Brolin glad he didn’t have to spill ‘Milk’
When “Milk” was filming in San Francisco, actor Josh Brolin stayed in an apartment overlooking the Castro District, long known as a haven for the city’s gay residents.
This seemed appropriate for a movie about Harvey Milk, a former Castro resident who was elected to the San Francisco board of supervisors, making him the first openly gay politician to take a major public office in California.
But Brolin, 40, plays the villain in the story, Dan White, who assassinated Milk and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone on Nov. 27, 1978, bringing the political careers of both men to a tragic end. So, Brolin couldn’t help but wonder what sort of reception he’d get in the Castro.
He needn’t have worried.
“It was truly the opposite,” he says. “People were so embracing. ‘Oh, hey, aren’t you the guy who’s playing Dan White? Thank God you’re doing this. Thank God the story’s finally being told after so many years of people wanting to do it.’ ”
The story of Harvey Milk – played on screen by Sean Penn – does seem custom-made for Hollywood. Milk was not only a prominent gay rights activist and politician but his murder by White – a former San Francisco supervisor himself – made headlines across the nation.
For Brolin, “Milk” is the latest in a string of roles that have given the actor an increasingly high profile. Earlier this year, he played President George W. Bush in the Oliver Stone film “W.” In 2007, he had a leading role in the Academy Award winner for best picture, “No Country for Old Men,” as well as noteworthy outings in Ridley Scott’s “American Gangster,” Paul Haggis’ “In the Valley of Elah” and Robert Rodriguez’s “Planet Terror.”
Brolin said the roll he’s on didn’t sink in until earlier this year when he was in Europe accepting an award for GQ International Man of the year.
“I was listening to the person who I asked to present this award to me, and she was going through these names (of people I had worked with),” he says. “It was really the first time I had heard it objectively, and I went, ‘Wow, I would love to be that guy who works with all these people.’ And then it turns out that I’m that guy.”
Just don’t expect Brolin’s high profile to change his outlook on life or Hollywood.
“It’s all fluctuating,” he says. “I’m having a moment right now, and that moment will go away, and it will be something else. I’ve been around long enough where it’s OK with me. I like having the opportunity to work on projects that I really care about. I really cared about ‘Milk.’ ”
So far, reaction to Brolin’s portrayal of White has been positive. The National Board of Review gave him best supporting actor honors in its annual film awards, and he received a nomination in that category from the Broadcast Film Critics Society this week.
The birthday bunch
Actor Hal Williams is 70. Singer Joyce Vincent-Wilson of Tony Orlando and Dawn is 62. Actress Patty Duke is 62. Actress Dee Wallace is 60. Bassist Cliff Williams of AC/DC is 59. Actress Cynthia Gibb is 45. Singer Brian Dalyrimple of Soul for Real is 33. Actress Vanessa Hudgens is 20.