Brolin associated himself with big Hollywood names from the very onset of his career. He landed his first role as Brand Walsh in the 1985 classic The Goonies, written by Steven Spielberg and directed by Richard Donner who also directed Superman and the Lethal Weapon series. After The Goonies, Brolin moved temporarily to television; he appeared in 21 Jump Street, The Young Riders, and The Outer Limits.
By 1996, Brolin started landing jobs in larger budget movies with bigger name stars. In this year, he had a role in Bed of Roses with Christian Slater and Mary Stuart Masterson, as well as a role in Flirting with Disaster, starring Ben Stiller, Patricia Arquette, and Téa Leoni. In 1997, Brolin acted in the mildly received sci-fi horror flick Mimic. Despite two strong leads, Mira Sorvino and Jeremy Northam, the film was easily forgotten. Unfortunately, Brolin’s next role was in The Mod Squad in 1999, which was even more poorly received than Mimic.
With a few box office flops under his belt, Brolin looked like he may be going the way of so many child stars before him. However, he then appeared in the 1999 film Best Laid Plans with Reese Witherspoon and Alessandro Nivola. This modern day take on the film noir genre was a success. And while nobody revered Brolin as the highlight of the film, he had managed to attach himself to a positively viewed movie.
Sadly, the acclaim was short lived. In 2000 he made Hollow Man and Slow Burn, neither of which did well in public opinion or the box office. At this point, there was a visible shift in mentality for Brolin’s career. In 2003, he put the quest for big budget success on the backburner and appeared in the indie film Milwaukee, Minnesota. While he did not have a leading role, the film itself was extremely well received. He followed on this success to make Melinda and Melinda, the 2004 Woody Allen comedy. On the set of this movie, Brolin worked with Chloë Sevigny, Will Ferrell, and Amanda Peet. This is one of Allen’s lesser revered films, but it is still excellent exposure for all the actors involved. In fact, anytime an actor is invited to an Allen production, he or she can be certain they are doing something correctly.
However, regardless of where Brolin’s acting career takes him, he always seems to be surrounded by the film business and its inhabitants. It all began at birth with his father James Brolin. Josh was born into the life of film, and even in adulthood, he just can’t seem to escape it.
This certainly seems to include his personal life. His first marriage was to little known actress Alice Adair from 1988 to 1992. The couple had two children together. During the separation and divorce, Brolin dated and later became engaged to actress Minnie Driver. After their breakup in 2001, Brolin met Diane Lane. In August of 2004, Brolin and the Oscar-nominated beauty tied the knot. They are still currently together.
YUDDY
