Different actors tend to have different ways of getting themselves into a headspace for a given role. In past interviews, Josh Brolin has referred to this idea as a "hook," which is his way into a given character. However, when I spoke with Brolin to discuss the upcoming release of Sicario: Day of the Soldado, the actor revealed to me that he actually doesn't have a hook for his performance as Matt Graver in the Sicario world, making it different from other projects that he has worked on in the past. Brolin explained:
It's funny that you ask, because I remember doing the first one and not having a hook and feeling like I blew it. Then I saw the movie and I really enjoyed the movie. I'm not saying me in the movie particularly, but I enjoyed the movie as a whole. I thought I did my job and it worked and there was nothing that detracted from the story and all that. So, I think this is one movie I can honestly say there was no hook. It was free-floating. There were a lot of military guys I met that I'm sure I borrowed stuff from them, and emulated some stuff. I don't know. I can go through a movie and tell you exactly what the hook is, but this one no.
That's an interesting thing to note for someone like Josh Brolin, who has become known for taking on diverse roles with wildly different personalities in projects like Deadpool 2, Hail, Caesar! and Men in Black III. As he explained to us in the interview, he usually can look at a project that he has worked on and pull out the quality that allowed him to "hook" into a given character, but with his role as Matt Graver in the Sicario films, he wasn't able to do that.
Another interesting thing to note about Josh Brolin's remarks to CinemaBlend during our recent interview is the fact that he apparently thought that he "blew it" when he worked on the first Sicario movie. Despite the fact that Matt's role has been increased with the shift away from Emily Blunt's Kate Macer (who could be brought back for the potential third installment if the stars align), Brolin did not immediately jump to praise his own work on the first film in this series.
Looking for a closer glimpse at CinemaBlend's recent interview with Josh Brolin during the Sicario: Day of the Soldado press day? Check out a clip from our chat, below!
Regardless of the fact that Josh Brolin didn't have a hook into Matt Graver with his work on the Sicario films, the early critical consensus seems to be largely positive. With that in mind, check out our review of the film and make sure to watch out for Sicario: Day of the Soldado when the highly-anticipated sequel debuts in theaters this weekend on June 29.
