The new Prime Video film Brothers is a cavalcade of famous faces having a great time with a raunchy, wacky comedy that has no pretense of seriousness. Josh Brolin and Peter Dinklage headline the film as twin brothers plotting a crime after one is released from prison, but the film also has hilarious turns from Brendan Fraser, Glenn Close, Marisa Tomei, Jennifer Landon, and the late, great M. Emmet Walsh, who passed away on March 20, 2024. MovieWeb recently spoke with Brolin and Dinklage about the film, and asked how it was working with Walsh; it was one of his final roles.
“There were a couple of scenes, and there was one that we did with Brendan, and, you know, he had to have his lines kind of yelled out to him,” explained Brolin, “which I’ve seen that happen to younger actors, where you just have a day where you’re off, and you go, ‘What’s the line, what’s the line?’ But then when we did the scene in his office, he was as sharp as anybody on that film. He was incredible.” Brolin added:
“It’s wild when you see somebody that old still care that much. I think it’s a very old school thing. I think new actors — Peter and I experience this when they come up and they go, ‘I want to be an actor.’ But really what they’re saying is, like, ‘I want to be famous.’ Whereas when you look back at these old school people, who did plays and they were into it, and they did theater, and they were just in it in every which way, he was one of those guys.”
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What Are Character Actors? Peter Dinklage Explains
“My favorite actors are the character actors,” added Peter Dinklage, who joined Josh Brolin in our interview. “And that term, ‘character actors,’ is such a weird, almost condescending term, in a way, because, I don’t know, but from Harry Dean Stan to M. Emmet Walsh, you know, all those guys are great.” Dinklage and Brolin then debated whether Al Pacino classified as a character actor or not, and if character actors can also be leading men. It’s an interesting question. If a character actor leads a film, are they no longer a character actor? Can a character actor (such as Philip Seymour Hoffman or William H. Macy) redefine themselves as leading men?
There is, of course, the old Konstantin Stanislavski adage, that there are no small parts, only small actors. This is completely true, as very small roles can have lasting meaning and sometimes be even more memorable. Just think of all the actors who won Oscars despite very small roles. Beatrice Straight obviously comes to mind, winning an Oscar for her role in Network despite being onscreen for less than six minutes. Gloria Grahame and Anthony Quinn also won Oscars for films they were in for less than 10 minutes. Even Anthony Hopkins, who is so innately associated with Silence of the Lambs, was only in that film for 16 minutes.
So it’s a difficult thing to track. Let’s return to M. Emmet Walsh, though, as he provides a great example. While the film Blood Simple featured the debut film role from Frances McDormand, along with several other actors, it’s Walsh who undoubtedly stands out with the film’s most unforgettable performance. So call him whatever you’d like, but it’s clear that Walsh was one of the greats.