Josh Brolin, now a director, has zero patience for difficult actors

Jordan Hoffman
·3 min read
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Josh Brolin, the 56-year-old Oscar nominee for his supporting turn in “Milk,” co-star of Best Picture-winner “No Country For Old Men,” and Barbra Streisand’s stepson, can now add director to his resume. The actor got behind the camera for the first time for the penultimate episode of the second season of “Outer Range,” the sci-fi Western on Amazon Prime Video in which he stars opposite Imogen Poots, Lili Taylor, and Tom Pelphrey. 

The new gig has given him a new perspective on working with actors from the director’s chair. Following a crack he made on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” about how he “didn’t really love actors,” he expanded a bit in a conversation with Esquire.   

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Explaining how he took the new gig very seriously with what he called over-preparation and not “being lazy about it,” he then shared that he wasn’t particularly impressed with certain kinds of actors: “Especially people who won’t come to the set and that kind of shit. If there’s a good reason, I get it, but if you’re just an irritated actor because you’re so creative or sensitive, I just don’t buy it.” 

He expanded on his “just get it done” philosophy by sharing his experiences writing his book “From Under the Truck.” “Where did I write the book?” he said. “I wrote it in bathrooms. I wrote it in Jordan. I wrote it wherever I wrote it. It’s about the work. Just do the fucking work wherever you are.”

Brolin, who grew up with Hollywood parents James Brolin and casting director Jane Cameron, has been working since his 1985 debut in “The Goonies.” He’s had a great number of credits since then, so it’s clear the man has seen some things happen on sets. 

He did, however, highlight the positive side of directing. “I loved it, man,” he said. “I love the design of it. I love the architecture of it. I love the celebration of it. There were a lot of interests that I’ve had through the decades that I never really understood. When I directed, I was able to funnel it all into one place without trying to force it. My whole life made sense.” 

He added that he is “not going to quit acting and just be a director. But it utilizes more of my sensibilities as a person. I’m naturally a communal person. I get excited by experimenting. To imprison that with just me feels really limiting. But I may just be a mediocre actor.”

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