Josh Brolin: A Director’s Actor

Josh Brolin has come a long way since 1985’s The Goonies, where he played the headband-sporting older brother Brand to Sean Astin’s Mikey. These days Brolin tends to work with visionary directors, such as Oliver Stone in W. and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, the Coen brothers in No Country for Old Men and the upcoming True Grit retelling, and Woody Allen in Melinda and Melinda and You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger. And with the exception of this summer’s bomb, Jonah Hex, he’s been on a hot streak, choosing solid parts that showcase his talents as an actor.

In Allen’s You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, Brolin plays a novelist with writer’s block and marital problems. CityNews.ca spoke with Brolin while he was in town for the Toronto International Film Festival promoting the film. Read our Q&A below.

Brian McKechnie: Do you have a list of directors you only want to work with?

Josh Brolin: I would like to think I have a checklist and that I have the power to be able to choose. I guess it’s my choice ultimately.

BM: How is it working with masters like Oliver Stone, the Coen brothers, and Woody Allen?

JB: It’s otherworldly to me that these people are interested in working with me. And then to become friends. Woody became a friend [on this film], the Coen’s have become good friends, and Oliver is a good buddy. I have really good experiences. It’s funny because it seems to me, especially regarding Oliver, that there is a reputation there to live up to and to me he’s the most socially conscious, sweet, incredible human being that appropriately stretches me during these movies that we do together.

BM: In ‘You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger’ you play what is regarded as the “Woody Allen character” in his films. Was that a hard task to take on?

JB: Woody and I both said that I could not possibly pretend to be [Woody] or could he possibly pretend to be me. If there are two more opposite people on this planet, it’s me and Woody Allen. I think that’s why we come together and work together as well as we do. We have the same sensibilities but different structures. I know some people have tried to [play parts in his movies that way] and I don’t understand why. I think because Woody has acted in his films and he’s now choosing not to act in this film, therefore you’re taking Woody’s place. I didn’t see it like that at all.

BM: What was it about Roy you liked playing the most?

JB: I like that there is something about him… that in his desperation and his need for fame, acceptance, notoriety, and all that stuff, there’s this little kind of pathetic soft spot in him, this very human spot, that he’s just a little kid who wants to be noticed. People gain weight for roles, but I just wanted him to be doughy and I didn’t want him to be conventionally handsome in any way. I wanted people to see him as a poor guy.

BM: After working with directors like Woody and Oliver, are you inspired to direct your own film?

JB: There’s a play that I did 20 years ago in New York that I’ve adapted. It’s called Pits and Joe and I’ll direct it. It’s a brother-sister relationship story about a guy who gets into a motorcycle accident and has traumatic brain stem injuries and then shows how she deals with him.

BM: Is there any info on ‘True Grit’ you can share?

JB: I’ve been hanging out with the Coen’s for the last two weeks watching them edit and I’m blown away by their sensibilities and how they can make something dramatic or dynamic or funny out of nothing. I’m excited; it’s a very cool movie.

You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger opens in theatres on October 1.

brian.mckechnie@citynews.rogers.com

Top image: A scene from You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger. Courtesy Mongrel Media.

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