Josh Brolin channels Tommy Lee
May 17, 2012 6:46PM
Josh Brolin watched Tommy Lee Jones movies to master his voice and play Agent K as a young man.
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Updated: June 29, 2012 9:36AM
Trying to find his inner Tommy Lee Jones for “Men in Black 3” wasn’t easy for Josh Brolin. He had to play a younger version of Agent K when Will Smith’s Agent J travels back in time to save his friend’s life.
“I did watch all of his old movies,” Brolin says, “but that’s also because I’m a huge Tommy fan. I watched ‘Executioner’s Song,’ ‘Coal Miner’s Daughter’ and a film called ‘Rolling Thunder,’ which is amazing and one of Tarantino’s favorite films. “
On the set, he kept an iPod handy “and listened to his voice before I did scenes. I wanted it to be high Tommy lilt. I also put on a nose, earlobes and a forehead.”
So what happened when Brolin did his Tommy Lee in front of Tommy Lee?
“I don’t think he ever gave me kudos for it. But he also didn’t say, ‘I don’t understand what he’s doing,’ ” Brolin says. “He simply said to me, ‘It worked.’ That’s a high compliment. That’s better than what the Coens do.”
Cindy Pearlman
