00:03Hi, this is Mariah Gullow from The Hollywood Reporter, and we're in studio today with James Brolin.
00:09Hi, James. Hi, Mariah. How are you? Oh, I'm okay. Yeah? Yeah, you asked me what I was going to
00:15do
00:15this weekend. I'm not sure, but I get to see Josh's movie, Deadpool 2, you know, so that's good.
00:22That'll fill the weekend. You must be immensely proud of your son, Josh Brolin, right now.
00:27For a guy that said, I would never go into your business for anything. He's doing pretty good.
00:32He's killing it. I mean, it took him a while to get around to the idea, I bet.
00:38Oh, no, no. Actually, it was not too long after that when he said, listen, Pop, I got, this is
00:45the last year in high school, right?
00:46He says, I got three elective possible. I got to take this other class. There's wood shop. I said, oh,
00:51I love wood shop.
00:53There's a metal shop. I said, oh, I made some great copper bowls. Or there's this acting class.
00:58And I said, well, it'll teach you why you get into fights with other people. It'll give you an ability
01:04to put yourself in other people's shoes. Right.
01:08And next thing I know, he's in the acting class. And, you know, here we are years later.
01:13Yeah. Yeah. What is he proud of you for?
01:17Oh, that's a good question. We just get along so good. I think, you know, he grew up and he
01:24was born into,
01:26by the time, let's see, he was two years old. Yeah, I was in a hit series. We were number
01:34one on the air.
01:35Yeah. Yeah. And Welby. Yeah. And so I, I, that's a hard thing to answer because that was what he
01:44grew up with.
01:45He grew up in. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And that's exactly why he said, I would never go into your business
01:49because I think when he was young, he got picked on at school and challenged, you know, like why,
01:57you know, Stallone is a good example. He can't go into a bar as somebody tries to choose him off.
02:02Yeah, that's true. Yeah. What about your directing career? You started directing pretty early at the same time.
02:09Yeah, actually, I called myself a director. I had a darkroom when I was 10 doing stills. And at 15,
02:16I discovered the movie camera basically because my dad had a 16 millimeter movie camera and shot a lot
02:22of stuff. And so I had the confidence to buy a straight eight. And I always worked from the time
02:31I was 14. So, um, so I bought this and I started shooting film with this fantasy that I love
02:39to go
02:40to the movies. And in those days, we were totally fascinated with the biggest screen possible,
02:45you know, which let's say the Fox village in Westwood is really an ample screen. There were a lot of
02:51those.
02:52films. So that influenced me to see a Western in, in, in, uh, 120 feet wide, you know, made me
03:00want to do
03:00this even more, you know, and, um, and yet previous to that, I, I really had thought that films came
03:08out
03:08of golden eggs, you know, that they were from heaven or something. And then when I found out that it
03:14was
03:14like a construction job and my dad was a contractor. So I said, Oh, look, there's a guy painting a
03:21sign
03:22that goes up on the saloon and there's a guy sawing wood and they got 10 minutes before they got
03:27to be
03:27ready. And everybody's running late. It's the same thing. So anyway, I had to answer your question.
03:34I had it in my head to, um, direct and make films. And then when I was 18, somebody pushed
03:40me in front
03:41of the camera, which I was very uncomfortable. In fact, I said, I don't have to talk in this job.
03:47And they said, no, no, you just drive this Dodge truck and look like a young cowboy. And, uh,
03:53and that's all. So they came back and they hired me for another one. And then an agent came in
03:59and
04:00put me in a gala wine commercial as a young Prince, uh, eating food at a table with, you know,
04:09turkey drumsticks and things still didn't have to talk. Right. So, you know, but by then, um,
04:16by force, I had my screen actors guild card and I said, okay, well, but I want to direct. And
04:23everybody now is saying, Oh no, no, we've got some interviews for you in front of the camera. And I,
04:28I went, I started saying, look, if I want to stay in this game, I better go to school. So
04:32I had
04:33workshop every night of the week. I'm, I mean, seven nights a week, I was either rehearsing or
04:38on stage, um, humiliating myself. And you know, it's like anything, uh, it gets easier. The more
04:47you do it. Yeah. And there's always anticipation. The nervousness is what gives it life to me now.
04:54Yeah. And I know that no matter every time in those days are all the way up to if I'm
05:00in an
05:00uncomfortable situation today, you find out you lived through it. You know, you weren't dead at
05:07the end of the day. So probably won't be dead tomorrow. Um, so I wanted to play a little game
05:17with you. Cause I know that you're a bit of a driving enthusiast and I wanted to tell you, um,
05:23some of your career highlights and then ask you what you were driving at the time.
05:27Ooh, that's interesting for this. I wish I had more photos of those cars or some, some of those
05:34I don't have any picture of, but, uh, you know, I got to go into Google. Yeah, exactly. Okay. The
05:43year is 1965. You taught Patty Duke about forest conservation on an episode of the Patty Duke
05:48show. What were you driving? It's 65 of all things. I went real Hollywood and I bought myself a
06:0155 Cadillac convertible. Cause I saw Marilyn Monroe in one on the 20th lot. And I said,
06:08now that's the kind of car that a movie star should drive. So I figured it's the only way I'm
06:14going to become a movie star is by that car. Okay. I'll do it. That's perfect. Act as if.
06:19Yeah. During those years, I actually, the first car I ever bought was, I bought a model a Ford
06:25with no engine in it when I was 15 and I, I figured I'd get an engine and then I
06:31bought
06:31one that actually had an engine in it. And then my first, uh, real good car was a three-year
06:38-old
06:38Thunderbird, which I rebuilt the engine out of a book. Wow. Yeah. And, uh, so I was, you
06:45know, always, obviously interested in cars. I was interested in the way cameras worked.
06:50Yeah. I was interested in gears and the way things, and I was especially, uh, in the entertainment
06:57area, I was especially interested in the mechanics of that movies are nothing but a bunch of still
07:03pictures all glued together. And when you run them past you, they move. It's like flipping through
07:08a book. It's pretty amazing. Yeah. Yeah. It is amazing. So the mechanics of things always, um,
07:14excited me. And what really then excited me more was that you could make somebody cry with these
07:23mechanics or laugh, you know? Yeah. Yeah. Pretty cool. All right. Here's another one. The year is
07:281973. You play Chuck Brenner, a divorcee who becomes stuck in a shopping mall fighting off rabid
07:35Dobermans in the movie Trapped. That same year, Yul Brenner shot you to death in the original West
07:41World movie. What were you driving? I think I had a used, uh, two-year-old, no, no, I had
07:48a brand new
07:49Corvette. I walked into a Chevy dealer. I said, how much is that, including the tax and license?
07:56They said, 4,400 bucks. And, um, I said, I'll take it. I couldn't afford it, but it all worked
08:06out. You know, sometimes you take a chance or you make a move or you quit and say, I'm finished
08:13with you guys and start a new business or life. I had very, very few times does it not work
08:21out
08:21better. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. The year is 1985. Yeah. You play yourself playing P.W. Herman in the movie
08:29within a movie in Pee-wee's Big Adventure. What were you driving? I was driving, what, what was it?
08:3685. 85. I was driving a Lincoln Continental with a fake convertible roof on it. In other words, they
08:45took the canvas and they glued it over the top and it looked just like a convertible because they
08:51didn't make a convertible and I wanted a convertible. So I said, well, I'll fake it.
08:55Excellent. Yeah. That's what I was driving. Okay. Last one. Okay. The year is 2004. You win
09:03your fifth Emmy playing Ronald Reagan in the TV movie, the Reagans. What were you driving?
09:12Porsche Cabriolet. Yeah. You're a classy man. I do love Porsches. I had one, I, I
09:21went in and I bought a two-year-old Porsche, uh, pulled in, saw it as I drove by and
09:26I went,
09:27boy, that's pretty. And I had it for 11 years. I wouldn't give it up. So I'm kind of a
09:34Porsche
09:34guy. Yeah. Nice. Uh, let's talk a little bit about life in pieces. Can I tell you what I drive
09:39now?
09:39Oh yes. Of course. A Raptor, the best vehicle I've ever, ever been in. I just saw one of those
09:45at the
09:45Roosevelt hotel the other day. You just need a second job to pay for the gas. So I feel embarrassed
09:50about that, but I also have a mini, which sort of evens it out. Yeah. That's great. Um, okay. Let's
09:57talk about life in pieces. Um, congratulations. Another season ahead of you. Thank you. Um, you get
10:03some good one-liners. I do. You do. I do. Yeah. And sometimes I must say I'll read it. You
10:11know,
10:11when I read the pilot, I laughed the whole time. Uh, sometimes I get my one-liners and I don't
10:16get
10:17them and I have to go to the writer and say, what does this mean? And, uh, okay. Okay. And
10:23you know,
10:24one, one thing about, we've got 11 really good actors on this show. So no matter whether they truly
10:32understand the genre of the comedy, they know how to make it work, they know how to make it their
10:38own. And to me, if something is funny to you, then it will be funny to the audience just because
10:43you're tickled. Yeah. So a lot of those one-liners, we just, we kind of have to ring out a
10:50little bit,
10:51but I do get the good ones. Yeah. What I like about the, the family dynamics is it's, it's almost
10:57like,
10:57you know, the saying opposites attract between a man and a woman, but it's opposites attract in a
11:03family as well. Do you think, do you feel that way? Absolutely. And it's true at home, you know,
11:08with us. I mean, my wife and I are very different and that's what makes it work. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
11:15Hey, got any tips out there for people with a glamorous wife who's more of a cowboy?
11:21Um, the more you look for it, the less you'll find it. Just when you're not looking for love
11:28anymore and have no time for it, that's when it's going to tap you on the shoulder.
11:31Oh, nice. Very nice. Um, so another thing about life in pieces is that the family has a lot of
11:38brunches. Do you have any tips for surviving a family brunch? Boy, they're tedious. You know,
11:45table scenes are tedious and, uh, uh, it's funny. I don't really identify with it so much because,
11:53um, you know, a lot of times we're more buffet style and everybody can kind of go their own way
12:00in my own life to sit around that table and to have the camera pop in between two people. Because
12:07if you know about camera directions, it's real easy to have, let's say I'm talking to you,
12:13but I'm looking over here. If you don't have the right camera to, so every time you pop in around
12:18it and every time you change the camera position, it's new lighting. Those are long days. Yeah. I,
12:24I got no answer for that. You bear with it. Um, so one of the things that you're known for
12:30now is,
12:31uh, you're, uh, directing, uh, Hallmark movies. What are the essential ingredients to a good
12:37Hallmark movie? Oh, well, not that I'm married to those essentials, but,
12:43uh, Hallmark movie, um, has to have a lot of love and kindness and almost from the first scene,
12:51everything's going all too well. Uh, the difference in me is I love to have, and, and I've had a
12:59few
12:59arguments with him. I love to have things not going well in the beginning of a movie. And then
13:05as you see them work, work, I mean, that's, to me, that's what movies are really, um, mostly useful
13:12as we learn to work out some of our own problems through watching films. Yeah. And so, as I say,
13:19I have to wrestle with them. And usually, like, if you look at the two movies I did in the
13:24last two
13:24years for them, there's trouble in the beginning and, um, and, uh, there's love in the end, you know?
13:30Yeah. Yeah. But, uh, I, I've got a theatrical, I'm trying to get financing for now. And, uh, we've
13:38got three or four scripts in development and who knows what's next, you know? Keeping yourself busy.
13:44Yeah. Yeah. Between the series and then having four and a half or five months off, think,
13:50can we fit a movie in there and do post on it and everything is, but I'm quick.
13:57James Brolin, thank you so much for being here today and, uh, good luck on your future adventures.
14:02Mm-hmm. Thank you.
14:03We'll be, we'll be watching.
14:04Oh, boy.
14:05Mm-hmm.
14:05Mm-hmm.
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