50 facts about Josh Brolin: wrote and directed the short film X, as his directorial debut

Brolin implied that he turned away from film acting for years after the premiere of his second film, Thrashin', where he witnessed what he called "horrendous" acting on his part. Learn 50 things about Brolin.

1. Josh James Brolin is an American actor.

2. His first role was in the 1985 film The Goonies.

3. He later went on to appear in the films Bed of Roses, Mimic, The Mod Squad, Hollow Man, and Into the Blue.

4. In 2007, he was in the segment: Planet Terror in the Robert Rodriguez film Grindhouse.

5. That same year, he co-starred in the films In the Valley of Elah, No Country for Old Men and American Gangster.

6. In 2008, Brolin was cast as George W. Bush for the biopic film W..

7. The same year, he played Dan White in the film Milk.

8. He played the title character in the 2010 film Jonah Hex and appeared in the films Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps and True Grit, both also in 2010.

9. Brolin was cast as the young version of Agent K in the 2012 film Men in Black 3.

10. In 2013, he starred in the action crime film Gangster Squad and the romantic drama Labor Day.

11. In 2014, through voice acting and performance capture, he was cast, uncredited, as the villain Thanos in the Marvel Studios' film Guardians of the Galaxy.

12. He reprised this role in the 2015 film Avengers: Age of Ultron.

13. He also played Dwight McCarthy in the 2014 sequel Sin City: A Dame to Kill For.

14. Brolin was born in Santa Monica, California.

15. He was born to Jane Cameron (Agee), a wildlife activist who was a native of Corpus Christi, Texas.

16. His father is actor James Brolin.

17. Brolin was raised on a ranch in Templeton, California, with little exposure to his father's acting career.

18. His parents divorced when he was 16 years old.

19. Singer/actress Barbra Streisand later became his stepmother.

20. He became interested in acting after taking an improv acting class in high school.

21. Brolin explained in a 2014 interview that during his teenage years, he was a member of a surfing friendship group who called themselves the "Cito Rats".

22. In his description of the group, he stated: "It was Santa Barbara. It was the '80s. It was punk rock. You either had the children of rich, neglectful parents or children of poor, neglectful parents, so it was a mix. But we basically grew up the same way. I've never seen a group like that before or since."

23. He admitted to stealing cars to pay for his drug use, which included heroin, a drug that he explained he did not like: "I mean, I never got into it and I never died from it, which is a good thing."

24. The majority of the friends that he grew up with died; he confirmed the total number of fatalities as 24.

25. Brolin started his career in TV films and guest spots on TV shows before getting a more notable role as Brand Walsh in the Richard Donner-directed film The Goonies.

26. He was considered for the role of Tom Hanson in the series 21 Jump Street.

27. He and Johnny Depp were the finalists for the role of Tom Hanson, and at that time the two became close and remained friends. The role was ultimately awarded to Depp.

28. Brolin implied that he turned away from film acting for years after the premiere of his second film, Thrashin', where he witnessed what he called "horrendous" acting on his part.

29. For several years, he appeared in stage roles in Rochester, New York, often alongside mentor and friend Anthony Zerbe.

30. One of Brolin's more prominent roles early in his career was that of Wild Bill Hickok in the ABC western TV series The Young Riders, which lasted three seasons (1989-92).

31. Two other TV series he was involved in include the Aaron Spelling production Winnetka Road and Mister Sterling, both of which were cancelled after a few episodes.

32. Brolin received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Gus Van Sant's biopic Milk as city supervisor Dan White, who assassinated San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone.

33. Brolin has received critical acclaim for his performance in Milk and, in addition to his Oscar nomination, received NYFCC and NBR Awards for Best Supporting Actor.

34. He also received a nomination for a SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role.

35. He portrayed Jonah Hex in the 2010 film of the same name.

36. Brolin also played the younger version of Tommy Lee Jones's character, Agent K, in Men in Black 3 released in May 2012.

37. He starred in the film Gangster Squad portraying John O'Mara released in 2013 which was originally scheduled for release in September 2012.

38. Brolin was a top contender for the role of Batman in Zack Snyder's sequel to the 2013 film Man of Steel, but the role was given to Ben Affleck.

39. Brolin voiced Marvel villain Thanos in the superhero film Guardians of the Galaxy.

40. In 2009, Brolin executive produced and performed in The People Speak a documentary feature film that uses dramatic and musical performances of the letters, diaries, and speeches of everyday Americans, based on historian Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States.

41. Brolin wrote and directed the short film X, as his directorial debut. The film, about an inmate who escapes prison to reunite with his daughter and search for her murdered mother, was the opening film at the first annual Union City International Film Festival in Union City, New Jersey in December 2010.

42. Brolin was married to actress Alice Adair from 1988 to 1994.

43. They have two children, Trevor Mansur and Eden).

44. He was engaged to actress Minnie Driver for six months.

45. He later married actress Diane Lane on August 15, 2004.

46. Brolin and Lane filed for divorce in February 2013. The divorce was made official November 27, 2013.

47. In March 2015, Brolin became engaged to his former assistant and model Kathryn Boyd.

48. Brolin commenced active stock trading in his mid 20s and briefly considered quitting acting.

49. In 2014, he explained that he made a large amount of money over a three-year period: "Fear and greed, that's all that there is. And I traded very specifically. I found momentum stocks that had room to breathe and I just grab a little of the breath."

50. He was also co-founder of the now defunct stock trading website MarketProbability.com.

Source: Wikipedia.org