Josh Brolin Nearly Quit Dog Stars After Day One
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- Josh Brolin told Empire he was ready to quit 'The Dog Stars' after day one because Ridley Scott was 'talking a lot of stories and not really rehearsing,' which 'bugged me out' and 'scared' him.
- Brolin called his agent — described as a close friend — and demanded out, saying 'I've got to get the f*ck out of here'; when urged to rest for a day, Brolin insisted he already knew something was wrong.
- Ridley Scott pulled Brolin into his trailer to play back the scene he had just shot with Jacob Elordi, calling it 'a really good, very dynamic scene,' after which Brolin said he began 'to feed off that' approach.
- Brolin had previously collaborated with Scott on 'American Gangster' (2007) but said he was unfamiliar with Scott's new 'high-energy, multi-camera style' used on this film.
- 'The Dog Stars' premieres Aug. 28 and is based on Peter Heller's novel, with Jacob Elordi as a grief-stricken pilot and his dog navigating a post-pandemic American wilderness after a mysterious radio transmission.
- Mark L. Smith — the veteran scribe behind 'The Revenant' — penned the screenplay, and the cast also includes Margaret Qualley, Guy Pearce, and Benedict Wong.
- Scott produced the film alongside Scott Free president Michael Pruss, Smith, and Cliff Roberts.
Why it matters: Brolin's near-exit, and his decision to stay after seeing Scott's dailies, validates the 87-year-old director's willingness to break from rehearsal-heavy conventions — a method that now anchors a $15M+ post-apocalyptic adaptation built around a star (Elordi) whose career is ascending alongside Brolin's.
