Movie star Josh Brolin is a book lover — he has been featured in O, The Oprah Magazine for the books that made a difference in his life — and on Monday, he spent plenty of quality time in Russell Books on Fort Street, departing with an armful.
“It was pretty cool,” said staffer Ellie Lund, 20, who was helping another customer when she realized someone famous was on the main floor, hanging out in the serious-books department with a woman.
“They were browsing in our philosophy section,” she said. He was also seen checking out one of the tomes written by singer/actor Barbra Streisand, who is married to his father, actor James Brolin.
“He was incredibly nice,” added Lund. And just in case anyone was in doubt that he was the real deal, he paid with a credit card bearing the Brolin name. She estimated he spent an hour in the store and asked staff where the parliament buildings were and for pointers on scenic things to see.
The excitement occurred in the late morning and then he was gone with several books, although Lund couldn’t be sure of the number. Famous authors have been known to drop into Russell’s, which is always great, she said, but it’s much harder to imagine someone who starred in Sicario and the next Deadpool movie strolling around the aisles, she said.
Brolin, now 49, told Oprah’s magazine that reading is both his solace and source of perspective. He read 18 books to prepare for his role as former U.S. president George W. Bush in the biographical drama W, directed by Oliver Stone.
Brolin is the second big star in the sequel to Deadpool to be seen around town lately. In June, Ryan Reynolds tweeted a photo of himself in his Deadpool costume outside Hatley Castle in Colwood, which doubles as Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters in the X-Men movies.
According to O Magazine of 2008, Brolin’s bookshelf boasted such volumes as The Colossus of Maroussi by Henry Miller, The Cinnamon Peeler by Michael Ondaatje, Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie and The Executioner’s Song by Norman Mailer.
