Smash Notes
Josh Brolin
Josh Brolin is an actor and writer. His new movie “Whalefall” is in theaters October 16th. Josh joins Theo to talk about the legacy of his old crew “the Cito Rats”, how his mom’s unique spirit impacted his life, and the times he thought he might not make it as an actor. Josh Brolin: https://www.instagram.com/joshbrolin…
People
Notes
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Josh Brolin says his mom kept a dictionary in the house, and it was the one thing. Every now and then a word had to be looked up, and that was the education. Keeping the dictionary was like doing the job of a parent.
The apartment was sinking. Someone had stolen the balcony again, and everything was a nightmare. Sleep did not come at night because of crying. Wetting the bed or crying meant some liquid was always leaving the body because it did not want to be involved anymore. It wanted out of the prison. The answer to having to stay was a refusal.
People stole the balcony. Josh Brolin says they talk about the stolen balcony a lot.
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Josh Brolin says he was horrible at auditioning, and not only at the start. Merrill Poster, third in charge at Miramax, said it publicly while Miramax was still going: the worst auditioners they ever experienced in Miramax history were Benicio del Toro and Josh Brolin.
Pictures of him in the Goonies still fascinate Josh Brolin, because the movie never should have happened. He had missed 36 out of 56 days of school, fought with his mom, and she kicked him out of the house in Santa Barbara. He slept on the couch at his dad's LA apartment, where his dad lived with a girlfriend. His dad was an actor, so Josh Brolin tried acting and martial arts, went on many auditions, and heard versions of you suck plus advice to stick with martial arts. One night he stayed up watching a Shirley Temple movie, then sang a Shirley Temple song when an audition asked if he could sing. He says he cannot really sing, only Christmas carols, a little early Bush, and some Guns and Roses as imitation. It was not going well. Scared, he asked them to open the window. They tried, and the window did not open.
He looks at Benicio del Toro and says a bad audition record does not define everything, because Benicio del Toro is great and auditioning is hard. Josh Brolin still finds some positive in the Miramax remark.
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Josh Brolin says a story Anthony Hopkins told him shifted something. Hopkins wears his sobriety proudly and asked how great it is to be the way they are. He meant they are alcoholic, angry, edgy, and dark. Josh Brolin had always perceived that as shitty.
Hopkins said no. Given no direction and no tools, they create more harm and hurt than most people. Given a few tools, they can have a bigger impact than most people, because they have the drive and the motor of alcoholics.
Josh Brolin agreed. The words came from an 80 year old man.