In the messy saga of making and failing Jonah Hex, Josh Brolin decides to forgive director Jimmy Hayward. The 56-year-old understands the tough times the director went through, especially with his battle against cancer. It’s quite unexpected for the actor to be so forgiving, given how badly the movie was received when it hit the screens.
This flick was Brolin’s first shot at a superhero role outside the Marvel universe, which was a pretty gutsy move. But with Hayward’s rocky ride at the helm, it was anything but smooth sailing.
Josh Brolin Forgives Director For Ruining Jonah Hex After Cancer Diagnosis
Amidst all the fuss about how badly Jonah Hex bombed, Josh Brolin’s doing something unexpected: he’s forgiving the director, Jimmy Hayward. Remember that 2010 flick where Brolin played the lead role as Jonah Hex, who is a DC character, the one critics trashed and barely made any money worldwide? Yeah, that one.
So, the Deadpool 2 star spilled the beans to GQ magazine, saying, “I won’t ever stop shitting on ‘Jonah Hex‘ because it was a shitty f**king movie!” Ouch.
But here’s the twist: he and Hayward recently patched things up. The director even said sorry for his part in the disaster. Brolin’s reasoning? Well, he kind of rushed into hiring Hayward, who was way too green to pull off what Brolin had in mind.
But now, Brolin’s had a change of heart. It turns out Hayward’s been dealing with some heavy stuff, like battling bone cancer and getting loads of surgeries. Brolin spoke,
“It reminded me [that] you can’t just keep shitting on somebody. I don’t know what the f**k’s going on in his life. I mean, total facial reconstruction, the whole thing.”
This whole forgiveness vibe from Brolin shines a light on the messy side of Hollywood, showing that even when things go sideways, there’s room for empathy and resilience. But hey, let’s not forget Brolin’s part in this mess, he’s the one who picked Hayward for the job in the first place.
Josh Brolin Raced Against Time To Select Jonah Hex’s Director In A Fortnight
Brolin was under serious time pressure when he had to pick Hayward as the director for Jonah Hex. He only had two weeks to decide, which made the task even tougher.
In an interview with Variety last year, Brolin remembered how Warner Bros. dropped the bomb on him about the tight deadline. He felt a bit unsure about Hayward, he said,
“I loved that he was excited, but he just didn’t have the experience and he didn’t treat it like I would imagine somebody would want to treat it — to run back to their house at the end of their every day and watch tonal inspirations and Scorsese movies or this or that. He would be out partying instead.”
Brolin admits it was his call to go with Hayward, but things didn’t turn out as planned. The studio got involved, trying to make the movie more audience-friendly, but it backfired. Jonah Hex ended up being a flop, earning just over $10 million worldwide.
Nowadays, Brolin seems content with where he’s at. He’s been busy promoting his role in Dune: Part Two, which has been a much better experience for him.
According to Brolin, it’s all about working with great people and leaving egos at the door. He told GQ, “Well, obviously, it’s a great director, but there are no egos. When you work with great people, there’s very little ego.”
Dune: Part Two hits theaters on March 1st.
