The 1989 movie that changed Josh Brolin’s life: “It blew my mind”
Josh Brolin was well into his career before he found his greatest inspiration.
Brolin is an interesting case study because it is easy to forget that he was once a child star; while he was technically one of the teenagers in The Goonies, it was one of his earliest roles, and gave him the opportunity to be in one of the most culturally-defining films of the 1980s. It’s not uncommon for many child stars to struggle being taken seriously when they transition into more serious roles, and Brolin has been honest about questioning his life choices when he didn’t have a mentor to guide him.
Having already been in a film that was widely successful, he sought to work in a different medium in 1989 when he tried acting in theatre, which took him to Ireland, and while the experience of making a play was not what he expected, it did lead him to do some soul-searching that would eventually prove beneficial.
“I was too scared to talk to the priests, so I ended up just walking around Ireland with a cheap tweed coat that I had bought and whatever I felt was an Irish hat at the time,” Brolin said, “It was really lonely. Did I get anything out of it? I don’t know, maybe. I wanted to be Daniel Day-Lewis.”
Brolin’s obsession with Day-Lewis, who was emerging at the same time, was the result of seeing him in a specific film during this challenging production.
“I actually saw My Left Foot on that trip, and it blew my mind,” Brolin recalled, “That was like a whole other level that I didn’t understand existed, and I wanted to find that, whatever that was, and I think I have tried to find it for decades, and still am trying to find it, you know? I probably will forever try to be finding it.”
Although Day-Lewis had a few smaller roles in films prior to 1989, such as My Beautiful Launderette and The Bounty, My Left Foot was a transformative performance that showed how method acting could actually be beneficial. Day-Lewis’ performance won him the Academy Award for ‘Best Actor’ and began the legend about his famously meticulous process of getting into character. It also marked his first collaboration with director Jim Sheridan, who would also direct him to acclaimed performances in In the Name of the Father and The Boxer.
It’s easy to see why Day-Lewis was so inspirational to Brolin, given they were of a similar age and shared an interest in both theatre and film. Although it took the latter some time to figure out what type of star he wanted to be, he has emerged as a fascinating actor who can always be counted on to give a great performance. 2025 truly signified itself as the ‘year of Brolin’ thanks to three of his most memorable performances; he was an absolute scene-stealer as a troubled priest in Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, a terrified father in Weapons, and a moustache-twirling villain in The Running Man.
Brolin might not be as exclusive as Day-Lewis, but his involvement in a film is generally a sign of its quality. He’s set to appear in two of the most anticipated genre films of 2026, including Ridley Scott’s science fiction drama The Dog Stars and the high-concept survival thriller Whalefall.
