Josh Brolin stopped by Reddit yesterday for an Ask Me Anything. The purpose of the visit was ostensibly to promote Sin City: A Dame To Kill For, but Brolin — unlike Woody Harrelson — brushed off the promotion and instead talked about The Goonies, surfing, Thrashin’, leopard print thongs, what George W. Bush thought about W, and a few other longer anecdotes about hanging with Tarantino and ripping the seam of his pants in front of Russell Crowe.
We’ve collected some of our favorite answers and things we learned from the full thread.
Let’s get the Goonies references out of the way:
GrandMasterT: Is there a possibility of a sequel to The Goonies?
Josh_Brolin: We just wrapped!
axcairns: Please don’t tease us like that!
Josh_Brolin: There’s always a possibility. Seriously, no teasing. About every 5 years it comes up. I’ve never read a script. It seems that recently in the last year, there’s been more talk of it than usual from the likes of Corey Feldman and Richard Donner. But that’s as far as it’s gone for me. I don’t know how I feel about a sequel, given that I love the original movie so much.
GrandMasterT: The Goonies is the all time best adventure kid’s movie for my generation. Do you have a funny or interesting story from making that movie?
Josh_Brolin: They didn’t show us the – actually, I do! They didn’t show us the ship that was being built, which would now be CGI I’m sure, so this was long enough ago that everything was practical (which made things much more fun & fantastical) – so it was on a stage, the stage was a massive pool with a practical 110 foot boat built in it. And they backed us up into the stage, into the water, had the camera set up so that we could have an “organic” reaction, put us underwater, I came up out of the water, turned around, we all came up out of the water, I turned around and said “Holy sh*t!” which ruined the whole take. And the surprise. So we had to resort to acting in the end.
trios13: Did you guys giggle everytime someone said “one eye Willy”? I never realized it was a euphemism until I went back and watched it in my teens! I’ve heard this story before…Why would “holy sh*t” ruin the take? Sh*t was said at other times in the movie.
Josh_Brolin: My first day at work, half the day was ruined because I giggled so much. My dad didn’t often bring me to the set, being an actor himself, so my infancy as an actor was wracked with a lot of giggles and nervousness.
8_Wolf: Hi Josh! Thanks for this AMA! Two questions: A. Being The Goonies your first movie, does it have a special place in your heart? If yes, more because of being the first or for the “adventure type of film and success it had? B. When you made MIBIII, how many times you cracked up in laughter portraying a young Agent K that had to be serious but not too serious, working with Will Smith?
Josh_Brolin: I’ve never had more fun on a movie than I did on The Goonies. I thought that was how it was going to be for the rest of my career. And even though there have been massive fluctuations in the past 30 years, I still hold that as my greatest experience.
Watch the gag reel for MIBIII on YouTube. Very hard to keep a straight face the entire film.
But let us never forget that other ’80s classic, Thrashin’.
judomonkeykyle: How much training did you have to do for Thrashin’? Did you already know how to skateboard?
Josh_Brolin: I did. On the audition, part of the audition process was me having to skateboard outside while they watched me from across the street, second floor window. I hit a pebble, my skateboard went out into the street, and an 18 wheeler ran over it. The only reason I got the part was because the Goonies poster was up at the time. But yes I got the part.
LouisArmstrong3: HEY JOSH! when will you be making Thrashin’ 2?
Josh_Brolin: Right after Goonies 2. Back to back.
Steven Spielberg is not having that Stanislawski bullsh*t.
I_am_solipsism: What’s your craziest on-set story?
Josh_Brolin: My craziest on-set story comes from during the Goonies, when I came up to Spielberg and said that I wanted to climb the walls of the tunnels and that it represented my mother’s womb, for some odd reason. I was reading Stanislawski at the time and Spielberg’s response was “Why don’t you just act.”
Bill Clinton loans DVDs to George W. Bush.
GrandMasterT: What did George W think of your impersonation of him?
Josh_Brolin: Oliver Stone saw Clinton at a art exhibit in China, where Oliver was selling some of his art. They started talking about W, Clinton (who’s very close friends with W) loaned him his DVD, Oliver found out, and when Oliver asked Clinton how W liked it, his response was “Funny, but kind of sad.”
Josh Brolin’s video game tastes run old school.
dynamoJaff: Would you consider playing Joel in the adaptation of The Last of Us? I think you would be perfect casting!
Josh_Brolin: Thank you very much. I’m stuck on Robotron and Asteroids and Galaga. But that sounds interesting…
Not all of the questions were serious.
lmanders32: Tell me which is grittier: Tommy Lee Jones’ glare, or a literal bucket of grits?
Josh_Brolin: Glare. Hands down.
SullivansTravels: When are you going to record a cover of Chamillionaire’s Ridin’? They see me Brolin, they hatin…
Josh_Brolin: It’s been a joke my kids’ entire lives. Should we set it up now?
baltikorean: When will you start hosting the web series “Trollin’ with Josh Brolin,” in which you scour internet articles and post outrageous comments in message boards?
Josh_Brolin: I LOVE THAT IDEA! RIGHT NOW! Better than my old buddies’ idea of “Brawlin’ with Brolin”
Merrizon: what super power would you have?
Josh_Brolin: Always loved X-ray vision. I bought those glasses. I spent most of my allowance on those f*cking glasses that never worked.
bozobozo: What is your favorite dinosaur?
Josh_Brolin: Dinosaur? Tyrannosaurus Rex, because we have the same length arms.
Ladylovelybones: Any tips on how to be as awesome as Josh Brolin?
Josh_Brolin: Leopardskin thong.
Ladylovelybones: Noted.
richardwrinkle: To prepare for your role as a young Tommy Lee Jones in MIBIII how many hours a day did you practice making your face extra weathered and wrinkly?
Josh_Brolin: I have been practicing my whole life.
jasonml: Since you’re like, Thanos now, can you beat the bullies in my school up? Please?
Josh_Brolin: I was severely bullied as a kid. Don’t be afraid to be yourself. The misfits always win.