardem won the award for No Country before taking home the Oscar). Furthermore, the day before this magazine went to press, Josh was nominated for his first Academy Award for his subtle and understated take on Dan White. “The feedback’s been great so far,” Josh says humbly. “We had an outstanding team all around.”

But for a guy like Josh, a man whose pride seems to be governed by the quality of the work regardless of the success of its box-office, what do nominations and awards even mean? Upon first inspection, Josh’s answer seems simple: “Getting nominated means that more people will go out and see the movie.” But after pressing him a little bit I began to get the impression that recognition means a lot more that he’d originally led me to believe. “We weren’t nominated for the Golden Globes. We got snubbed all the way across for Milk, and yet the film is winning best picture in critics circles all over the world and now it’s been nominated for eight Academy Awards. It makes absolutely no sense. I’m not angry at anyone; it’s just too damn confusing … ” Josh continues, “It’s a great honor to be nominated for an Oscar. People say it’s bullshit, but getting recognized in that arena is truly something to be proud of.”

THE PRICE
And then there’s the flip side to recognition. Over the holidays, Josh and Diane were greeted at LAX by a swarm of paparazzi. “I’ll tell you man, that’s something I will never get used to. When we got off the plane the paparazzi were all there — blocking us from getting our bags.” The Brolin’s decided to leave the bags behind and flee for the car, giving a TSA handler their baggage claim tickets to avoid the chaos. Their car had to circle around the airport a few times as they waited. After the third loop, a cop pulls them over,

Josh (mimicking the cop): What are you doing circling? We don’t like having you circle.

Josh: Excuse me officer. We just got here. We landed to a bunch of paparazzi photographers, so we just got in the car. I gave the guy with the cart our luggage tags, and he’s going to bring out the baggage as soon as it comes out.
Cop: Yeah, yeah, yeah, OK. You’re in that No Country for Something, right? That sucky movie?

Josh: No Country for Old Men?

Cop: Yeah! Well, the ending was fucking stupid. It sucked! I hated that fucking movie and I hated that other movie.

Then he walked away.

In February, Josh is taking some much-needed R&R. He will spend two weeks alone, up in the Arizona mountains with nothing but a horse and a utility pocketknife for survival. The idea is to recalibrate his life by getting acquainted with himself both physically and spiritually. It’s not what I’d expect from a typical award-winning Hollywood actor, but it’s exactly what I’d expect from Josh Brolin. Whether he’s off in some distant location shooting a film, producing a passion project about one of his childhood idols, writing poetry or cruising along in his pickup truck, one thing remains constant: In the classic sense of the meaning, Josh Brolin is a man’s man. If a hard decision needs to be made, he will make it. If it needs fixing, he will fix it. If you cross him, he will take you down. If you’re fortunate enough to be close to him, he will love you unconditionally. And if he believes in something, he will stand behind it with his whole heart, resolute and unflinching.

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