New Pics From Oliver Stone’s W Plus Josh Brolin on playing president
Here at Empire, we have connections to the most powerful people on the planet. No it’s true, in our new issue we actually spent time talking to the President of The USA.
Okay, we didn’t really but Josh Brolin is the next best thing. As the lead in Oliver Stone’s upcoming George Bush biopic, W, he’s gotten closer than most to the not-so great leader and we were given the chance to grill him for information about the man behind the myth.
“Before, I wasn’t a fan, not in the least,” says Brolin. “I’ll be honest about that. And, like a lot of people, I had a very myopic perception of him. Now, I don’t. My opinion of the administration didn’t change, and neither did my thoughts on Republicanism. My opinion of him changed, though, because when you humanise someone and you really start to do a lot of research, you see the bigger picture.”
Stone’s movie, which chronicles Bush’s rise to power, isn’t his first stab at immortalising a US president on celluloid – that would have been the rather scathing Nixon – so how do the two movies compare?
“Obviously, in making the film, we discovered dimensions of humanity, and that was important,” says Stone of Dubya. “There was empathy, like Nixon. But, unlike Nixon, he’s more of a circular character; even now he harkens back to who he was in 2000. His speeches are the same. There doesn’t seem to be a growth. There’s a fundamental inability in the man, a King Lear kind of hubris, where he can’t admit to any fault, whereas Nixon seems to have been genuinely haunted by doubt and uncertainty.
"As a result, this is a very different type of movie. While Nixon was a very rich meal, this is more of a soufflé. And with a soufflé, you never quite know until it bakes.”
We’ve also got our hands on some exclusive images from W, click below for a closer look.
For the full interview, check out the October 2008 issue of Empire in shops from August 28.
If this film is directed by Oliver Stone i'm shure it will be good, it's thanks to people like him and Michael Moore that the eyes of the people "blinded by rubbish news media that fill peoples heads with crap" are slowly open to see what lies beneath the truth that is hidden away from us!!! We are sheep that need a guide, if it's entertainment that will give it us, Great, because it reaches out too the world, that can make a difference!!! ... Read More
So there's a conspiracy against George Bush, is there? To be fair, you are within every right to support Bush, but then again, the decision to jump into wars against Afghanistan and Iraq (whether you agree or not with the wars, there are many who don't) and the horrific mishandling of the relief effort in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina all happened under his control, carried out by his government. I really don't think any of these situations can be seen as an example of "hors... Read More
This should be the movie that replaces An American Carol on the worst movie ever made on the front page. George is a great man and leader who has had to do some tough things to lead America. Oliver Stone, Michael Moore, and the rest of the liberal media are blinded by the horse crap that has been fed to them by the Al (i'm swindling all the money I can out of this global warming BS) Gore, Hilary (Robham) Clinton, and worst Barak Hussein Obamas of this world. America is a great country that ne... Read More
I suppose we're gonna have to wait and see the film but as far as the way he looks and the mannerisms go from the trailer he looks like he's nailed it. ... Read More
These comments give hope. Naturally I'm neither a fan of Dubya nor his policies, but I expected some kind of laugh fest at George Walker's expense, especially after having seen the teaser trailer, which I'm really not very interested in. I mean absolutely everybody, bar the most stupid of imbeciles, knows he isn't very bright and that he's done much more harm than good to the world and his beloved home country, so making a whole film about what an idiot the man is seems pretty redundant. Now, if... Read More
