Josh Brolin’s No Country For Old Men role was originally Heath Ledger’s
Wanting to take a break from acting, Heath Ledger pulled out of the part
Aux News Josh Brolin
Cinephiles everywhere love hearing about the castings that never were. Eric Stoltz as Marty McFly and Stuart Townsend in Lord Of The Rings are probably two of the most famous versions of the story. But Josh Brolin, who is promoting his Yellowstone with a hole show, Outer Range, dropped a fascinating bit of trickery by the casting gods during a recent appearance on Dax Sheppard’s Armchair Expert.
According to Brolin, his big break into leading man roles in 2007's No Country For Old Men almost didn’t happen. The Coen brothers originally cast Heath Ledger in the role of Llewelyn Moss, but Ledger dropped out because he wanted a break.
“I know they were really frustrated and they were looking everywhere,” Josh Brolin said. “I don’t know if you knew this, but Heath Ledger was supposed to do that role. It wasn’t that he died, he pulled out of the role. He was like, ‘I don’t want to work right now.’”
Brolin’s the linchpin of the whole production. But it’s worth considering what someone like Ledger, in between Brokeback Mountain and The Dark Knight, could have brought to the role. For his part, Brolin brought a broken arm. Days after being cast, the actor was in a collision on his motorcycle. “Two days later, I was riding my motorcycle, I tee-boned a car, and I was flying in the air thinking, ‘Holy shit, I really wanted to work with the Coen brothers.”
Brolin entered production with his arm in a sling, but it didn’t hurt the film. Moss gets shot in the movie, and they were able to work around the injury. So what’s the lesson here? If you’re going to get cast in a Coen brothers movie, make sure you adjust your injury schedule to fit the character.
[via The Playlist]
16 Comments
But Josh Brolin, who is promoting his Yellowstone with a hole show, Outer Range, I see what you did there, Matt. Only people that watch the show will get this “hole” may not have been a spelling error.
Doesn’t Outer Range have a mysterious hole? I thought that was the big hook.
Brolin, Brolin, Brolin, keep those Joshes Brolin, rawhiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide…
Underrated riff.
Am also way too young to even know how that should sound… something something dirt hole did I crawl out of?
Correct. The entire mystery of the show is what the big hole is and why it’s on their property. Methinks OP didn’t understand
Probably would have helped to put quotation marks in, like so: “Yellowstone with a hole” show…
Yes, that’s the “whole” point of my joke. Weird how my copy of the line from the article was jumbled around after I hit “paste.”
during a recent appearance on Dax Sheppard’s Armchair Expert
Perhaps you should learn how to spell the names of famous people.
“Two days later, I was riding my motorcycle, I tee-boned a car, and I was flying in the air thinking, ‘Holy shit, I really wanted to work with the Coen brothers.” I can see this as a scene in a Coen brothers movie.I can’t believe No Country was released when Ledger was alive. Weird.
Joel and Ethan refused to give Brolin an audition for the role of Llewelyn, so he asked director Robert Rodriguez to help him shoot an audition tape while they were filming Planet Terror. Rodriguez shot and Tarantino directed the tape, which was shot using a 950,000 dollar digital camera. Marley Shelton, who was playing Brolin’s character’s wife in Planet Terror, agreed to read the lines for Llewelyn’s wife Carla Jean.
Also, Ethan pranked him with Moss’s “Hmm” when he finds the money.
Also, Ethan pranked him with Moss’s “Hmm” when he finds the money.
“Cinephiles everywhere love hearing about the castings that never were.”Yet your examples – and the story – are castings that most definitely *did* happen, but were then recast very early in production. (i.e., you are conflating or confusing the “casting” of roles with the actual completed acting jobs/portrayals.)
Ledger was a tremendous actor but I’m not convinced he’d have been great as a west Texas roughneck. Brolin’s got that quiet physicality that’s perfect for the role.
No, but I always thought Moss was a little younger (not a lot, maybe late 20’s) and a little too sure of himself and definately in over his head. I think Ledger could have done that. But frankly, we’re asking if the Patriots could have had a better fit with a qb other than Brady.
I thought his age worked well for luring the audience into believing he was capable of navigating the situation, instead of recognizing he was very much in over his head. He gave off the vibe with his calm planning that it was under control, then bam he’s just gone.