Early life

Brolin was born in Santa Monica, California, the son of Jane Cameron (Agee), a wildlife activist who was a native of Corpus Christi, Texas, and actor James Brolin. Brolin was raised on a ranch in Templeton, California, with little exposure to his father's acting career. His parents divorced when he was 16 years old. In 1998 his father married his third wife, singer/actress Barbra Streisand. Brolin became interested in acting after taking an improv acting class in high school.

Brolin explained in a 2014 interview that during his teenage years, he was a member of a surfing friendship group who called themselves the "Cito Rats". In his description of the group, he stated: "It was Santa Barbara. It was the '80s. It was punk rock. You either had the children of rich, neglectful parents or children of poor, neglectful parents, so it was a mix. But we basically grew up the same way. I've never seen a group like that before or since." He admitted to stealing cars to pay for his drug use, which included heroin, a drug that he explained he did not like: "I mean, I never got into it and I never died from it, which is a good thing." The majority of the friends that he grew up with died; he confirmed the total number of fatalities as 24.

Career

Acting

Brolin started his career in TV films and guest spots on TV shows before getting a more notable role as Brand Walsh in the Richard Donner-directed film The Goonies (1985). He was considered for the role of Tom Hanson in the series 21 Jump Street; he and Johnny Depp were the finalists for the role, and at that time the two became close and remained friends. The role was ultimately awarded to Depp. Brolin guest-starred in an episode of the show in its first season.

Brolin implied that he turned away from film acting for years after the premiere of his second film, Thrashin', where he witnessed what he called "horrendous" acting on his part. For several years, he appeared in stage roles in Rochester, New York, often alongside mentor and friend Anthony Zerbe. One of Brolin's more prominent roles early in his career was that of Wild Bill Hickok in the ABC western TV series The Young Riders, which lasted three seasons (1989-92). Two other TV series he was involved in include the Aaron Spelling production Winnetka Road (1994) and Mister Sterling (2003), both of which were cancelled after a few episodes.

Brolin's extensive film work consists of many villainous roles in late-2000s/early-2010s films, including Planet Terror (one of two feature-length segments of the Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez collaboration Grindhouse), Gus van Sant's Milk, American Gangster, and Oliver Stone's Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. He also played the lead role in the Coen brothers' Academy Award-winning film No Country for Old Men.

Brolin also starred in another Oliver Stone film in 2008 called W., a biopic about key events in the life of President George W. Bush. Stone pursued an initially hesitant Brolin for the role. He said of his decision to cast Brolin in the leading role:

“

It always seemed to me that he was the right person. Although classically handsome, I think he would consider himself a character actor first and foremost, and it was in this context that I thought of him as W. Josh certainly has star appeal and could be a leading man, but I don’t think he necessarily wants to be that. I think he really enjoys disappearing into a character.

”

Brolin received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Gus Van Sant's biopic Milk as city supervisor Dan White, who assassinated San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone. He made news by wearing a White Knot to the Academy Awards ceremony to demonstrate solidarity with the marriage equality movement. Brolin told an interviewer that costar Sean Penn, who portrayed Milk, decided to dispel any nerves the actors had about playing gay men by grabbing the bull by the horns. At the first cast dinner, which included castmates James Franco, Emile Hirsch and Diego Luna, Brolin said, " walked right up and grabbed me and planted a huge one right on my lips." Brolin has received critical acclaim for his performance and, in addition to his Oscar nomination, received NYFCC and NBR Awards for Best Supporting Actor and a nomination for a SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role.

He portrayed Jonah Hex in the 2010 film of the same name.

Brolin also played the younger version of Tommy Lee Jones's character, Agent K, in Men in Black 3 released in May 2012. A year later, he starred in the film Gangster Squad portraying John O'Mara released in 2013 which was originally scheduled for release in September 2012.

Brolin was a top contender for the role of Batman in Zack Snyder's sequel to the 2013 film Man of Steel, but the role was given to Ben Affleck. Brolin voiced Marvel villain Thanos in the superhero films Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Writing and directing

In 2009, Brolin executive produced and performed in The People Speak, a documentary feature film that uses dramatic and musical performances of the letters, diaries, and speeches of everyday Americans, based on historian Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States.

Brolin wrote and directed the short film X, as his directorial debut. The film, about an inmate who escapes prison to reunite with his daughter and search for her murdered mother, was the opening film at the first annual Union City International Film Festival in Union City, New Jersey in December 2010.

Personal life

Marriages and family

Brolin was married to actress Alice Adair from 1988 until 1994; they have two children, Trevor Mansur (born June 1988) and Eden (born 1994). He was engaged to actress Minnie Driver for six months. He later married actress Diane Lane on August 15, 2004. Brolin and Lane filed for divorce in February 2013. The divorce was made official November 27, 2013. In March 2015, Brolin became engaged to his former assistant and model Kathryn Boyd.

Legal issues

On December 20, 2004, Brolin's then wife, Diane Lane, called the police after an altercation with Brolin, and he was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of domestic battery. Lane declined to press charges and the couple's spokesperson characterized the incident as a misunderstanding.

On July 12, 2008, Brolin was arrested, along with actor Jeffrey Wright and five other crew members of W., after an altercation at the Stray Cat Bar in Shreveport, Louisiana. Brolin was released after posting a cash bond of US$334. When talking of his arrest, Brolin said to a reporter, "It was nice to be in jail knowing that I hadn’t done anything wrong. And it was maddening to be in jail knowing that I hadn’t done anything wrong." Charges against all seven men were later dropped by Shreveport prosecutors.

Brolin was arrested for public intoxication on New Year's Day, 2013, in Santa Monica, California. The remainder of 2013 proved very difficult for Brolin and he later explained: "Well, it was another turning point. It made me think of a lot of things. My mom dying when I was in my 20s. All the impact that had on me that I hadn't moved past; I was always such a momma's boy. But I realized that I was on a destructive path. I knew that I had to change and mature."

Business interests

Brolin commenced active stock trading in his mid 20s and briefly considered quitting acting. In 2014, he explained that he made a large amount of money over a three-year period: "Fear and greed, that's all that there is. And I traded very specifically. I found momentum stocks that had room to breathe and I just grab a little of the breath." He was also co-founder of the now defunct stock trading website MarketProbability.com.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Director	Notes
1985	Goonies, TheThe Goonies	Brandon "Brand" Walsh	Richard Donner
1986	Thrashin'	Corey Webster	David Winters
1994	The Road Killers	Tom
1996	Bed of Roses	Danny	Michael Goldenberg
1996	Flirting with Disaster	Tony Kent	David O. Russell
1997	Mimic	Josh	Guillermo del Toro
1997	Nightwatch	James Gallman	Ole Bornedal
1999	Mod Squad, TheThe Mod Squad	Billy Waites	Scott Silver
1999	Best Laid Plans	Bryce	Mike Barker
1999	It's the Rage	Tennel	James D. Stern
2000	Hollow Man	Matt Kensington	Paul Verhoeven	Nominated—Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Supporting Actor - Science Fiction
2000	Slow Burn	Duster	Christian Ford
2005	Melinda and Melinda	Greg Earlinger	Woody Allen
2005	Into the Blue	Derek Bates	John Stockwell
2006	Dead Girl, TheThe Dead Girl	Tarlow	Karen Moncrieff
2007	Grindhouse	Dr. William Block	Robert Rodriguez & Quentin Tarantino	Segment: Planet Terror
2007	In the Valley of Elah	Chief Buchwald	Paul Haggis
2007	No Country for Old Men	Llewelyn Moss	Joel and Ethan Coen	National Board of Review Award for Best Cast Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Performance by an Ensemble Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble Nominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama Nominated—St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor
2007	American Gangster	Det. Reno Trupo	Ridley Scott	Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2008	W.	George W. Bush	Oliver Stone	Nominated—IFTA Award for Best International Actor Nominated—London Film Critics' Circle Award for Actor of the Year Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy Nominated—Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor
2008	Milk	Dan White	Gus Van Sant	Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role Nominated—St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Houston Film Critics Society Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supportting Role
2009	Women in Trouble	Nick Chapel	Sebastian Gutierrez	Comedy
2009	People Speak, TheThe People Speak	Himself	Howard Zinn, Chris Moore, & Anthony Arnove	Documentary
2010	Jonah Hex	Jonah Hex	Jimmy Hayward
2010	Tillman Story, TheThe Tillman Story	Himself	Amir Bar-Lev	Narrator
2010	You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger	Roy	Woody Allen
2010	Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps	Bretton James	Oliver Stone
2010	True Grit	Tom Chaney	Joel and Ethan Coen
2012	Men in Black 3	Young Agent K	Barry Sonnenfeld
2013	Gangster Squad	John O'Mara	Ruben Fleischer
2013	Oldboy	Joe Doucett	Spike Lee
2013	Labor Day	Frank Chambers	Jason Reitman
2014	Guardians of the Galaxy	Thanos	James Gunn	Uncredited cameo
2014	Sin City: A Dame to Kill For	Dwight McCarthy	Robert Rodriguez & Frank Miller
2014	Inherent Vice	Lt. Det. Christian "Bigfoot" Bjornsen	Paul Thomas Anderson	Nominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Detroit Film Critics Society for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor (runner-up) Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor
2015	Avengers: Age of Ultron	Thanos	Joss Whedon	Uncredited cameo
2015	Sicario	Matt	Denis Villeneuve
2015	Everest	Beck Weathers	Baltasar Kormákur
2016	Hail, Caesar!	Eddie Mannix	Joel and Ethan Coen

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987-1988	Private Eye	Johnny Betz	7 episodes
1987	21 Jump Street	Taylor Rolator	Episode: "My Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades"
1989-1992	Young Riders, TheThe Young Riders	James Butler Hickok	68 episodes
1994	Winnetka Road	Jack Passion	6 episodes
1995	Outer Limits, TheThe Outer Limits	Jack Pierce	Episode: "Virtual Future"
1997	Gang in Blue	Keith DeBruler	Television film
2000	Picnic	Hal Carter	Television film
2003	Mister Sterling	Senator Bill Sterling	10 episodes
2005	Into the West	Jedediah Smith	Episode: "Wheel to the Stars"
2012	Mankind: The Story of All of Us	Narrator (voice)	12 episodes
2008-2012	Saturday Night Live	Himself (host)	2 episodes

Charities

Josh Brolin supports the following charitable cause: Cancer.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]