Sunday, November 30, 2008
A+E, Movies, Reviews, Q&A

Drinking it in

Josh Brolin on “Milk,” success and playing W.

To remind actor Josh Brolin about the adage that good things come to those who wait isn’t to suggest he hasn’t earned his sudden prominence with more than 20 years of hard work. After a rather inauspicious screen debut in 1985’s “The Goonies”––and equally negligible roles in stuff like “Mimic,” “The Mod Squad” or “Hollow Man”––Brolin ultimately hit his stride last year starring in the Coen brothers’ Oscar-winning “No Country for Old Men.”
 
Following his sensational performance earlier this fall playing the title role in Oliver Stone’s George Bush biopic “W.,” Brolin now co-stars in Gus Van Sant’s biopic “Milk,” as disgruntled San Francisco city supervisor Dan White, who in 1978 shot and killed mayor George Moscone, in addition to Harvey Milk, the country’s first openly gay elected official. Sean Penn headlines a stellar cast that also includes James Franco, Emile Hirsch and Diego Luna. Brolin, 40, discussed the film and his belated, burgeoning popularity during a recent interview in Los Angeles.—Bert Osborne
 
Q How important was it for you to capture Dan White’s humanity, as opposed to merely portraying him as the villain of the piece?
 
A I think it’s important for any character to come across as human, unless you’re doing a caricature of something. I find it important to care what the character’s going through as a person. Sure, I could’ve played Dan White as he was in that moment when he finally decided to get his gun and kill those people, but it would’ve been very one-dimensional. The real issue for me was less about what he did than why he did it; to tap into his frustration, the amount of pressure he felt, the fact that he was basically a little fish in a big pond, an inexperienced guppy in a sea of very skilled politicians.
 
One of Milk’s biggest political fights was his opposition to Proposition 6 (the firing of public-school teachers based on their sexual orientation), and after 15 years in the works, the film is finally coming out just as California voters have passed Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriages. The timing seems particularly resonant.
It’s a grand parallel, isn’t it? Just when you feel we’ve evolved as a community or society, gay or straight, something like this happens. I was really surprised by the outcome of Proposition 8, especially here in California, of all places. I wouldn’t wish any sort of discrimination or oppression on anyone. It’s sad. That’s why there’s a movie about Harvey Milk to begin with. He was an anomaly. It takes a certain heart and mentality and passion and wherewithal. Dan White didn’t have it, and that’s why things turned out the way they did.
 
You came to this film right after making “W.” Can you compare and contrast the directorial styles or approaches of Van Sant and Oliver Stone?
Oliver let me do my own thing. What I did with the character of Bush, I brought. What Oliver did with the overall movie, he brought. It was the same in “Milk.” I brought what I did to Dan White, and Gus brought what he did to the rest of the film. … They’re both brilliant, impassioned filmmakers, but Gus is a lot quieter and more self-contained about it.
 
Were you reluctant to take on the role of Bush?
You shouldn’t even have to ask that question [laughs]. I had certain preconceptions about it––about the script, about the character, about Oliver––but all of my reactions were simply cosmetic. When I read the script, I was blown away by how humanely it portrayed him. … I couldn’t have cared less about Bush as a person. I’d already written him off in my mind, realizing how irresponsible he was, but it was a fascinating project to lend myself to for four or five months. As the lead, my biggest concern was whether I could hold the audience’s attention throughout the movie.
 
You’ve paid a lot of professional dues in the 20 years or so since “The Goonies.” How gratifying is it that things are finally beginning to take off for you now?
The gratification is simply working with the filmmakers I’ve been fortunate enough to work with. That’s always been my only goal, wanting to work with great directors on interesting material. I’ve been spoiled, getting to work with people like Gus and Oliver, the Coen brothers, David O. Russell [“Flirting With Disaster”], Woody Allen [“Melinda and Melinda”], Ridley Scott [“American Gangster”]. It’s definitely given me the incentive I’ve needed over the years to keep plugging away in all the things that maybe weren’t so great. SP