Brolin struggled to conjure his inner Tommy Lee Jones
LOS ANGELES — Josh Brolin sits back on the sofa in his Beverly Hills hotel suite, hands clasped behind his head.
He’s been asked to assess the past five years of a successful career, and it gives him pause for a few moments, before he answers.
“I am on a good run these days,” says the 44- year- old modestly, lifting his head from his hands in what seems to be a statement mixed with relief and pride.
It’s relief because he suffered through a decade- long slump made up of TV movies and films that faded fast before he managed a string of good performances in high- profile movies.
The pride comes from those assorted roles since 2007. He starred in the Coen brothers Oscar- honoured movie, No Country for Old Men, playing the doomed small- town Texan on the run. The same year, he acted opposite Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington in Ridley Scott’s American Gangster.
The high point arrived when Brolin received a supporting actor Academy Award nomination for his part in Gus Van Sant’s Milk in 2009. He portrayed real- life San Francisco supervisor Dan White, who assassinated colleague Harvey Milk ( Oscar- nominated Sean Penn) and Mayor George Moscone ( Victor Garber).
Tommy’s voice is like an elusive instrument somebody made up and nobody knows how to play ... I would have the headphones, and I would be studying, and they’d call me to do a scene.
JOSH BROLIN
He also earned good reviews for his role as George W. Bush in Oliver Stone’s 2008 biopic of the former U. S. president, and for playing the dim- witted killer in the Coens’ 2010 western remake, True Grit.
According to Brolin, the degree of difficulty increased considerably with Men in Black III, which opens May 25.
He portrays Agent K in the 1960s, which means Brolin had to do a variation on the theme of imitating Tommy Lee Jones, pretending to be Agent K when he was less glum and more fun. It was a delicate balance. “And I’m still not sure I got it right,” he says.
In the action comedy, Agent J ( Will Smith) is forced to travel back in time to save Agent K ( Jones) from being murdered. That’s when Agent J reconnects with a much younger Agent K ( Brolin): Their mission is to stop an alien invasion mastered by Boris ( Jemaine Clement).
Typical of Men in Black and Men in Black II, humour and sci- fi special effects are blended by director Barry Sonnenfeld with Brolin’s portrayal the unique addition. His performance, however, isn’t as effortless as it seems. “Yeah, there was a lot of work and a lot of fear,” Brolin says.
Brolin screened Men in Black multiple times. He also watched many more Jones movies, and constantly listened to tapes of Jones in various roles, including The Executioner’s Song and Coal Miner’s Daughter.
Then, just before filming began, he came to a shocking realization: “Tommy’s voice is like an elusive instrument somebody made up, and nobody knows how to play.”
Even on set, he was anxiously preparing scene by scene as though his acting life depended on it.
“I never felt like I nailed it,” Brolin admits. “I would have the headphones, and I would be studying, and they’d call me to do a scene.”
He shouldn’t be too concerned. Sonnenfeld and Smith offer lots of praise for his effort. “I spent a great deal of time telling Josh it can’t be an impersonation,” Sonnenfeld says. “And it wasn’t, it was more.”
Adds Smith: “I knew going in Josh wasn’t supposed to be just like Tommy, but a lot of the time he was identical, which helped me a lot.”
Both Brolin and Sonnenfeld shared a common dread; what if the fans hate them for breaking up the Men in Black team? “It turns out we will be okay,” Sonnenfeld says.
“And I still don’t know if Tommy liked it or not,” says Brolin of his role.
In a separate interview later in the day, Jones confirms it: “I do like it.”
Funny thing is Men in Black III will be the third movie Brolin and Jones have been cast in, and they still haven’t met. They also had separate scenes in No Country for Old Men and In the Valley of Elah.
“That’s curious, huh,” says Brolin.
Next up Brolin reunites with his buddy Penn in Gangster Squad, which opens Sept. 7. In the crime story, Brolin plays a cop alongside Ryan Gosling. Their assignment is to track down 1950s L. A. crime boss Mickey Cohen ( Penn).
“I like improvising and Ryan’s big into that.” says Brolin.
“With Sean, it’s an easy dance. We never have trouble figuring out what we have to do, because it just kind of happens.”
Brolin’s also signed to star in the Spike Lee remake of Old Boy, an award- winning 2003 South Korean thriller. It’s about a man who is desperately trying to locate his captors after being imprisoned for 15 years.
“We are going to make a different version but have respect for the original premise,” says Brolin. “I’m looking forward to starting it, but just talking about it is making me nervous.”