10 Actors Insulted By Movie Roles They Were Offered
2. Oliver Stone Compares Josh Brolin To George Bush
Sometimes, a role is offered to an actor that insults them based entirely on the character they are to play. In most cases, this happens when the role is of a fictional person, but every once in a while, an actor is approached about playing a real-life person who is so unlike them in character, it's insulting.
That's exactly what happened to Josh Brolin when Oliver Stone approached him about a little film he directed called W.
"When people approach you about roles, you understand why they would make the connection. But when [Oliver Stone] came to me about Bush, I couldn't understand it. I couldn't make any connection whatsoever. I was a little insulted. He said, 'There's something very Americana about you. There's something bucolic about you… I had such a visceral reaction against it."
It does make sense that a person would have to support the character in some way to take on the role... especially when it is a politician as decisive as President Bush.
Brolin eventually read the script and was impressed with the role, which required playing Bush from age 21 to 58 — a challenge he ultimately decided to accept.
While he may have been initially insulted by Stone's offer, he ended up delivering a convincing and memorable performance as President George W. Bush.