So if you haven’t heard, there is a
terrific little movie out there that is directed by the Coen Brothers. It
is called NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN and it is pretty terrific. Well, of
course you’ve heard of it, you may have read our own review or possibly even
gone to see it yourself. But if you haven’t, go now. It is a somber,
beautifully told tale with wonderful performances by Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee
Jones and a few others. It also features the extremely cool and talented
Josh Brolin, who gives a very powerful performance.
I have a great deal of respect for this man
and have often times found him better than the films he was in. But this
year, he has really been given the chance to shine in films such as GRINDHOUSE,
AMERICAN GANGSTER and NO COUNTRY. He is a fantastic actor who is capable
of bringing real depth to his characters.
I recently got a chance to talk one on one
with the dude and really had a terrific time. We talked about working with
the Coen Brothers and Ridley Scott and the truth behind the many dog slayings in
his films. We also talked theatre and I found out what makes the man cry.
He is a very open and honest fellow who takes his work seriously but seems to
take his family even more seriously. I respect that. And I respect
his wonderful work in NO COUNTRY… which I’m sure if you haven’t yet, you
are on your way to see… right?
Josh
Brolin
Josh, what was your reaction when
reading the script in regards to the lack of dialogue?
I don’t know… it was a bit scary at
first. I mean there was something frightening about it, you know, because,
how do you further a story along without dialogue and coming from the
theatre and all that. You know, that really being the motivator of
everything, I don’t know, from what I’m used to. It was a neat thing
to explore. It was a scary thing to explore. But it was a nice
challenge and I was very verbal with my fears with the Coens, to the Coens.
And I just said hey, if you feel me checking out or if you feel me trying to
overcompensate in any way, please let me know. But they didn’t say
anything so, to me it was either they gave up on me or [Laughing]…
I doubt that… [Laughing]
Or, you know, they felt like I was pulling
it off.
Well you did.
I never really knew though, until I saw the
movie.
It’s weird watching both you and Javier
[Bardem], it almost feels like you are on-screen together when your not.
No we’re not.
Did you ever deal with him at all and
talk about the film?
No. I mean, we had things that we
talked about. We rehearsed for about a week with the Coens beforehand and
we had a lot of questions, you know. We had a lot of questions about who
these guys are and what they represent. Me, I always saw them as the same
character with the same amount of principle and the same amount of integrity,
just at opposite ends of the spectrum. But Javier may have seen it
differently. I think that we’ve honed our understanding of what the
characters were after the movie. You know, I think during the movie, at
least, if I know Javier well enough, and he knows me well enough, I think we
both work similarly in that we are pretty wide open during the films so you
don’t really have anything solidified. As people you don’t have
anything solidified and you react like you react, and then you’re surprised by
new reactions and you go ‘wow, I’m surprised I reacted that way’.
You try to and do the same thing as an actor, it’s just more interesting.
And again, that comes with the script
being so light on dialogue, you have a whole lot of chances to really react and
really take it in.
React quietly?
Yeah.
React interiorly?
Exactly.
Right.
How was the experience of shooting on
location for this film?
I don’t like being away from my family…
ever. But they came to see me often so that turned out to actually be
good. It was a very mellow set so it wasn’t an insane set to be on.
You know, as much blood and all that, there wasn’t as much… I don’t
know… murder as you would think. Just because the murder is so impactful,
if feels like there’s more than there is. But anyway… no, [but] in
hindsight it was nice [Laughing], you know, it was like anything else. I
mean, you work nights, you’re tired, you’re running down a desert.
That whole thing when I’m running from the truck, in the beginning, I was
dying. We were in Santa Fe, well, we were above Santa Fe so the oxygen is
thin…
This was your first time with the Coen
Brothers right?
Yes.
How was that experience, what was it
like?
It was great… It was great in the fact
that I’ve always wanted to work with them, that I was very pleased to be
working with them. But then when you’re finally working with them and you
get down to the work, it’s more about the scenes and the movie, and putting it
together and what do we need to do here. And they communicate… the
communication is very… it’s taciturn but it’s complete. There’s not
a lot of words that need to be said, you know what I mean, they’re very easy
and they’re very specific. So they would let us do our thing and then they
would tweak. ‘Try a little of this. Why don’ t you try a little
of that’, and that didn’t even happen often. So, I think it came down
to their genius, aside from just filmmaking is they cast it in a way that they
feel very comfortable. I think they put a lot of anxiety into their
casting process and they don’t take somebody who they don’t feel is right,
you know.
Now what’s up with you killing dogs
man?
I don’t know what that is man. I didn’t
even pick up on that, literally. I didn’t pick up on that, I had no
idea. And then I got an e-mail, or my publicity people got an e-mail that
said they had heard that I had actually killed the dogs. It was like
‘come on man’, so I actually wrote the guy back and I told him my past and
the fact that my mother worked with fish and game and was a diligent animal
activist and I would never be a part of anything that had to do with the cruelty
of animals. Anyway, he wrote me back a really sweet letter saying how
embarrassed he was and how he had no idea.
That’s the power of movies man.
I know. That’s what I said, I said
the only reason why it’s there is that it’s there to further the story and
to further define the character. People aren’t going to go shoot dogs
after seeing these movies, I don’t think. I doubt it.
Absolutely not. When I saw
AMERICAN GANGSTER in the theatre, that moment got the strongest reaction of all.
I know, it’s horrible. It’s
horrible, but I think it’s effective in that… that’s why Ridley [Scott]
and I, I mean I came up with a different ending for that character, it was a
different ending then what was written. I was really hounding Ridley about
it, I said, ‘look, the ending of this guy should be as profound as he presents
himself, as he presents his ego’, it should be that profound at the other end
of it, it should be that pathetic, it should be that cowardly. So one day
I got together with Ridley in his trailer and he just started drawing, he’s
this incredible, fine artist, and I was just riffing on what I thought it should
be. And he drew it and that’s what he shot.
Did he do the storyboards for the film
or does he have help?
He has help but I don’t know if he does
all the storyboards, I can’t imagine he does all of them.
Yeah, that’s a lot of work. [Laughing]
Yeah, that’s a lot of work, but that guy
is…. All of these guys that I’ve worked with are on the verge of manic.
They’re just so prolific in what they do, and what they turn out is huge.
Well look at the year you’ve had man,
you’ve had AMERICAN GANGSTER, IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
and GRINDHOUSE. It’s funny because you’ve been around since THE
GOONIES, but this is the year that you are getting some really amazing roles.
Thanks man.
How was it going from a film like
GRINDHOUSE to NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN? What was the biggest challenge for
you?
Losing the weight. [Laughing] Yeah,
it was the biggest thing for me.
How long did that take you?
Well not very long. I mean, I went
and did a massive liquid diet. Yeah, I gained a lot of weight for
GRINDHOUSE. Which is just something that we thought was appropriate for
the guy, to make him as… I don’t know, not necessarily menacing but that
much more of a presence, you know and carrying himself that way. And plus,
it was over the top and if felt like it was something appropriate for the part.
But yeah, I did NO COUNTRY and I had a little bit of time, and in the middle of
having that time and being on that diet, I got in this motorcycle wreck and I
snapped my collar bone.
When did that happen?
It happened two weeks before I started the movie.
Wow. Talk about bouncing back.
Just grit your teeth and do it.
What is next for you after working with
the Coen Brothers, Ridley Scott, Robert Rodriguez… what do you want to
accomplish?
I was thinking dinner theatre maybe.
Well, I know a little theatre in Los
Angeles… [Laughing]
I’ve actually done Black Box Theatre but
I’ve never really done dinner theatre. That’s what we do now, we have
a black box theatre company.
What’s the theatre company?
The Tramp Art Theatre Club.
Fantastic. Where’s the
theatre?
It’s in Los Angeles. It’s along
the Santa Monica row of theatres.
How often do you put up shows there?
The last show was “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt
Cheap” and that was a sold out performance, which is based on the life and
death of Bon Scott. And that was last spring and we’ll put another one
up probably after Christmas. I’m just finishing a full length play that
we’ll put up.
Do you like doing theatre or film more?
They’re both great. I mean they’re
both great for different reasons. They challenge different aspects of your
imagination and I love them both.
Well the beauty of theatre you get to
play a little more.
Well, not necessarily. You know, you
rehearse something, you play during rehearsal and then you figure it out… and
what I find happens in theatre is you get caught in the rut of trying to please
people. And the great thing about movies is the crew is basically
unenamored by what you do after about the third day. So you don’t get a
lot of physical response. And you just have to keep going back to
this place, I don’t know, this spark inside you. And I think that’s
where theatre actors like myself can get very lazy because you start pandering
to the audience to get the reaction.
Yeah, you have a bad night and it kind of
sticks with you for awhile.
Exactly. You have a bad night
and you think you did badly when it may have been that the audience was tired,
you know. That’s why it’s a great challenge to keep it fresh.
That’s what I like in theatre, the idea of keeping it fresh night after night
after night. If it was up to me I’d change the blocking every day.
Really?
Oh for sure, just to keep it, you know,
keep you on edge. I think that’s the point.
So for your own personal entertainment,
what do you like to see as an audience when it comes to movies?
I love to be surprised. I love to be
surprised. I mean, there’s a lot of movies out there that… my worst
experience in movies, unless it’s so well made I can get beyond it, where I
can figure out what’s going to happen five minutes before it happens.
You know, some of those are fine. Like animated films I love, I cry at
almost every animated film ever made.
Really?
I don’t know why. Total f*cking sap when it comes to animated films.
I go see the films with my kids and they think I’m insane but that’s okay.
Do your kids cry?
Not as easily as I do. Not even half.
Let me know what you think. Send
questions and comments to jimmyo@joblo.com