'I honestly had a lot of trouble playing this role because I hated the character. I know in drama school or whatever it is, acting school, they say never judge the character that you're doing.'

Josh Brolin has acting in the blood. Pop James Brolin is an industry vet, but Josh is staking out his own career on his own terms. The former star of the TV series Young Riders swore off working in television after growing bored with the challenges of a weekly shoot. Since then he's appeared in the comedy Flirting with Disaster, the insect horror flick Mimic and the thriller Nightwatch with one of his acting idols, Nick Nolte. In this interview, Josh discusses his new film Best Laid Plans, his view of the business and what lies ahead for him in the sci-fi movie The Hollow Man with Kevin Bacon.

Q: What attracted you to the character of Bryce in Best Laid Plans?

A: I think what mostly attracted me to this role is that I never played anybody who victimizes himself as much as [Bryce] does. I honestly had a lot of trouble playing this role because I hated the character. And I know in drama school or whatever it is, acting school, they say never judge the character that you're doing. I hated this character. I just wanted to slap myself everyday. He's such a victim. . . . [H]e constantly has to go outside of himself, so he can put responsibility on somebody else. . . . He was a horrible character.

'So I made the decision to say I'm willing to give up my career totally not to do TV and hope that I can make it in film.'

Q: Is it hard having the father that you have and having all the expectations to follow in his footsteps that naturally go along?

A: No, because I'm not following in his footsteps. I'm acting, but I'm not following in his footsteps. Ten years ago I would have felt defensive about a remark like that. But I've been doing it for fifteen years; he's been doing it for thirty. I think we're at a point where it's like, What job are you doing? "I'm doing this job." How do you like your job? "It's okay." It's not the priority topic of conversation for us. I think a remark like that used to make me feel competitive, and I don't feel competitive with him at all. I appreciate what he does. I think the only thing that I've done with him is TV. I started in TV like he did, and I stayed away from that after a while. I found it extremely redundant and boring. So I made the decision to say I'm willing to give up my career totally not to do TV and hope that I can make it in film, and to really put my energy into that. And it worked, luckily.

'When I did Flirting With Disaster — I don't mind saying this — the Weinsteins absolutely did not want to hire me.'

Q: Tell me about how you decide what roles to take and how you pursue a role.

A: All I can say is I think luck plays so much into it. Like I did a movie, a really small role, in Bed of Roses. [In that case] there was just a guy who said, "Man, I really liked your work. And I've seen your stage work and I just want you to be in this movie." So it's like one of those happenings where somebody just says, "I want to give you a shot." And that's what started the ball rolling. When I did Flirting With Disaster — I don't mind saying this — the Weinsteins absolutely did not want to hire me. Absolutely. They were like, "No way." And David Russell fought for me. I mean really fought for me. It got down to the point where he said, "I'm not willing to do the film if Josh Brolin doesn't do it." Those people are few and far between. But it's because of those people and because of that luck that I was able to say something as arrogant as "I won't do TV anymore." and read everything I can. Because I'm willing to do a student film if somebody's really good.

Q: Where do you go to get your material? Is it strictly from your agent?

A: No. People give me stuff, individually, that I read. I pretty much try and read everything I can. Because I'm willing to do a student film if somebody's really good. There's a guy [Robert Luketic] who did an 11-minute short film called Titsiana Booberini. And it's a really, really funny film. It's from Austrailia. He has a five picture deal now. And that doesn't necessarily mean anything. But the fact that the 11 minute short is a really, really original, funny, innovative short. I just saw a short yesterday about some girl who works at Starbucks. And she gave me this short. It was horrendous. It was awful. [Laughs] I shouldn't have said "Starbucks."

'It's amazing working with people who separate themselves from the norm a little bit — and sometimes to the extreme like Giovanni.'

Q: How does working with veteran actors differ from working with younger, less experienced talent?

A: It's amazing working with people like Joan Allen. It's amazing working with people like [Gary] Sinise. It's amazing working with people who separate themselves from the norm a little bit — and sometimes to the extreme like Giovanni [Ribisi]. Working with those people heightens everything. Doing the scenes with Joan Allen, it was right there. You can't go anywhere, you can't think about the laundry, you can't think about all that other s---. It reminds me of theater. I love that kind of energy where you're right on your toes, anything can happen and you have to be comfortable enough with the character where I could improvise or ad lib, and I know that person is going to be right there because they have that experience of failure. And she definitely has that experience. She is a huge risk taker — huge — and I really appreciate that.