James Cameron Allegedly Cursed Out Josh Brolin for Turning Down a Role in ‘Avatar’ Sequels
Josh Brolin is the type of guy who’s not easily persuaded. If you invite him to brunch and he doesn’t want to go, just drop it. If you offer him a Coke when he says he’s not thirsty, just walk away, the man isn’t thirsty! And if you want him to star in your sequel about blue aliens and he turns you down, rest your case. You’re not going to change his mind, even if you’re James Cameron.
The latter scenario actually happened, according to Brolin, who got rather candid in a new interview with Esquire. While talking about his upcoming firefighter drama Only the Brave, the actor told the magazine – and totally unprompted, apparently – that he got in a bit of a tiff with Cameron over the upcoming Avatar sequels. Brolin turned down a role in one of the sequels, and the filmmaker was not pleased. Cameron was so dissatisfied with Brolin’s rejection that he allegedly called him a bunch of names. I’ll let Brolin tell it himself:
If I don’t want to do Avatar, I’m not going to do Avatar. James Cameron’s f—ing calling me this name and that name. Whatever. If James Cameron came to me and said, ‘Hey, man, why’d you say that?’ I’d go, ‘Because it happened.’
Whatever, indeed! Maybe Brolin just isn’t a fan of the blue-skinned creatures, or perhaps he’s only interested in juggling two cinematic universes at once, with Thanos and Cable keeping him fairly occupied. Brolin seems like a pretty open guy so maybe we’ll eventually learn what the Avatar role was Cameron wanted him for. Maybe Cameron was thinking of recasting Stephen Lang‘s villain (who died but is somehow returning for all four sequels) with Brolin. The two actors do have a similar look, and Lang once said he wanted to play Cable in Deadpool 2 before Brolin got the gig. Who knows! But filmmakers be warned; if you offer Brolin a gig and he says no, let it be or else he’ll blow up your spot on his next press tour.