Why Rank Josh Brolin Among Miramax's Worst Auditioners?

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.