Josh Brolin has played plenty of tough guys before: the Vietnam vet Llewelyn Moss, who takes on a psychopathic killer in No Country For Old Men; corrupt detective Nick Trupo in American Gangster; bounty hunter Jonah Hex in Jonah Hex.
But nothing has really prepared him for his latest role, where he plays the toughest and most troubled lead in his career. In Spike Lee’s Oldboy, a remake of the Korean cult film of the same name by Park Chan-wook, Brolin stars as Joe Doucett, a man who vows revenge after he is mysteriously imprisoned for 15 years. In it, he foregoes a stunt double and suits up for scene after scene of brutal fights. But the part was also emotionally draining, too, as he had to play a man who pretty much lost his mind.
Watch a clip of The Daily Beast’s interview with Brolin, who dishes on why he needed to quit smoking for the part, and how many times he’s seen the original.
