For the better part of the past two decades, Josh Brolin has been one of the biggest actors on the planet. He’s played one of the most nuanced Marvel villains, been nominated for all kinds of awards, and appeared in one great movie after another. However, it wasn’t always that way. Sure, Brolin arrived on the scene hot with The Goonies back in the ‘80s, but he sort of bounced around for the next 20 years before it all changed with one of the busiest years of his, or anyone else’s, career.
In 2007, Brolin went from being a steady and reliable supporting actor to one of the top stars in Hollywood. From Planet Terror to American Gangster to No Country for Old Men (one of the best 2000s movies), the second-generation star was on a whole different level, and we’re still feeling it.
Josh Brolin Was Far From A Leading Man In The ’90s And Early 2000s
Though he appeared in some great ‘90s movies like Flirting with Disaster and Mimic, Josh Brolin was far from a leading man in the final decade of the 20th century. The same can be said about the first half of the 2000s, as he gave great performances, but in forgotten movies like Melinda and Melinda and Milwaukee, Minnesota.
Don’t get me wrong, Brolin was staying busy in the second and third decades of his career, but he was nowhere near the level he would reach in a few short years. This trend of small, supporting parts in indie projects and straight-to-DVD releases would soon come to an end, and Brolin would become not just a leading man but one of the most prolific actors of his time. Let’s go back to 2007…
But That Would Be A Completely Different Story By The End Of 2007
Over the course of a single year, Brolin went from being a dependable yet relatively lowkey hand on set to one of the biggest and most recognizable stars on the planet. That year was 2007. Between April and November, he gave some of the best performances of his career and pushed himself to the top of Hollywood. I mean, just look at the projects he was involved with that year:
- Grindhouse (The “Planet Terror” Segment) – April 4, 2007
- In the Valley of Elah – September 14, 2007
- American Gangster – November 2, 2007
- No Country for Old Men – November 9, 2007
We’ve seen years like this before, but it’s extremely rare to see an actor so far into his career go from supporting man to leading man in the space of like seven months. The work, and conscious effort, that he must have put in throughout 2005 and 2006 to get to this point would honestly be a moving premise of some great American novel or something.
Though In The Valley of Elah doesn’t get talked about as much as the other three, and though he has a small part, it’s impossible to overlook how much the release of that film (which was led by No Country for Old Men co-star Tommy Lee Jones) impacted his career. I must also point out that Brolin also appeared in the Coen Brothers’ “World Cinema” short film that was part of the To Each His Own Cinema anthology film that was released in 2007.
All His Performances Were Great That Year, But No Country For Old Men Was On A Different Level
It can be argued that No Country for Old Men is one of the best movies about people ending up in the wrong place at the wrong time, but it was the opposite for Brolin when he auditioned for the role of Llewelyn Moss in the Coen Brothers’ Best Picture Oscar winner. Each of his 2007 movies are great and all, but it’s his performance as a Texan stumbling upon a satchel of cash from a drug deal gone wrong that we still talk about nearly 20 years later.
I saw this movie in theaters either five or six times (both during its initial release and then when it was brought back ahead of the 2008 Oscars), and that number has grown exponentially since then. When I hear Brolin’s name, this (and a story about him getting arrested in my hometown while filming W) comes to mind. A character with a heavy conscious, few words, and a quest to survive, there was something the resonated with audiences.
Sure, people talk about Javier Bardem’s Anton Chigurh more than Moss, but that was a once-in-a-generation villain performance. Still though, Brolin’s calm, calculated, and somewhat sympathetic and ill-fated protagonist led to so many opportunities, immediately after and for years to come.
Brolin’s Work Has Continued To Get Better Over The Years
Brolin’s 2007 is the stuff of Hollywood legend, but it wasn’t a one-and-done affair for the actor, as he’s found even more success in the decades that have followed. One year after No Country rekindled his career, he played then-United States President George W. Bush in W, a movie that is much better than critics will make it out to be. Also in 2008, he portrayed San Francisco politician Dan White, Harvey Milk’s assassin, in the Sean Penn-led biopic, Milk. That role would earn Brolin his first and only Oscar nomination.
In the years that followed, Brolin re-teamed with directors like Woody Allen, Oliver Stone, and the Coen Brothers, the latter of whom made the decorated and all-time great Western True Grit. However, Brolin would again reach a whole new level a few years later when he was cast as Thanos, the overarching villain of the MCU’s “Infinity Saga.” Culminating in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, Brolin’s portayal of the Mad Titan ushered in a new era of movie villains, much like his counterpart did in No Country for Old Men.
And With Some Massive Movies On The Way, He’s Not Slowing Down Anytime Soon
Brolin could have stopped acting and rode off into the sunset multiple times over the years, but he continues to be one of the busiest names in show business, with even more releases on the 2025 movie schedule. After already appearing in one of 2025’s best horror movies (Weapons), he is gearing up to appear in the upcoming Netflix film, Wake Up Dead Man, and Edgar Wright’s adaptation of The Running Man, one of my most anticipated action flicks. And that’s just this year.
Before the end of the 2026 movie schedule, Brolin will reprise his role as Gurney Halleck in Denis Villeneuve’s massive Dune: Part Three (their fourth time working together), team up with Ridley Scott again for The Dog Stars, and star in the upcoming survival film, Whalefall. He just doesn’t stop…
It’s hard to imagine what Josh Brolin’s career (and Hollywood as a whole) would look like without his stacked 2007, but luckily, we live in a timeline where that’s just a hypothetical situation.