When we look at celebrities, we often think of how easily they have everything. We tend to focus on their careers, their wealth, and their status in society. But beneath the glamor, at times, lies a lot of disappointment.
This is the story of an actor who seemingly has it all, but with his new autobiography, he reveals just how much he has struggled.
Keep reading to know more about what he went through.
Josh Brolin just published his memoir and has revealed details people did not know about before. Coming straight from the actor’s heart, memoir is a look into his life and a reminder to fans about where he comes from.
In his memoir, he posted about the scary trick his mother used to apply when it came to parenting him. In an interview about his book titled, “From Under the Truck,” the actor talked about a night of heavy drinking which ended with her mother’s boyfriend passing out under a vehicle.
Childhood Memories
His mother Jane, was a wildlife conservationist. And when Josh Brolin and his brother Jess were young, his mother Jane, had a dangerous trick she would play on them. She would tell the wild animals like cougars, coyotes, bobcats, and any other nearby to go ‘Sic ’em’ after which the animals would run after the boys.
Brolin wrote, “You knew if you didn’t get on the other side of that shut door within a couple of seconds, you’d be cleaning up fresh bloody marks somewhere on your body for the rest of the day.”
Even though these stories sound terrifying, Brolin says to this day “loath to say” that they were horrifying. He said in the interview that while his mother indeed was hard to be around, she was still someone he always wanted around.
Brolin’s mother passed away in a car accident when she was 55 years old in 1995. During the days of his addiction, and at the peak of it, Brolin used to consider 55 years old a decent age to die. He believed that a person would have at that point lived a good and long life.
Josh Brolin Now
Now, Brolin is 56, a year older than his mother when she died. He realizes that he was misguided and that 55 is not a long life. While it took him a long time to kick his addiction, he finally made it to the other side. Brolin’s father is actor James Brolin, who is married to the legendary Barbra Streisand. Brolin has, at times, talked about how Streisand has been to him as a stepmother.
He has often talked of his stepmother Barbra Streisand and her ‘tough love.’ He said in an interview once, “Well into our happily-ever-after I walked into their house one day: ‘I’ll have a glass of wine’, I said. She looked at me and cocked her head, so I repeated myself. ‘I’ll have a glass of red wine, please.’
He went on, “She took a slow breath then hit me with it: ‘Aren’t you an alcoholic?’ It was a pretty ballsy thing to say … She always had a way of washing her tongue with a bulls*** cleanser before she talked with me.”
He added of the conversation:”(I said) ‘I’m an alcoholic, but I like red wine’. (She said) ‘You shouldn’t drink’.”
He recalls those moments of tough love quite fondly. As for his life now at 56 years old, he says he enjoys what age and sobriety bring too.
“I like getting older. It’s like a great excuse to finally go, ‘OK, just mellow out, you don’t need to constantly spin,’” the actor said.
Addiction Struggle
He talks about the beginnings of his addiction in his memoir. In the book he recalls how he tried marijuana at 9 years old and dropped acid when he was just 13 years old. He also recalls showing up at his grandmother’s deathbed as he reeked of alcohol, something which then became the final straw for him.
His 99-year-old grandmother lay on her deathbed, and he had shown up at her bedside after waking up, hangover on the streets. It was that moment that made him realize that there are a lot more years he wants to live.
“I knew that was going to be the last time I drank,” Brolin shared. This incident occurred in 2013, and now it has been over a decade that Brolin has embraced sobriety.
“I love being sober. I have more fun,” he shared. “There’s nothing that I go through that I am absolutely certain wouldn’t be worse if I was drinking.”
We are happy to see Josh Brolin in such a healthy state at this point in his life. Share this with other fans of the actor so they can know how long his journey has been!
