Josh James Brolin (born February 12, 1968 in Santa Monica, California) is an American actor.
The son of actor James Brolin, Josh made his screen debut at the age of 17 in The Goonies but despite working consistently on TV and film, didn't gain any widespread recognition until 2007, where he had one hell of a breakout year: key roles in Grindhouse, American Gangster, In the Valley of Elah, and the Oscar-winning No Country for Old Men all showcased his considerable talent and rugged charms. He followed 2007 up with two more acclaimed performances in 2008: W. and Milk, earning an Academy Award nomination for the latter, which upped his status in Hollywood even more.
He is most known as the ultimate villain of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Infinity Saga, Thanos the Mad Titan, starting with Guardians of the Galaxy and culminating with Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. He's also appeared as another Marvel character, this time heroic but not set in the same universe, portraying Cable in Deadpool 2.
Often Typecast as rugged badass characters from the South or Southwest.
Film roles:
- The Goonies (1985) - Brandon "Brand" Walsh
- Flirting with Disaster (1996) - Tony Kent
- Mimic (1997) - Josh
- Nightwatch (1997) - James Gallman (remake of the 1994 Danish film)
- Hollow Man (2000) - Matthew Kensington
- Melinda and Melinda (2004) - Greg Earlinger
- Grindhouse (2007) - Dr. William Block (segment "Planet Terror")
- American Gangster (2007)- Detective Trupo
- No Country for Old Men (2007) - Llewelyn Moss
- In the Valley of Elah (2007) - Chief Buchwald
- Milk (2008) - Dan White
- W. (2008) - George W. Bush
- You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010) - Roy
- Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010) - Bretton James
- Jonah Hex (2010) - Jonah Hex
- True Grit (2010) - Tom Chaney
- Men in Black 3 (2012) - Young Agent K
- Gangster Squad (2013) - Sgt. John O'Mara
- Oldboy (2013) - Joe Doucett
- Labor Day (2014) - Frank Chambers
- Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014) - Dwight McCarthy
- Marvel Cinematic Universe - Thanos
- Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
- Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
- Avengers: Endgame (2019)
- What If...? (2021) (voice)
- Inherent Vice (2015) - Bigfoot Bjornsen
- Sicario (2015) - Matt Graver
- Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018)
- Everest (2015) - Beck Weathers
- Hail, Caesar! (2016) - Eddie Mannix
- Only the Brave (2017) - Eric Marsh
- Deadpool 2 (2018) - Cable
- Dune (2021) - Gurney Halleck
- Dune: Part Two (2024)
Television roles:
- The Young Riders (1989-92) - James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickock
- The Outer Limits (1995) - Jack Pierce in "Virtual Future"
- Mister Sterling (2003) - Bill Sterling
- Into the West (2005) - Jedidiah Smith
- Outer Range (2022) - Royal Abbott
My tropes are... inevitable.
- Cops and Detectives: Tends to play them.
- Deadpan Snarker: His characters usually have quite a sharp sense of humor.
- Production Posse: Hail, Caesar! is his fourth collaboration with The Coen Brothers. He's also worked twice with Robert Rodriguez and was considered for a lead role in the Rodriguez-produced Predators.
- Those Two Actors: He has appeared along with Benicio del Toro in at least five films, some of them being sequels or set in the same universe, including the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Other actors he has worked with at least twice are Nick Nolte (with whom he has been compared physically), Patricia Arquette, Elizabeth Olsen, Tommy Lee Jones and Sean Penn.
