The Big Picture

Josh Brolin and Peter Dinklage star as criminal twins in the comedy
Brothers
with a star-studded cast, including Glenn Close and Marisa Tomei.
Directed by Max Barbakow, the film follows the reformed Brolin and Dinklage on a cross-country heist, navigating family drama.
During their interview with Collider’s Steve Weintraub, Brolin and Dinklage discuss the making of the film, the origins of the idea, and the influence of an orangutan named Samuel.

While actors Josh Brolin and Peter Dinklage shared a credit scroll together in Avengers: Infinity War, they were unable to share any actual screen time together. Luckily for movie-going audiences around the world, Brolin and Dinklage (along with their fellow Marvel alum Glenn Close and Marisa Tomei) co-star in Brothers, headlining as the criminal twins we always wanted them to play.

Directed by Palm Springs breakout director Max Barbakow and co-written by Macon Blair (The Toxic Avenger), Brothers tells the story of a reformed criminal (Brolin) trying to go straight who is unfortunately derailed when he reunites with his slick twin brother (Dinklage). On a cross-country road trip together for the score of a lifetime, the brothers dodge violence, cops, and an overbearing mother. Along the way, they must heal their ruffled family bond before they end up killing each other.

During this interview, Brolin and Dinklage chat with Collider’s Steve Weintraub to shed some light on Brothers. They share their admiration for their star-studded cast, the surprising origins of their new comedy, and how an orangutan named Samuel became the “epicenter” of the film. You can watch the full conversation in the video above, or read the transcript below.

The Very True Story of How Josh Brolin Was Cast In ‘Dune’
Image via Warner Bros.

COLLIDER: First of all, congrats on the movie! And thank you to whoever approved the extended interview. I appreciate it.

PETER DINKLAGE: It’s a four-hour interview?

I wish. Listen, because I have extra time, I’m throwing some curveballs at the beginning. Josh, individual question for you. What does it mean to have all this love? I looked online — 450 reviews for Dune: Part Two , and it’s still at 92% on Rotten Tomatoes. I hate using that barometer, but what does it mean to be part of a film that is so beloved?

JOSH BROLIN: Wonderful. If I answer seriously, it’s amazing. Actually, you know what? The beginning of Dune happened because Peter and I went in to pitch Brothers into Legendary [Pictures], and that’s when Dune happened. They were looking for a Gurney Halleck, and [Legendary Pictures Producer] Mary Parent was like, “What about one of the guys with the big heads?” Then they just kind of randomly picked, and I happened to be the one. It was an accident.

DINKLAGE: She meant to cast me, but she called Josh instead.

BROLIN: It’s nice, man, to be involved. Denis [Villeneuve] is one of my best friends, and then I ended up doing — which we’ve talked about — that book with Greig Fraser. So much has come out of it. A lot of great relationships with a lot of actors and so on and so forth.

Related Josh Brolin Addresses His “Creepy” ‘Saturday Night Live’ Ode to Timothée Chalamet Brolin chats about this, ‘The Goonies’ sequel, ‘Sicario 3,’ and ‘Dune: Part Two’ behind-the-scenes in this Q&A for his new book, ‘Dune: Exposures.’

DINKLAGE: What’s Dune again? Can you refresh me? What is Dune?

BROLIN: By the way, Peter is the one person that hasn’t seen it.

DINKLAGE: I’ve seen both…

BROLIN: He doesn’t even know the book exists.

DINKLAGE: I have seen both once. [Laughs]

BROLIN: That’s huge for you.

DINKLAGE: Because they’re long. [Laughs]

Peter Dinklage on ‘The Toxic Avenger’ and neo-Western ‘The Thicket’
Image via Tubi

Peter, I just spoke to you recently for The Thicket, which, for people who are watching this and haven’t seen The Thicket, fucking see The Thicket .

DINKLAGE: Thanks, man!

Just throwing that out.

DINKLAGE: Everybody sees Dune! Nobody sees The Thicket!

I really appreciated The Thicket because it’s just good filmmaking and performances, but also it captures that time when the old West was ending and technology was coming in. I’m just curious because I brought it up with you before, and I’m gonna bring it up with you right now, when can I see The Toxic Avenger ? Can you get me a screener?

DINKLAGE: Ask our lovely Legendary! Legendary is an incredible company. As Josh was saying, Mary Parent, Cale Boyter. I don’t know. I think it’s a weird time in the movie business right now. I think they just wanna wait for the right moment. It was a big hit down at [Fantastic Fest]. Our friend Macon Blair, who wrote Brothers, wrote and directed Toxic. We actually shot it right before Brothers. I had a blast, but I don’t know. I’m not a producer on it. Sort of out of my hands, and I’ll hope for the best.

0:58 Related Peter Dinklage Says “Write to Your Congressman” If You Want to See ‘The Toxic Avenger’ Macon Blair’s Troma reboot made its debut at Fantastic Fest last year.

I only bring it up to keep it people talking about it, because I really want to see it.

DINKLAGE: I really appreciate that.

“Imagine If…” With Josh Brolin and Peter Dinklage
Image via ITV

Here’s a curveball for both of you and we’ll see how fast you answer. If you could actually speak to any director or actor who’s passed, someone who’s gone, who would you sit down for an hour with and have a real conversation? Who would you want to talk to and why?

BROLIN: Spencer Tracy about the whorehouses. Peter?

DINKLAGE: Damn right.

BROLIN: I said mine.

DINKLAGE: In honor of Dame Maggie Smith, who we lost today, I’d pick her because she seems like she would be so much fun to spend an afternoon with.

BROLIN: Classy.

DINKLAGE: I love that lady. I never met her, but in honor of her passing today, I’ll say Maggie Smith.

Related Wands Up as Daniel Radcliffe Leads ‘Harry Potter’ Tributes to Maggie Smith The pair worked together at Hogwarts for over a decade.

If you could go back in time and play a role you’ve played in the past for one more day, is there a character you would love to revisit for one day?

DINKLAGE: Like with made-up dialogue? Or a new scenario?

This is a hypothetical, but like if you loved playing on Game of Thrones , if you’d love to go back for one more day, and shoot one more day or–

BROLIN: You loved the character and the experience so much that if you could extend it, which one would it be?

I butchered the way I said it, but what Josh said.

DINKLAGE: Got it. Well, Game of Thrones, I spent about 80 hours doing, so I’ll probably choose something else because I think everybody had their fill of that, including myself. I had so much fun making our movie Brothers. I love playing Jady. I’m not saying that because we’re here promoting the movie; I just had a lot of fun with him. That’s the most important thing to me in terms of experience and making a movie. I like his sort of loosey-goosey-ness. It’s always fun to play those people who are good but make a lot of mistakes.

BROLIN: Peter and I had fun improvising in the car. I think that was probably the most fun we had. Improvising in the car — a lot of stuff that didn’t end up [in the film.] It kind of reminded me of when I did Inherent Vice. Joaquin [Phoenix] and I would do a lot of shit. We would call it “Tom and Jerry.” I’d look at [director Paul Thomas Anderson] and say, “You want to ‘Tom and Jerry’ this?” And he’d go, “Yeah.” But then he didn’t use it. So, obviously, it wasn’t good.

People Kept Saying Josh Brolin And Peter Dinklage Looked Like Brothers
Image via Prime Video

I read that this whole movie is just about the fact that you guys “have big heads, and you thought it would be cool to play brothers.”

DINKLAGE: Yeah, Josh called me out of the blue. I think we had met before socially, at something briefly. I didn’t know Josh, he didn’t know me, and I got a call from him direct that just said, “My friend told me we should play brothers.”

BROLIN: No, several people…

DINKLAGE: …have mentioned the size of our craniums and the similarity in the enormity of our craniums.

BROLIN: And the fact that we look alike.

DINKLAGE: Yeah. Well, one’s better looking.

[Brolin points at himself]

DINKLAGE: Leave it to the viewer at home. I just thought, “You know what? Movies have been made for far less ideas.”

BROLIN: Exactly! [Laughs]

DINKLAGE: I think that’s the beginning of a beautiful movie-making experience. We found great writers to have that come to life.

BROLIN: It was fun. It’s a chuckle. You get together, and you say, “Hey, man, I keep hearing this literally for years.” And it’s just like, “Well, we’re either gonna fucking do something about this or not.” If that keeps coming up from the outside, then why not take advantage of it? Then you start actually getting together with Macon Blair and coming up with stories, personal stories from Peter, personal stories from me, and fictionalizing it and all that. That’s how this whole thing came to be, which was a really fun process in and of itself.

Josh Brolin and Peter Dinklage’s Real Brotherly Dynamic
Image via Prime Video

Who is the one who likes to break into safes?

BROLIN: Oh, you mean, the one who has in the past? I think you can call that.

Peter, serious question. What is it like working with someone who doesn’t know his lines, messes up every take, and is a producer on the movie, so you can’t get rid of him?

DINKLAGE: Right? You have to carry your burden of responsibility. And you have to talk really loudly to him because he doesn’t understand everything that’s going on. It kind of fits the dynamic between the brothers in the movie. I have an older brother, and it’s a lot of just giving each other shit, but that means you love them. It was a great time.

Yeah, I’m just teasing. I like busting Josh’s balls.

DINKLAGE: Yeah, apparently!

BROLIN: I know. I like it too. I just got a warm fuzzy. Thanks.

‘Brothers’ Is M. Emmet Walsh’s Final Performance
Image via RLJE Films

This is actually a serious one. I’m a huge fan of M. Emmet Walsh, and this is one of his last roles. Can you talk a little bit about working with him? And did you get to geek out at all with him?

DINKLAGE: I unfortunately didn’t work the two days that M. Emmet worked. I missed out, unfortunately, but I heard it was a blast.

BROLIN: It was a blast. It was me, Brendan [Fraser] and Emmet. Max was actually amazing with him because he was at an age where he couldn’t remember a lot, which was actually more fun than how the scene turned out because it’d be like, “Action,” and then there’d be a long pause, and he’d go, “Fuck, what is it?” You got a lot of that. He was great, man. He was great. It was supposed to be somebody else, then he dropped out for whatever reason, then it turned out to be even better. The scene that I did with him in his office, I love. When you’re sitting there with people who have been around for that long, who you’ve watched in so many movies, it’s kind of an out-of-body experience. There are a few people that both of us have been gifted in being able to do that with. It’s special.

DINKLAGE: The older you get, the more you really, really respect these character actors. I just work with an older actor. If they’re still doing it, they just love what they do so much. Whenever I’m feeling like I’m making the exit from acting, I look at those people who just show up and do it. They love doing it, and it rubs off on you.

BROLIN: Who did you just work with Peter?

DINKLAGE: Oh, nobody. Nobody special.

BROLIN: I mean, if the person he just worked with isn’t one of our greatest actors of all time.

I actually don’t know what role you just did.

DINKLAGE: Oh, I just did a movie with Al Pacino.

BROLIN: Y’know.

Oh! Nobody. I’ve never heard of them,

BROLIN: It actually landed so much that Peter just left our interview.

[Dinklage holds a copy of Pacino’s Book Sonny Boy ]

BROLIN: Oh, wow! Oh, dude, did he give you that book?

[Dinklage opens the cover, flashing a personal signed note from Pacino]

Related These Stars Are Taking the Stage With Al Pacino and Jessica Chastain in ‘Lear Rex’ “When we are born, we cry that we are come to this great stage of fools.”

BROLIN: No! No! It’s not even out yet. Is it?

DINKLAGE: Oh, no. No, it’s not.

BROLIN: I hear you loud and clear. Wow.

DINKLAGE: Jelly?

BROLIN: My friend Al Pacino. I can’t say that. You can.

DINKLAGE: I know.

BROLIN: Good on you. Let’s do Brothers 2 now.

DINKLAGE: I know.

[Brolin throws air punches]

DINKLAGE: Dad? [Laughs] He’s got a big head!

BROLIN: [Laughs] He does, sort of.

It’s not too often that I get jealous, but that’s a nice little…

BROLIN: That’s pretty special.

Samuel the Orangutan Is the Core of ‘Brothers’

I have to touch on one of my favorite scenes in the film. Peter, you’re dancing off the bed with Marisa [Tomei] doing these crazy moves, and then on the bed. Then Josh, you’re with– Is it an orangutan? Is it a monkey? Is it an ape? I don’t know what the right term.

BROLIN: It’s an orangutan.

I thought it was an orangutan. That sequence . I was just like, “Oh my god, they’re really doing this.”

BROLIN: Yeah, that’s how we feel, too.

DINKLAGE: That’s from the mind of Macon Blair. He introduced Samuel into the script and when we read it, we were just like, “This is everything. This is the core of the whole film.”

BROLIN: Yeah, the epicenter.

DINKLAGE: You want more of Samuel. But the sad thing is you don’t get more. But less is more.

Josh Brolin and Peter Dinklage Gush Over the Star-Studded Cast
Image via Prime Video

BROLIN: That sequence goes back and forth, but you know who’s amazing in the film? Marisa is amazing in the film. That’s one of those things where — Peter’s kind of like this, too — we’d be doing a scene, and he’d do something with his hand, and I’d go, “Oh, he has Tourettes. What is that? Is he okay?” Then you see it in the film, and you go, “God, he’s so good. I didn’t realize he was that good. What was I doing? Still jerking off a monkey while you’re off acting well.” I don’t know, man.

The other thing is you guys assembled Brendan Fraser, Glenn Close and Marisa Tomei.

DINKLAGE: I know. What are they doing in the movie?

Was it just text messages from one of you being like, “Can you please come and work?”

DINKLAGE: It’s like The Thicket with James Hetfield from Metallica. We wanted to fill it with great faces. I always love the thing of, “We should get somebody like James Hetfield,” and I just go, “Or let’s try and get James Hetfield.” We’re not chumps anymore making student films. So, you roll the dice, and suddenly, Glenn Close is playing your mom. It’s shocking and surprising and exhilarating.

BROLIN: It’s kind of amazing because it’s true. It’s just like what he just said. It’s amazing how many people will say yes. When you perceive yourself, it’s like, “Nobody’s gonna want to work with me. I did Jonah Hex. Nobody wants to work with me.” Then suddenly, these people get excited. The fact that Brendan did it, I thought was amazing. And it was right before The Whale came out. So we’re on set, and he’s going, “Yeah, I did this thing and I hope it works. I did it with [Darren] Aronofsky.” It’s such a funny thing to experience something like that before it’s out in the public consciousness. Then people are reacting, and it’s a thing now. I still get texts from him. He’s the most humble guy I’ve ever met in my life.

Related Brendan Fraser Wins Best Actor in a Leading Role for ‘The Whale’ | Oscars 2023 The Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role went to Fraser for his role in the Darren Aronofsky drama.

DINKLAGE: Oh my god.

BROLIN: Literally. And Glenn Close is the most arrogant person I’ve ever met.

DINKLAGE: Oh, she’s a monster.

BROLIN: Monster. Literally.

I was excited to see the movie just for the two of you, but when you assemble all these other actors I’m huge fans of, it helps to get people to seek out the film.

BROLIN: I think we got very lucky with who came in to do this film.

DINKLAGE: We covered our fan bases. We got the Jonah Hex fan club, we got Fatal Attraction, we got The Whale.

BROLIN: And we got The Station Agent.

DINKLAGE: And Tiptoes.

Brothers is now streaming on Prime Video.

Brothers (2024) Two criminal twin brothers, one trying to reform, embark on a dangerous heist road trip. Facing legal troubles, gunfights, and family drama, they must reconcile their differences before their mission leads to self-destruction.Release Date October 17, 2024 Director Max Barbakow Cast Josh Brolin , Peter Dinklage , Taylour Paige , M. Emmet Walsh , Jen Landon , Brendan Fraser , Glenn Close , Gralen Bryant Banks , Andrew Joseph Brodeur , Margo Moorer , Brooks Indergard , Jonathan Aidan Cockrell , Joshua Mikel , Pat Fisher , Nathan Hesse , Taylor St. Clair , Alonzo Ward , William Tokarsky , Matt Lewis , Roger Payano , Marisa Tomei Expand

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