I'm Josh Brolin, and I play Eric Marsh in the film Only the Brave.
And I am Joseph Kosinski. I am the director of Only the Brave,
and welcome to our commentary.
BROLIN: Look at this. That's like old school, Columbia and all that.
Doesn't that make you feel a part of history?
KOSINSKI: lt does. BROLIN: Me, too.
KOSINSKI: So, the first thing you're gonna hear
is Eric Marsh's radio transmission.
That's actually the first sound you'll hear.
BROLIN: Before an image comes up? KOSINSKI: Right here.
BROLIN: That's his actual transmission.
KOSINSKI: That's his last transmission right there.
We opened the movie with that.
BROLIN: And we talked a lot about what that was, right?
Whether it was him holding the button down or...
KOSINSKI: I think it was him holding the button down,
sitting on the radio, yeah.
BROLIN: Right, as the burnover happened.
KOSINSKI: So this is... BROLIN: The bear.
KOSINSKI: The bear. BROLIN: Eric Singer's bear.
KOSINSKI: So this all started, this idea of the fire dream started
with a video I saw that the forest service had put on YouTube,
of a camera in a fire attached to a tree
as a forest fire went through it
and it wasjust... You can still see it, I'm sure.
It's a spectacular kind of point of view that I thought
was a great way to start the movie and just start to get inside
the mind of Eric Marsh.
BROLIN: And was that inspired by Maclean's book?
Was it Maclean's book?
KOSINSKI: Yes, Young Men and Fire.
BROLIN: The deer story? Young Men and Fire.
KOSINSKI: There's a very memorable scene in that book for anyone's who's read it,
where there's a deer that they come upon at the beginning, and yeah,
I think the bear itself, as you said, Eric Singer,
when we went to Prescott to meet with Amanda Marsh,
that's where we found out that Eric was obsessed with bears.
BROLIN: Bears.
KOSINSKI: The bear belt buckle was his belt buckle
that we saw in that first shot.
There were bears and images and paintings
and T-shirts all around their house.
BROLINI And he'd had this kind Of
metaphysical run-in with a bear in Prescott
at an antique store, which kind of sparked the whole thing, I think.
KOSINSKI: Yeah, our writer, Eric Singer, found his name on the back
of a bear belt buckle in an antique shop in Prescott.
So from that point, we knew it was...
BROLIN: By the way, quickly, ljust wanna say that the packing of the bag
has been mentioned to me many times.
The fact that... I don't know why people, firefighters, first responders
really responded to that packing of the bag, which I kind of found as,
you know, just kind of a lame necessity at the beginning of a movie.
But they emotionally connected, like, instantaneously because of that moment.
KOSINSKI: Well, and I also think it gives you
insight into who Eric Marsh was and his...
BROLIN: Fastidiousness?
KOSINSKI: His perfectionism, his methodical nature is
a great kind of character trait to set up at the beginning of this movie.
BROLINI Right.
KOSINSKI: And here we get to see a little taste of the relationship
that Amanda and Eric had,
which was something that really drew me to the story,
just because I found it refreshingly different
than most relationships in movies like this.
BROLIN: It's funny. This was our first scene together
and I remember the nerves,
the nerves of having to be totally familiar at this point
and yet not knowing each other on this level at all.
KOSINSKI: Yeah. That's great acting. BROLIN: Oh, well...
KOSINSKI: So, this song, you know,
we didn'tjust drop AC/DC because it was cool.
This was actually Eric Marsh's favorite song,
and it was, in fact, his ringtone on his phone.
Whenever the incident command would call,
this is the song that would be on his phone
so both he and Amanda knew
that a fire was happening when this song came on.
But I just think it also gives so much insight into Eric's attitude.
BROLIN: And a lot of credit to you for, you know, the authenticity of it
'cause I know there was some talk of taking out that song,
and I loved that because you found it
and knew it to be so personal that you demanded it be in.
KOSINSKI: Had to be.
BROLIN: Yeah, I love that. ls it right? I don't know. It's personal,
and that's what we care about.
KOSINSKI: It's authentic. BROLIN: Yeah, it's authentic.
Bla-blow wants to go with you.
KOSINSKI: So here's James Badge Dale, one of my favorite actors of all time...
BROLINI Mine, tOO.
KOSINSKI: ...playing Jesse Steed, just embodies a lot of what Jesse Steed,
who he was, from what we can understand,
and family man, full ofjoy,
a nice yin to Marsh's yang, I think,
is why they work so well together.
BROLIN: And also in his own right, a true organic leader.
- KOSINSKl: Yep. - Yeah.
BROLIN: Now this guy...
(BROLIN CHUCKLING)
KOSINSKI: Chris MacKenzie, played by Taylor Kitsch.
Just 'cause you got a crack in your ass don't make you a cripple, Jesse.
Just one of my...
I love Taylor, having worked with him on this and something else,
just another incredible actor and just took this role
to a whole different place, I think, than we were all expecting.
BROLIN: Hejust brings a wildness and a humor
to everything that draws you in, I think.
You wanna be a part of his circle,
-his nucleus. - KOSINSKl: Yeah, exactly.
BROLIN: Mike Menchel.
KOSINSKI: Mike Menchel, our producer who was the first man in on this project.
First man in Prescott, gets a lot of credit
for the fact that this film exists.
BROLIN: He was there from the very beginning,
meeting with the families,
very sensitive to that whole aspect of this film.
KOSINSKI: So this is the Erickson Skycrane.
We actually shot this while they were doing some exercises in Oregon,
those aerial sequences, like these.
So we were able to get this all in camera, which was an amazing bonus.
BROLIN: Was it in a quote-unquote controlled burn?
KOSINSKI: Yeah, they had some controlled burns going on,
and now we're in New Mexico, up at Pajarito,
I think we're at 10,000 feet elevation.
This was, I think, ourfirst or second week of filming.
All the guys had just come out of hotshot camp.
BROLIN: And he still didn't know how to use a chainsaw.
(BOTH CHUCKLING)
KOSINSKI: Geoff Stults as Turbyfill. Alex Russell.
BROLIN: Jake Picking. KOSINSKI: Jake Picking.
BROLIN: Baby Rose.
All it does is continually bring back to me
the cohesiveness of this group.
I don't know if I've ever had such a familial experience in film.
KOSINSKI: Well, that's really the heart of this film and that's, you know,
from the beginning, I knew this film lived or died based on
the chemistry between this group.
And, you know, you cast it the best you can
and sometimes you luck out
and that, you guys really gelled.
I mean, the atmosphere, whether the camera was running or not,
was basically the same.
BROLIN: Right, yeah. It was. It was constant.
- Don't worry about it. - What? Dude, you can't say
there's something and then, "Don't worry about it."
- What was it? - All right, all right, all right.
Postcoital, we're laying in bed. I grab the remote.
Okay? I turn the TV on. I'm flipping through the channel.
I end up on an infomercial.
In the background... (SPITS)
there's Mount Rushmore.
And I'm trying to make conversation at this point.
-It's awkward. - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- And I'm like, "Wow, that's amazing." - Right.
Her rebuttal to this?
"Especially when you realize it's a natural thing."
- What? What? - That's not good.
- What? - You mean to tell me
that this girl believes that the faces of our four presidents
showed up on a mountain through the process of...
natural erosion?
KOSINSKI: I remember this scene because I had about 90 minutes to shoot it
at the end of one day.
And, again, it's just a testament to the chemistry
between these guys that you're able to pull this off in a short amount of time.
BROLIN: 'Cause you shouldn't be able to pull off a scene like that.
That scene would be the first scene that's cut out.
KOSINSKII Yeah.
BROLIN: And it's because of,
I don't know, man. There's something, you know,
so character defining about that scene that's needed...
- KOSINSKl: Yeah, just... - And sets up how fun these guys are.
KOSINSKI: Yeah, right at the beginning of the film.
BROLIN: Even though it's a bit misogynistic.
KOSINSKII Yeah, it's true. BROLINI You know?
KOSINSKI: There's an arc there for... BROLIN: There is an arc.
KOSINSKI: For Chris MacKenzie. BROLIN: Exactly,
which needed to be established there.
KOSINSKI: And now we meet our other main player here, Brendan McDonough,
played by Miles Teller.
BROLIN: That's the guy from Whiplash. KOSINSKI: It is.
Wow.
BROLIN: So what is he doing, just drugs generally?
KOSINSKI: Yeah, he is doing heroin.
But yeah, Brendan's been very open and honest about his past
and, you know, understood that that was something we had to tell
in order to tell the story completely.
BROLIN: Did Brendan and Miles spend a lot of time together?
KOSINSKI: They did. They spent some time in Prescott together and then, obviously
-in New Mexico, Brendan was around. - Yeah.
What are you doing?
What are you up to?
KOSINSKI: So, here we're seeing the sling psychrometer
and all the tools of wild end firefighting.
It was important for me to make sure
the audience understood that there was a lot of science
and education that goes behind what these guys do.
It's not just about fighting fire,
but it's trying to predict what it's gonna do next
and doing that is a very, very difficult thing
-that takes a lot of training. - BROLIN: Humidity...
KOSINSKI: Wind direction. BROLIN: Wind direction.
KOSINSKI: Temperature. BROLIN: Cloud cover.
KOSINSKI: And then just being familiar with the area, which is the case here,
where Marsh knows the wind shift during the monsoon season
in this part of the country.
How y'all doin'? Eric Marsh, Crew 7.
My captain, Jesse Steed.
Well, this fire's gonna shift down here.
I figured you and your crew should go down
and prep that creek for a burn.
I don't mean any disrespect to you California boys...
KOSINSKI: And I love this scene because what's key here is
the vulnerability, I wanna say,
that you displayed in playing Marsh here, right here.
The guy who's in charge getting a little sand kicked in his face.
BROLIN: Wasn't there, like, at one point during that scene,
where you were making fun of me about something?
KOSINSKII Well, yeah, he said, "What is it, Marsh?"
And you're like, "Yeah, Marsh, Eric Marsh."
-(BROLIN CHUCKLING) - KOSINSKl: And it was a little whiny.
BROLIN: It was way whinier than the way you just did it.
KOSINSKI: But it was still... The idea was right, which is...
BROLIN: Given... Sorry to interrupt, but given,
you know, what's been going on in Northern California and all that,
when I look at this scene, I don't see any difference
between, you know, like on lnstagram, the hotshot,
and all these different pictures that I've been seeing,
seemed absolutely perfectly parallel with that.
KOSINSKII Yeah.
You know, unfortunately, we had a lot of reference
because of what's going on out there, of what these fires look and feel like.
There was a huge one in Canada where we were shooting,
so we looked at a lot of that footage
to try to create that look, the look of a wildfire.
It does change the light.
It makes it almost feel like you're on another planet.
BROLIN: I never feel that I'm watching anything phony or fake in this.
I don't feel anything is ever pushed.
KOSINSKI: Good.
BROLIN: It feels very authentic to me,
as objective as I can be, which is not very objective.
KOSINSKI: Well, here we meet Amanda Marsh,
who I know you've gotten very close to,
and this is an important part of understanding her.
She takes in abandoned horses, abused horses
and rehabilitates them and, you know, I think that's such an important part of
understanding herjourney through this film
and her relationship with some of the other characters.
You know, this, again, is probably one of those scenes
that maybe wouldn't survive a cut in other movies.
But it was very important to me
that we preserve this because you're learning a lot about her
and understanding how she's able to do what she does later in this film.
BROLIN: And yet, you know, as a veterinarian
or somebody who grew up
in a wildlife way station like I did, people were like,
"Well, would this really ever happen?" And this woman looking at the horse
and the horse looking back at the woman in this almost
romantic, very caring, vulnerable way, and I go, "Absolutely."
I experienced it my entire life.
S0, the fact that Jennifer is from urban Manhattan
and that she was able to convey this kind of country girl mentality,
I think, is pretty incredible.
KOSINSKI: I agree.
BROLIN: Because she's not familiar with it at all and yet she seems
-totally authentic in it. - This was a whole new world for her.
BROLINI Totally.
KOSINSKI: And she spent time with Amanda, I know...
BROLIN: Which I think was huge. KOSINSKI: Yep.
BROLIN: And Amanda, who I know is almost like a sister to me at this point,
is this exactly.
KOSINSKI: Right. BROLIN: This is who she is.
KOSINSKI: Yep.
MARSH: Who's this?
AMANDA: New friend.
Your friend got a name?
Yeah, again, I think people don't realize, you know,
you're talking three or four days into shooting,
having to be able to shoot a scene like this and it's...
BROLIN: And yet what I get from these guys is there's this constant...
Because they're away from each other so often that there's this constant,
fun little courtship that goes on, this courting, not courtship,
-but courting. - Every time they come back home.
BROLIN: Every time they come back, yeah.
KOSINSKII Yeah.
BROLIN: Which can be fun or frustrating.
- Yeah.
BROLIN: Look at that muscle, my God. That's amazing.
KOSINSKI: So many people have asked me if you really...
People think you really have that tattoo which is... lt says a lot about you.
BROLIN: Yeah, it does say a lot about me. Not much.
KOSINSKI: No, that was Eric Marsh's... BROLIN: Woody Woodpecker tattoo.
KOSINSKI: Woody Woodpecker tattoo.
I think the only difference, his said "horsepower" under it.
BROLIN: That's right. You're right. KOSINSKI: Yeah.
It's just some shit happened out on the line.
Yeah. Shit always happens on the line.
BROLIN: It's funny when you adlib through
these scenes and try and find that,
for lack of a better word, magic, that connection.
- KOSINSKl: Yep. - Yeah.
BROLIN: lthink lwas intimidated by her.
KOSINSKI: I can imagine.
BROLIN: Very present.
Maybe he can help you get the crew certified.
KOSINSKI: They say so much without saying anything there, which I love.
And I did like the R-rated version of that line better.
BROLIN: Yeah, there was a different word that was used there at one time.
But it's funny 'cause as much as you fight over those words
and how important you think it is, once it's established,
-there's no loss. There's no real loss. - No.
KOSINSKI: No, it's only us who know, and at the end of the day, yeah,
does it really matter? It's all in the performance.
BROLIN: I love this scene, when Miles, you know,
there's something...
KOSINSKII Yeah, he...
BROLINI I like this girl, tOO.
KOSINSKI: Yeah, Natalie Hall did a wonderful job.
She was one of, I don't know,
probably 60 actresses who sent a tape in for this role,
and a self-tape, which is always a really kind of weird thing,
because she was in New York and lwas in Los Angeles,
and it wasjust very clear from her tape that she was right for this role.
She understood it. She got it.
BROLIN: Because of what?
KOSINSKI: She was able to get to a really emotional...
I mean, it was a really powerful performance played against a camera,
and I asked her later how she did it, and she told me
-she played the scene opposite her mom. - BROLIN: Really?
- Yeah. - BROLIN: You mean literally?
KOSINSKI: Yes, and she said she always gets, does her best work
when she works with her mom and it worked.
- I thought she did a greatjob. - BROLIN: Yeah, I did, too.
KOSINSKI: And Miles, you know, just this version of Brendan
is something that he easily could have gone too far,
maybe not given enough,
but ljust feel like he played itjust right.
BROLIN: Yeah, he doesn't make it silly.
KOSINSKII N0.
BROLIN: He makes it tragic, which I like, adolescently tragic.
KOSINSKI: Yeah, and it's something, it's in the body language.
He just inhabits it in a way that's, you know, pretty amazing.
BROLIN: I love those guys looking at each other, going,
"What an idiot, right here."
- All right. Here we go, Jeff. - KOSINSKl: Here we go.
BROLIN: Don't touch me, Jeff.
What the hell are we doing here?
KOSINSKI: Now, had you guys actually done a scene together before?
BROLIN: We had never done a scene, no, no, no. We were in True Grit together,
and we acknowledged the fact that he took a picture of me
on his Widelux and that was the closest we'd ever gotten.
KOSINSKI: Just seeing you in the river or something was, like... Yeah.
BROLIN: Yeah, that's exactly right.
KOSINSKI: This is very exciting. I remember the day that you two were...
BROLIN: Again, nervous, you know, nervous when you work with people
and, you know, you work with younger people
and they look at you as a veteran or whatever,
and then you once in a while get thrown into veteran land
with somebody else, and somebody you've looked up to for 30 years.
I'm happy the way this scene turned out.
KOSINSKI: Yeah, this again, there's so much exposition in this scene.
We're talking about two guys
who seemingly have been friends for decades,
and look at Jeff. I mean, it'sjust like...
Everything he...
All of his choices in this scene, all the behavior he does
is just so easy and that's not easy.
BROLIN: No, because a lot ofguys will resort to,
like, scratching their forehead
or doing these kind of clichés when they don't know what to do,
and yet he seemed totally present, which was disconcerting.
KOSINSKI: Yep, this little look here. Love it. "Be nice."
And I think that, you know, I think, actually, Jeff,
in rehearsing this scene,
I think that was something he came up with in our rehearsals
and it really was just so heartwarming.
BROLIN: How much did we work on that scene? Was there a lot of rehearsal?
KOSINSKI: No, we did it... ldidn't want to over-rehearse anything.
I think we did a couple of hours
where we just kind of all made sure we were on the same page,
but I felt like this is one
where we wanted to let it happen on the day, you know?
I wanted everyone to be prepared, but I didn't want anyone...
BROLIN: To be stiff through the...
"Okay, we know we're doing this and this and that and that."
KOSINSKI: Yeah. Do you like to... How much rehearsing do you like to do?
BROLIN: It depends on the thing, it depends on the movie,
whereas this, I kind of felt like even though we would...
Nerves would get in the way sometimes,
it was nice to just kind of be off-center, often.
KOSINSKI: That's funny, 'cause you always talk about nerves,
but I can only...
I can't even really think of any scene where you ever seem nervous.
- BROLIN: 'Cause I fake it. - Yeah.
BROLIN: This was his first scene.
KOSINSKI: You're right, maybe this was his first scene.
BROLIN: That was his first scene.
...to working more than what the average hotshot crew covers in a season,
I'm talking about a lot of overtime, now...
KOSINSKI: Now this chair thing was always something that we wondered,
"ls this going to work?" And again, it's in how you two played it
that made it work, this look.
BROLIN: You convinced me to do that. I didn't want to do it.
I just didn't think it would work at all, and it does work.
That's why you're the director and I'm the actor for hire.
It's not easy sharing your man with a fire. I know.
I'm just being a baby. (CHUCKLES)
You know, I don't even know why,
when lwent into this with my eyes wide open.
God, I love her in this.
KOSINSKI: lt's funny there's like... I find there's an interesting parallel
with Jennifer and Andie that you and Jeff have as well,
this kind of generational thing which just feels
familial or something.
There's just something, some interesting connection that you guys have.
BROLIN: But what I love though is it's, you know, this idea of it
being a commercial film or something like that,
and it feels incredibly intimate
and you don't get that often,
at least in my experience in movies.
I don't wanna talk about it.
Like you're a fly peeking in on the bubble
-that you shouldn't be peeking in on. - Yeah.
When I get back, lwant you gone.
KOSINSKI: Calling your mom "dude" is never a good sign.
Like, this is, I think, every parents' nightmare.
That's more where I'm from, though, "Dude, I mean, what's up?"
- That's very Donut, by the way. - KOSINSKl: Yeah.
So here's a shot from Prescott, Arizona, the famous palace/saloon,
and actor Forrest Fyre playing the mayor.
BROLIN: Never forget Forrest Fyre.
Once you've done a scene with Forrest Fyre,
then you know you've arrived.
This is the first city to ever start its own crew,
so the Feds see us as outsiders, like a threat to their way of doing things.
They're trying to put us off by stalling our evaluation.
KOSINSKI: And those who are listening can hear
George Jones and Tammy Wynette in the background.
BROLIN: And that was for?
KOSINSKI: You turned me on to George Jones and Tammy Wynette on this picture.
I started listening to them and found this song,
which felt like a perfect song for the palace/saloon scene.
BROLIN: This was a little like "one for Josh" kind of moment.
KOSINSKI: It was a little bit, yeah, this was for you.
BROLIN: One friend to another.
KOSINSKI: I still have my fingers crossed.
(BROLIN CHUCKLING)
BROLIN: You know, it's funny 'cause you realize
scenes like this are so expositional,
and yet when you're watching people who are comfortable
behavioralizing something and it works, it still works.
KOSINSKI: That is the suit that Forrest Fyre
wore to his audition and the neck tie.
- And I said that is perfect. - BROLIN: It's a bolo, not a necktie.
KOSINSKI: Sorry, it's a bolo. I told the costume designer
that we did not need anything for Forrest Fyre in this scene,
that he would be bringing his own wardrobe and he did a fantasticjob.
BROLIN: Yeah, look at that, it's memorable.
KOSINSKI: And there, he says hi to Dale,
who you will hear from later on the phone,
a little Easter egg for those watching very closely.
Your daughter Michaela was born six minutes ago. Congrats.
She's totally healthy?
- Nothing wrong with her or nothing? - No, she's perfect.
- How's the mom doing? - She's all good.
So it was interesting, we had to set Brendan up
in basically four scenes and accelerate his story,
so we go from smoking on the couch,
to fighting with his girlfriend,
to getting kicked out of the house, to seeing his daughter being born.
We just kind of set up this next scene that's coming up,
which is the meeting between him and Eric Marsh.
- Yes, sir. - Huh.
S0, I'm assuming you know the difference
between structure and wildland fighting operations.
S0, this is Ben Hardy playing Wade Parker.
I like this scene 'cause he's kind of the opposite of Brendan in every way,
and for that reason, Marsh is very hard on him.
BROLIN: He's got all the right answers. KOSINSKI: Yep.
KOSINSKI: This good cop/bad cop interview process,
that was part of the Granite Mountain.
BROLIN: Which was true, that's based on truth.
I guess to my mom, this morning.
About what?
I told her that this job isn't as dangerous as working structure.
Are you lying to me right now?
No, sir.
You a short-timer?
A what, sir?
A firefighter's son looking to use my crew
as a stepping stone to a gig on the structure side.
- No, sir. - Now, you'd better not be,
'cause if there's one thing I can't stand, it's that.
Yes, sir.
(BREATH ES H EAVILY)
You got any running gear?
I do, sir. In the car.
All right, we're gonna go for a little hike in a bit, me and the boys.
KOSINSKI: That was the Jetboil, which was Eric Marsh's...
I guess he was obsessed with making fresh coffee.
BROLIN: Hot coffee, and by the way that burnt the shit out of my mouth...
KOSINSKI: On that take. BROLIN: On several takes.
KOSINSKI: I'm sure. It's really hard being an actor.
You can sometimes burn your mouth on hot coffee.
BROLIN: Exactly. KOSINSKI: Warning.
BROLIN: I wanted a stunt bump and more money after that.
It's funny 'cause I look at that scene and I see it more circus-y.
I don't see him in the way he deals with the kid,
-it's just a little more fun. - Yeah.
KOSINSKI: He's playing with him a little bit.
- He's playing with him a little bit. - I see, as opposed to being serious.
BROLIN: As opposed to when he's with Donut.
KOSINSKI: There's our Top Gun moment, which was a request.
BROLINI By whom?
KOSINSKI: By some of the producers. They will go unnamed,
but it worked because you really get to see...
I love the contrast between Brendan
walking in with these guys who are exceptionally fit.
It just seems like the last guy that should ever walk through those doors.
And here comes the gatekeeper, which Taylor plays so well.
I imagine this is kind of what it's like
if you want to be on Taylor Kitsch's hockey team.
This is probably the first day.
BROLIN: Exactly. There's not a lot of acting going on there.
KOSINSKI: No, lthink this probably happens...
BROLIN: Daily. KOSINSKI: A couple of times, yeah.
You lost, or...
No, I was just checking.
And I think Milesjust plays into this so well.
Yeah, the long pause, looking around for the open slot.
Slots are all filled, man. Sorry, dude.
All right. Thanks, man.
We got one slot open. You want to interview for it?
And just a little subtle thing here, you'll see Marsh
just gives Jesse the hand, which is, "Don't need you for this one,"
which is a little clue as to what's coming.
I'm Eric Marsh, superintendent of Crew 7.
Brendan McDonough.
This is probably my favorite scene in the film.
People have asked, and I think not only because of the way you guys played it,
but just because what it symbolizes in terms of what Marsh does here,
I think, represents how...
Represents the best of what,
who we are and what we're capable of, you know? You don't have to be a...
You don't have to be fighting fires to be a hero.
You can just give someone a chance who needs it,
and you can save someone's life
or change their life and that's what Marsh did here.
Wildland fire, fire science, and just completed my EMT.
You know the difference between Type 2 crew and Type 1 IHC?
Yes, sir. Hotshots are on the front line,
and they get to engage the fire directly.
Good.
You got a record?
- Yeah. Felony larceny. - Hmm.
The shame that Miles brings to this moment, lthink, is...
BROLIN: lt'sjust all in his eyes.
KOSINSKI: Yep, shifty, looking away.
What are you doing here?
I made a lot of mistakes in my life,
and I've done a lot of things that I'm ashamed of
and I'm embarrassed by, honestly...
but ljust had a daughter...
KOSINSKI: But this is a very different Marsh than we saw with Wade Parker.
He's leaning forward.
BROLIN: It's almost like he's trying, or not even trying,
-just looking into him. - KOSINSKI: It is, he's studying him.
BROLIN: Yep.
It's almost like he doesn't like the feeling that he has,
where he knows he's got to give this guy a shot.
KOSINSKI: Yep. He knows what he's going to do and Marsh had these.
They called them his special projects, I think,
and they didn't always work out, but...
You got any running gear?
Uh... No.
What size shoe do you wear?
- Ten. - Hand 'em over.
BROLIN: I love that Marsh just reestablishes his place in all this,
you know what I mean,
without him there that you have your people
who kind of take charge, but with him there...
KOSINSKI: Yep, it's all of a sudden, it's clear.
BROLIN: "Don't forget, it's my hockey team."
(BROLIN CHUCKLING)
KOSINSKI: The limited edition, yeah, okay.
(BROLIN CHUCKLING)
- JESSE: Are those limited edition? - Shut up.
KOSINSKI: Ryan Busch as DeFord, with his off-screen line.
BROLIN: Who's never acted before, right?
KOSINSKI: Off-screen line, yeah. BROLIN: Wasn't that his first line ever?
- I think is his on-screen debut, yep. - Yep.
KOSINSKI: So this is all based on a, you know, real experience.
Brendan's first day training out for the Hotshots was not a pretty sight.
BROLIN: This might have been our first day of shooting.
KOSINSKI: This was. This was day one, yep.
BROLIN: We were still in good enough shape
where we could run like this all day long and still be okay with it.
We all got in good shape.
KOSINSKI: And this is, again, this is all at altitude.
I remember you were training at altitude to kind of get ready for this.
BROLIN: It's like around 9,000 feet right there.
KOSINSKI: This is the Nambe Indian Preserve, beautiful location.
BROLIN: Really beautiful. I remember this day, we ran back to lunch.
KOSINSKI: This is the first shot. Yes, this is the first setup of the movie.
This is, you know, it was always interesting 'cause
this is the first day that we met Eric Marsh as played by Josh Brolin,
and going back to rewatch it, it's like the first nine takes, there,
you can see you feeling it out, trying things.
BROLIN: So what take was this?
KOSINSKI: This is probably like 10 or 11, itjust locked in, but...
- BROLIN: So I'm a slow learner. - No, listen, day one, I think that's...
BROLIN: You gave me a speech for day one. Thanks, buddy.
KOSINSKI: "Let's start with a two-page monologue."
BROLIN: Exactly.
KOSINSKI: One of the more key moments of the film.
BROLIN: Let's see how Josh deals with this.
KOSINSKI: No, but it was interesting to watch you find his voice
in that first setup of the morning, 'cause we shot this at probably
6:00 in the morning to get that nice low light.
BROLIN: That's right.
But I like that you didn't rush it.
KOSINSKI: You can't.
BROLIN: You, like, had more confidence than I did at that moment.
I love this scene. I love that they're still there waiting for him.
KOSINSKII Yeah.
You think he dropped dead on the trail?
Definite possibility.
BROLIN: He sounds like he doesn't care, and that's the thing.
KOSINSKI: Right, no, plays it...
BROLIN: Because he cares probably more than anybody on that team.
KOSINSKII "Yep, Oh, Well."
- Hey, Supe. - What?
- Check it out. - What?
BROLIN: I like how you had a long lens on that,
cause you can feel the heat, feel the lens.
KOSINSKI: This is like 800 mm.
So this is the... We built the Crew 7 headquarters
on the backlot of the Santa Fe Studios.
This building housed the interior of the Crew 7 headquarters,
but it was also Marsh's house, Brendan's apartment,
Brendan's mom's house,
all those interiors were in that building.
BROLIN: What do you mean it was Marsh's house. Was it?
KOSINSKI: In the back. BROLIN: On the other side, right?
KOSINSKI: Yeah, your ranch interior was on the backside of this,
so when you wake up in the morning,
you're looking at the back of this building in that first shot,
which always people don't realize.
BROLIN: Everybody would see a bunch of lightning
in the background there, always.
I think you got a couple of takes.
KOSINSKI: Yeah, we got it in a couple of shots. We'll point that out.
You all right?
- Yeah. - Yeah? Can you drive?
- Yeah. - Okay.
Pound tons of electrolytes, take some Motrin, get some sleep, buddy.
You'll be all right.
Hey, I got your kicks.
You owe me 100 bucks.
BROLIN: I love the irreverence, you know?
KOSINSKII Yeah.
BROLINI (CHUCKLING) L00k at him.
KOSINSKI: Yeah, I know.
This is always the point in the film,
having watched it with audiences a couple of times,
when you feel for the first time
people rooting for Brendan and Milesjust...
BROLIN: You could throw some humor in there.
KOSINSKI: Yes, yes, he is fantastic.
Now, this is interesting
'cause you are an experienced horseback rider.
- Jennifer is not. - BROLIN: Horseman.
KOSINSKI: Jennifer, again, barely no experience on horses and...
BROLIN: Well, can we say what happened? KOSINSKI: Yeah, I mean she's... Yeah.
BROLIN: I mean, during training, she got bucked off and she broke her pinkie.
She also bruised herself up pretty much,
and having grown up riding horses, there's no reason...
And she got right back on to do this thing.
KOSINSKI: To do this scene. BROLIN: And we...
KOSINSKI: It's very brave.
BROLIN: It didn't take a lot of convincing, you know.
KOSINSKI: And she looks great riding.
BROLIN: She looks great throughout this whole thing.
I mean, I think that she was a massive coup for us.
KOSINSKI: Yep, we're very lucky.
BROLINI Very.
KOSINSKI: Very lucky to have her.
S0, this is back at the Nambe Preserve.
BROLIN: We would always dig our own line.
Was there any line that we ever did that we didn't dig?
- KOSINSKl: No. - Always dug our own line.
KOSINSKI: No, we weren't that kind of movie.
We had to dig our own line,
and then Pat McCarty, our technical advisor, would check it
and if it wasn't good enough, he'd make you guys redo it.
BROLIN: Exactly.
I think that's what was very different about this film,
was that what we were playing is what we were.
No, don't look at him. Look at me. What's your 11th watch-out?
The fire line you're cutting hasn't been anchored.
MARSH: Wrong. That's the 8th.
- You're getting spot fires across... - That's 16th!
Alpha Squad, hold!
What's your 11th watch-out?
ALL: Unburned fuel between you and the fire.
Firefighters died for us so we could learn all these watch-outs.
If you get another one wrong, I will choke you out.
Yes, sir.
Alpha Squad, 100 off the deck. Now!
KOSINSKI: Yeah, that Supe voice will ever be engrained in my head.
I can't imagine what it's like when you're yelling around the house,
if you use that... It's very close to like an AD voice.
- It travels like miles across. -(BROLIN LAUGHING)
BROLIN: Which is why Bruce and I kind of had it out in the beginning.
KOSINSKI: You both had AD voices, and they can only have one on set.
BROLIN: And it had to be mine.
I know you're doing this for your baby girl, but I don't know, dude.
I've heard some shit about her mama.
I would say on the average, we did 300 push-ups a day.
KOSINSKI: Yeah. How many were for camera, though?
There was a lot of push-ups off-camera.
BROLIN: Yeah, I think that was off-camera, that I'm saying.
KOSINSKI: As part of the rocking, okay.
BROLIN: On-camera was just whatever, but off-camera, probably 300.
G0 home. Die.
Funny, the special project that you care most about is
who you're going to be the hardest on.
KOSINSKII Right.
That was way out of line, Mack.
BROLIN: Because as we'll see,
he identifies with him.
KOSINSKI: And I like that there's a code,
the code of conduct among the Hotshots, you know?
You can push the rookie, but at some point...
BROLIN: There has to be a ceiling.
KOSINSKI: There's a line and that's all based on a real story
of Chris MacKenzie and Brendan, just Chris was really hard on him
to the point where they had to take Chris aside
and say, "Listen, you've gotta back off,"
and they ended up, you know,
obviously becoming best friends, which I just love that idea.
BROLIN: So, this is the first of many emergency deployments.
KOSINSKI: Deployment training, yep,
important to establish this early in the film.
All right, listen up. Burnover is seconds away...
And the reason they trained with green shelters
is because they can be re-folded and put away.
They're just for training purposes.
The real shelters can only be unfolded once,
-once you open it. - BROLIN: And they're silver.
KOSINSKI: Yeah, they're silver and once you've opened them,
you can't put them back
and they're, I don't know, $1,000 apiece.
BROLIN: And they can withstand heat up to,
what, 500 degrees or 300-500 degrees?
KOSINSKI: 300 degrees, yeah,
I know they're working on a new generation shelter.
That's where I saw this, just coming out.
- Who's in there? - ROSE: Rose. Rose.
Is that your sock next to your shelter?
ROSE: What? MACK: That's Rosie's beat-off sock, sir.
I asked you a question.
The training was relentless, though, with these guys.
Marsh would call deployments
sometimes at the end of the day when you're most tired,
and I know you did the same thing in hotshot camp,
would just kind of surprise these guys and call out deployment practices.
BROLIN: ldid. I would be on a very steep grade
at 9,000-10,000 feet with rocks everywhere,
and lwould have them deployed,
and I remember there's one guy who will go unnamed,
who made a joke when things were still very sensitive
and we were getting to know each other in the beginning,
and I made him stay in his shelter for 20 minutes...
- Good. -...and it was 100-and-something degrees
-outside. - Great.
BROLIN: lwas terrified that he was going to beat on me.
KOSINSKI: Or disobey you.
Yeah, that's what I told people, you were the supe.
You really became the supe on the set, and it was great.
BROLIN: The fact that we had Duane Steinbrink there,
and the fact that we had four former Hotshots there,
Granite Mountain Hotshots,
I think put an extra pressure on us
-to get it right... - Yeah.
...than we would have had, had that not been the case.
KOSINSKI: Right. And at the end, what'd they tell you?
They said, "You guys done a greatjob. You'll never be Hotshots"?
BROLINI "You Will never be HOtShOtS,
"but we're happy that it's you representing us."
Which I think was a great
-backhanded compliment. - KOSINSKl: Yes.
Got some news.
We're heading to a fire down south.
And we're getting our eval on it.
(ALL CHEERING)
Settle down, settle down. Remember, when we do this,
act like we've done it before.
KOSINSKI: Now that was a real Marsh saying that I thought was great,
-I'm glad we got to get in the movie. - Yeah.
So these are the Granite Mountain Hotshot buggies.
- These are the actual buggies... - BROLIN: These are the actual buggies.
KOSINSKI: ...that were lent to us by the City of Prescott.
They had been in storage for years,
and we were very lucky to be able to pull them out
and honor the guys by shooting in the same trucks.
The truck that you're driving at the beginning
is Eric Marsh's pickup truck.
It was just really special to be able to shoot in those.
I think it did make a difference.
BROLIN: It does make a difference and you don't think, you know,
especially if you've been doing it for a while, you're like, okay,
do you want to go the Daniel Day-Lewis way or do you want to, you know...
But it really does make a difference when there's a...
There was always a level of respect that we had,
a sensitivity and a respect that was always in the air
during this entire film.
KOSINSKI: To sit in the seats
-that those guys sat in. - Yeah, exactly.
KOSINSKI: To see the stickers that they had put on those spots.
Again, this was day five, I think, when we shot this scene.
I spent three hours in the buggy with these guys,
and the DP, Claudio Miranda, with this intricate ceiling-mounted brig
that was able to pull off that shot that pushed from the front to the back.
And it was probably 110 degrees outside,
and it was...
Yeah, it was like being trapped in a small room with a fraternity...
(BROLIN LAUGHING)
BROLIN: That I created. KOSINSKI: Yes.
But yeah, I love this scene,
just the little... The talk before we go in.
BROLIN: Kitsch is just mischief incarnate.
KOSINSKII He is.
I feel like this is the first role in a while
where I think he's gotten to be 90% of himself,
-which is why I love him here. - Yeah, but that's always a tricky thing
because he's so good in the role that you go,
"So if you just play yourself from here on out,
-"it's going to be great." - KOSINSKl: I know.
...humidity is dropping.
Fire's got two heads at the moment.
Hotshot crews in Division Echo
will look at cutting direct line here.
Division Alpha will build an indirect...
KOSINSKI: So trying to explain wildfire tactics
to an audience was always something
you spend a lot of time thinking about
'cause you don't want to overwhelm people,
but at the same time you want...
I wanted people to speak in the language that they would use.
So even if you're not understanding everything,
I think the audience is picking up enough.
And we're never breaking the illusion that this is a movie
by staying with the real language,
and that was always a thing we had to balance, but...
BROLIN: And why was that so important to you,
for the firefighting community or just...
KOSINSKI: No, ljust, you know, I just didn't want this to feel like...
ljust was trying to make it not feel like a movie, I guess,
because it's a real story, because these are real guys,
lwanted it to feel like we are a film crew
embedded with these Hotshots on a real fire.
BROLINI Right.
KOSINSKI: And I think audiences can tell
when you've dumbed down the language for them.
This was shot in a real wild fire in southern New Mexico,
a "controlled burn," and I say that in quotes
because I think the controlled burn became an uncontrolled burn
in the afternoon, which resulted in all this great footage we got.
Including this shot coming up of an elk.
BROLIN: Of an elk running and that was... That's real, right?
KOSINSKI: That's real.
We captured that with our aerial crew
when the fire started going off.
And it was...
The fact that the elk is running towards the flaming front,
I always thought was a really nice metaphor
for what Brendan is going through in this moment,
which is, like, so opposite of what you would expect.
It seems unnatural, but there it is.
MARSH: Bravo Squad!
Bravo Squad, watch that slope there!
Jesse, where you at?
JESSE: Scouting two ridges over. Got brands coming in, spot fires.
Nothing crazy, but she's definitely headed our way.
All right, why don't you work your way back down to the crew?
-L'm gonna go scout ahead. - Copy that.
BROLIN: And you have a guy watching over you the whole time.
KOSINSKII Yeah.
How fun would it be to do yourjob with someone staring over your shoulder,
analyzing with a clipboard every move you make?
BROLIN: That's like you directing me. KOSINSKI: Sorry.
(BOTH CHUCKLING)
KOSINSKI: Circle take.
- No circle in that. - BROLIN: "That was good.
"That was all right.
"Could probably do better."
MAN ON RADIO: ...kicking up from the south.
High-wind advisory. 25 to 30 miles per hour.
All right, copy that. Thank you.
Want a piece of my Carolina ass?
Come and get it.
Fire's making a run toward our line.
By the time she gets here, she's gonna be too strong to hold.
It's gonna crown that ridge, spot over, and run straight into town.
If we backburn this side of the mountain,
by the time bitch comes over, she'll have no fuel to feed into.
That's a god-awful idea.
All the conditions favor the fire,
and when that blaze comes down that mountain,
it's gonna kick your ass and use your burn to get even stronger.
"Bitch" was a Singer-ism, right?
KOSINSKI: Yep.
As is, yeah, there's a couple other ones.
We can call them out as we go through.
...you don't understand is 40 years, son.
I was on the job when you were still shitting yellow.
So, if you think you're gonna make a big move and impress me,
I'm telling you right now, don't.
Due respect, you're just an observer.
S0, let us do ourjob, okay?
- No, you're not a... - No, no, step off!
Now. Step off.
BROLIN: I hated doing that.
- I felt so bad. - KOSINSKl: Telling... Yeah.
BROLIN: lt'sjust an actor, man. KOSINSKI: But then, but here,
you feel it when he says, you know,
it's one thing to do it and then regret it instantly is human,
and we understand what Marsh is going through.
Sometimes you've got to do, you know, what you believe in,
even if he's putting it all at risk.
BROLIN: And the reality is these guys are making life-and-death decisions.
- KOSINSKl: Every day. - Every day, all day long.
Is that a rosary?
No, prayer beads.
Buddhist, huh?
Well, this thing goes sideways, nothing's gonna save you.
Not even Buddha.
Spike Lee says, "Tough business, tough business."
Once you light that fuse, you throw it deep into the fire, all right?
Yeah, cool.
JESSE: Mack, Steed.
Putting fuel on the ground now. Make sure you stay ahead of us.
Copy that.
Here we go.
KOSINSKI: Everybody wanted to fire the flare gun, lthink, right?
BROLINI I think We did in...
KOSINSKI: Training? Yeah. BROLIN: In training,
I think we all got to fire the flare gun at least once.
KOSINSKI: In a few of these.
BROLIN: That, and play with rattlesnakes.
Nice. All right, uno més.
- Hey, you all right? - Shit.
KOSINSKI: This is our Keystone Kops moment.
BROLINI (CHUCKLES) Exactly.
- They played it pretty real, though. - KOSINSKl: Yeah.
That damn rake that Taylor was wearing on his back the entire show,
he's still upset that I made him wear that the whole movie.
- BROLIN: It vulnerabilizes him. - Yeah.
- KOSINSKl: This is an example... - That's basically what we were
-all day, every day. - KOSINSKl: This is... Yeah.
Most of this scene was really just kind of adlibbed.
- BROLIN: Us. - Yeah, just you guys doing your thing.
Yeah. I mean, not like you, but...
Yeah, it's good.
BROLIN: Again, I've seen so many shots like that.
KOSINSKII Yeah.
The fire lays down at night.
Marsh with his... What was the type... Stagg chili?
BROLIN: Stagg chili. KOSINSKI: Yeah.
There were so many interesting details that we were able to pull from him
you just could never write. Even the glasses.
- BROLIN: And yet it was... - Like you would never think
to put glasses on a firefighter until you...
And that's what I love about this being a real story
and Marsh, just the toenail or the fingernail clippers
he would keep in his shirt pocket.
BROLIN: But things that you would never necessarily allow
if you didn't know that there was...
- That you were following... - KOSINSKl: Exactly.
BROLIN: Yeah, a real...
I love that shot by the way, great shot.
KOSINSKI: Yeah, a shot with a drone, Claudio Miranda, pilot,
or Dan Ming maybe, his first AC, flying.
We carried a drone with us in a backpack for this entire film.
BROLIN: Don't you have to have a pilot's license in order to fly that?
- Yeah, we do. - KOSINSKl: Real pilot's license, right?
BROLIN: We had a certified pilot. KOSINSKI: Dan Ming.
BROLIN: Dan Ming is a certified pilot, right?
KOSINSKI: And now Claudio has his license now.
BROLINI Does he? KOSINSKII Yeah.
This is actually a pretty gnarly stunt.
Right there, that was all captured that moment,
so pulling Alex Russell out of the path of that tree was very important.
And again, based on experience of Pat McCarty, our technical advisor,
who was actually...
The snag did fall on him, broke his shoulder blade
-or his collarbone... - BROLIN: Right, right.
...and put him in the hospital.
This is all based on a real story.
This is Brendan on his first fire,
his chin strap mysteriously disappeared on their flight back.
Part of the rituals ofjoining a hotshot team.
This was a fun day, actually.
I was in the camera ship following you guys around.
Two Hueys built in the middle 60s.
- It was like... Yeah. - BROLIN: Right, junkers.
But I remember this pilot, he had some fun with us.
- Yeah. - BROLIN: I still talk to this pilot.
KOSINSKI: Yeah? That's great. BROLIN: We still text, yeah.
Because I think I convinced him to have a little fun.
I don't know what it is about that primitive kind of banter
back and forth, but I love it.
- Yeah. - BROLIN: I love it.
It's what made this experience special.
KOSINSKI: And continues to this day digitally, does it not?
BROLIN: It's still daily, daily. KOSINSKI: On the... Yeah.
KOSINSKI: This is one of those interesting scenes where like, you know,
we shot both sides of this on different days, I think.
BROLIN: We did, for sure.
...Manda-bear. It's me.
Jesus Christ, Eric.
And her answering the phone in that panic
is the throughline to her whole existence...
- KOSINSKI: ltjust reminds you... Yeah. -...as the wife of a firefighter.
- You're always waiting for that call. - BROLIN: Yeah.
I think I really messed up.
KOSINSKI: And I remember we played with this scene for a while, and I think...
BROLIN: I don't think I was whispering in the beginning.
- I think that was your call. - KOSINSKl: No. Yeah.
That's what we were trying to figure out,
was how it's not wanting to wake up Jesse,
-not wanting him to hear... - BROLIN: Right, exactly.
...what you were confessing to your wife in an intimate moment
and, you know, that's something
that you just don't know until you get there.
BROLIN: And this is her giving me an intimate moment back.
- KOSINSKl: Right. - Reciprocating the vulnerability.
KOSINSKI: In the most unexpected way possible.
BROLIN: "I pissed my pants at work."
...and I had to go...
I remember we messed with this dialogue a lot.
KOSINSKII Yeah.
- Are you okay? - Yeah. I'm fine except...
I like your reaction, though. It's grossed out,
then just brightens up your day
in a moment where you need it more than anything, you know.
It just takes you out of that dark space you were,
even ifjust for a few minutes.
BROLIN: And that's the thing, is they're incredibly connected
and yet they are apart so often.
So they need each other and yet,
they're pining for each other all the time, you know?
I'm still fascinated by this relationship between husband and wife.
KOSINSKI: That's the first day she showed up on the set.
BROLIN: That was the first day, I remember you took that.
KOSINSKI: Yeah, with a Leica Q. BROLIN: Leica Q.
KOSINSKI: And it ended upjust...
That momentjust ended up kind of symbolizing their relationship
and comes back in an important scene at the end.
BROLIN: And you feel responsible for that, don't you?
(KOSINSKI SIGHS) I can take credit for that.
(BROLIN CHUCKLING)
KOSINSKI: That's our editor, Billy Fox, on the phone,
playing Dale.
BROLIN: That was that moment. KOSINSKI: That was Billy, yeah.
BROLIN: Forrest Fyre.
KOSINSKI: Now the fact that you did this with a real chair made of solid oak,
probably weighed 60 pounds, was just incredible.
A show of strength.
BROLIN: It's a testament of how much I gave myself
to getting in shape for this role, you know?
KOSINSKI: It wasn't even meant to be broken.
BROLIN: I remember Amanda saying it was the fact that I got on the floor
that reminded her of Eric.
- KOSINSKl: That's interesting. -lt wasn't necessarily the rage,
it was the post-rage and what I did with it.
KOSINSKI: His emotion, it seems like his state of mind really flowed
with the state of the Hotshots
and it was so tied to, you know,
whether they lost a guy to another crew.
He lived every moment with them.
And Duane Steinbrink truly was his
sounding board, mentor, I don't know what the right word is,
but he was the person he would go to and...
BROLIN: And yet in talking to him,
you know, Duane would always talk about,
you know, Eric would...
There was a contentiousness in their relationship also.
- Yeah. - But it was...
There was a respect, there was a mentorship,
but also, you know, he was a highly sensitive guy,
Eric, you know,
and go off on his own little kind of adolescent tangents...
- KOSINSKl: Right. - You know.
KOSINSKI: But they obviously cared about each other a lot.
BROLIN: Very much, obviously, very much.
I mean, I think I got more information
and just an innate feeling of what this was
-from Duane more than anybody. - KOSINSKl: Right.
KOSINSKI: Well, that's what think the film addresses, too,
is this idea of the person you are at work
-and the person you are at home. - Exactly.
And for Eric, there really was a distinct...
- Difference. -...difference between those two people.
So for the Eric Marsh, the superintendent,
I think Duane probably knew him better than Amanda did.
BROLINI Yeah.
KOSINSKI: This is a real moment, you know,
again from Pat McCarty, who was there when the moment they became Hotshots,
where Eric peeled... He remembered Eric peeling
the trainee sticker off the pickup truck
and just the symbolism of that.
BROLIN: You know, we had some of the family members there that day.
KOSINSKI: That's right.
BROLINI Which was tough.
The only municipal crew to ever become...
- KOSINSKI: Type 1 Hotshots, yup. - Type 1 Hotshots.
...Thumb Butte Hotshots?
- Boo! - I got it, I got it, I got it.
The Firelords.
- No. - ASHCRAFT: Why not?
- That's the name of your band, bro. - Yeah, and we slay.
Yeah, you slay, in your mama's garage.
(LAUGHING)
Granite Mountain.
Yeah.
Granite Mountain Hotshots.
- There it is! - Yeah.
There it is.
(LAUGHING AND CHEERING)
BROLIN: By the way, all that sweat
and all that is not wardrobe coming off,
-that's all real. - KOSINSKl: That's all real.
_H€Y- _H€Y-
- BROLIN: I love this scene. - Yeah, this is take one.
- I remember this very well because... - BROLIN: Was it really?
KOSINSKI: I really made sure that Miles did not see the baby
until the camera was rolling.
So we blocked it without the baby,
and then on take one, I made sure
Natalie had the baby in her arms, and ljust...
Holding that baby, I think, for the first time,
I feel like that's something that you just...
- BROLIN: Can't not react to? - Yes.
KOSINSKI: And again, Miles is a tremendously talented actor,
but the first take on this was the best
because I think you're truly...
The sensation of holding a child for the first time,
it's primal, you know?
So, yeah, this is all take one.
BROLIN: ljust love how vulnerable he is,
but he just, he isn't playing vulnerable.
He's fighting the vulnerability, you know,
but he's so vulnerable.
A little gas.
She's so pretty.
Yeah. She looks like you.
KOSINSKI: And that was an adlib by Natalie, really smart, in that moment.
I'm sorry.
BROLIN: What a nice scene, man.
You ladies better listen up and listen good.
If there's one thing I know, it's applesauce.
- Go ahead and try that, darling. - Okay.
(BROLIN CHUCKLING)
- I like this scene. - KOSINSKl: Yeah.
BROLIN: Wasn't there two? Wasn't there two pieces, you had to out out one?
KOSINSKI: Yeah, there's a longer version of this scene.
BROLIN: A longer version.
What was this, over a two-day period?
KOSINSKI: This is, yeah, I think a two-day picnic,
when you take all the pieces, you know,
including the speech that you give at the end,
but a lot of these moments are just captured, you know?
We set the picnic up. It was kind ofjust going off.
I mean, none of that is scripted dialogue,
just grabbing moments.
And here you see the real Steinbrinks,
on the right there,
Duane and Marvel playing opposite their cinematic counterparts, which is fun.
BROLINI Love that shirt.
You must be Brendan.
- Yes, ma'am. -l'm Amanda, Eric's wife.
- So nice to meet you. -l've heard a lot about you.
- How's it going? -lt's good.
- Yeah? - Yeah. I...
KOSINSKI: ljust love the awkwardness of
being at a picnic when you're the new guy.
He's kind of like looking around
for a place to sit with his plate of food,
trying to be polite.
You guys have more in common than you think.
- Hang in there. - Thanks.
BROLIN: It's so funny, having grown up around those girls,
-she could not be more authentic. - Yeah.
KOSINSKI: I think she was born and raised in, like, Brooklyn.
BROLIN: Exactly.
KOSINSKI: Okay so this scene, yeah, this was inspired...
BROLIN: There's Pat right there in the green shirt.
KOSINSKI: Yep and that's Brandon Bunch, who is a Granite Mountain Hotshot,
with the chainsaw there.
He plays Zuppiger, a friend of his.
- BROLIN: It was his best friend. - His best friend.
- KOSINSKI: He did that trick at the... - Training camp.
KOSINSKI: Training camp barbeque we threw, and it was one of those things
that we've got to get that in the movie,
-so I'm glad we did. - BROLIN: Me, too.
BROLIN: Here's their transitional moment.
KOSINSKI: Yes, the bro love moment.
(BROLIN CHUCKLES)
KOSINSKI: It's funny, it's like the bro code of, you know,
not showing too much emotion.
Right? - Really?
But you know what the kicker is?
The kicker is she's banging some dude on Flagstaff PD.
Thatjoke played huge in Arizona.
BROLIN: I'm sure, I'm sure.
- I did, I remember that. - KOSINSKI: Yeah, that was the...
A regional joke,
but worth it.
I mean, hey, I got an extra room.
Seriously?
I love this kind of considering what he's walking into here,
not sure if this is the best idea.
Spot to crash for a little bit.
Right on, dude.
(BROLIN CHUCKLING)
- That's all he's going to give him. - KOSINSKl: That's it, yep.
Funny gUY-
Yeah, his name... His name's... His name's Dave.
Man, I'll tell you,
as true as I'm standing here and as strange as this is,
I'm happy-
BROLIN: One take, that's it, right?
KOSINSKI: Yeah, this is it, oner.
BROLIN: "Just get out there, do your thing, thanks so much for coming."
You know, Granite Mountain
is the first municipal hotshot crew in this entire country.
You didn't have to cut away if you didn't have to...
If you didn't want to. That was one push-in.
KOSINSKI: Yeah, one push-in, at least up... Yeah.
I wanted to have one version of that.
I feel like, though, most of the speech is taken from one take.
'Cause we can't do this without your support.
And this is interesting 'cause it's the speaking voice.
Everyone's got that version that they do when they're giving a speech,
and to play a real person who's having to make a public speech
when they're not comfortable doing that all the time,
I thought you just captured perfectly,
and he gets a little emotional here.
So, to commemorate this occasion,
I had some tees made up.
All right?
Now, you can only wear them if you're a hotshot.
Right?
Okay, so it's sleeping with a hotshot, too, okay?
This was all taken from a real moment.
BROLIN: And you really get a sense of how happy he is in that moment, too.
KOSINSKI: In that moment, yep.
And here, MacKenzie's arc is almost complete now, bubble-wrapping.
BROLIN: MacKenzie and Donut have gotten married now.
- KOSINSKl: Yes. -(BROLIN CHUCKLES)
KOSINSKI: Bosom Buddies, was that the name of the TV show?
- BROLIN: Exactly. My Two Dads. - Yep.
I baby-proofed everything,
like the bathroom cabinets, the kitchen...
BROLINI I love this.
That's awesome, man. Thank you.
KOSINSKI: So, this was, again, filmmaking behind the scenes.
This was actually Marsh's ranch house,
was then converted into Brendan and Mack's apartment.
S0, this again is in the back of the Crew 7 building.
BROLIN: S0, what was going on with that kid?
KOSINSKI: You know,
she didn't love Miles.
BROLIN: I think that's... I remember that.
KOSINSKI: And, I mean, let's say she didn't like being away from her parents,
but it ended up working beautifully for all of these scenes.
But then again, she's very aware 'cause you see she's like...
She's playing along,
and she's looking at Mack for his lines.
And then she gives him this look here.
Watch her look right here. This is great.
She looks at him, like, "Are you kidding me?"
It's amazing.
BROLIN: You have a knack for casting. KOSINSKI: No.
Kids, they're tough,
but in this case it worked out and hopefully it...
BROLIN:"Honey, can you do me a favor and look at him once you..."
KOSINSKI: "Yes, right when he shows you the illustration."
She's much more comfortable with the mom, as you can see.
...coming down. Her coloring's good. She's fine.
Yeah, she's good?
Infants run high fevers sometimes. It's totally normal. Yeah.
All right. Good. Thank you.
Any parent can relate to this scene.
BROLIN: And I love that the other parental dads
are cracking up because it's like this is the...
KOSINSKI: Mack is just completely wigged out, like, shell-shocked.
You just see, he's like...
BROLIN: I swear to God.
...down, the scariest thing of my life.
Seriously.
Welcome to fatherhood, dude.
Yeah, I'm gonna pump the brakes on having kids.
BROLIN: Always looking for his zinger.
KOSINSKI: Yep, and he has a lot of them.
But it's good because you put a guy like that in the cast,
and all of a sudden, everyone's on their toes a little bit more, you know?
BROLIN: I think everyone was on their toes, anyway.
...the other wives, they always say,
"At least you don't have kids. It's so much harder with kids."
It's starting to get under my skin.
Really? Why?
By the way, this is a scene that I could have done...
This was like the Sam Shepard scene that you could have just done for a week
and been totally comfortable and satisfied.
KOSINSKI: I think the film can only sustain one version of this,
one time, of this scene,
but it was an amazing location.
And this again, the light was changing so fast,
this was all taken from one take,
'cause literally the take before this was too bright,
and the take after this was almost night.
- Is that true, it was all one take? - Yeah, this is take number five, yeah.
BROLINI WOW. I didn't know that.
KOSINSKI: She's so good in this scene with you.
It's fun to watch someone else step in it, too.
Every husband out there has been in a position of maybe
-saying the wrong thing... - BROLIN: At the very wrong moment.
KOSINSKI: Yep, and I love, she shakes her head, like, "Wow, are you dumb.
"L can't believe you just said that."
And then tilts his head perfectly to reflect the fire,
somehow, I don't know.
(BROLIN LAUGHING)
BROLIN: Nicholson, "Always know where the camera is."
MARSH: (ON RADIO) The fire's crowning along Jericho Road,
running north. We're gonna get in front,
try to box her off and drive her toward the canyon.
This is our one blue screen shot in the film.
BROLIN: Blue screen, meaning there was blue screen in the background?
KOSINSKI: Yeah, do you remember we shot that in a static truck...
BROLINI That's right, that's right.
KOSINSKI: Yeah, that was the one just to get that wraparound.
This was a fun day of being trapped in this buggy with these guys.
And I have to thank Metallica personally for letting us use
Jump in the Fire at a very reasonable, very reasonable price,
given the subject matter of the film.
BROLIN: You know, I know Lars, and Lars was very excited
about having their music in this film.
KOSINSKI: I was very excited. I always wanted to have Metallica in something
-and this was my first... - BROLIN: This is probably our most...
Let me see if this is the... ls this right? No, this is not right.
- Yeah. - KOSINSKl: The water drop?
- KOSINSKI: Our biggest stunt. - I think our most dangerous moment.
KOSINSKI: I don't think we realized how dangerous it was
until we saw the damage...
BROLIN: The damage of what it did. KOSINSKI: Yeah.
We're talking a couple thousand gallons of water at 160 miles an hour.
Not only destroyed that cabin, but actually the pickup...
BROLIN: Dented the trucks.
KOSINSKI: And destroyed the pickup truck, the front of the truck,
drove a tree branch through the windshield, into the drivers.
Luckily, it was a picture double.
- It was not Marsh's original pickup. - BROLIN: Marsh's actual car.
KOSINSKI: But it still destroyed the double.
The force of that was astonishing.
And that, you can see it actually cleared all of the trees
out of the center of our...
This is our backlot set. It destroyed it.
...have Marvel set up the spare room for you?
Drive home in the morning.
Again, this is all based in reality.
Amanda did take Eric's favorite pickup truck and totaled it.
And she, I guess...
Eric parked it in their house, left it in their yard for a year, to remind her.
BROLIN: Right, I remember that story, yeah.
- BROLIN: Which was very him. - Yes.
BROLIN: Like, I remember her telling me that story and thinking, like,
even she, to this day, was like, "Why?
- KOSINSKll "Why would you d0 that?" -"What am I, a Child?"
KOSINSKI: Yes, as an example of not driving when you're tired.
- Very complex, dichotomous guy. - Yep.
Hey, Supe! My torch!
KOSINSKI: This is all practical fire here. We had a set we had built,
an acre of forest that was lined with propane
so that we could create a forest fire and be able to control it.
And I say "control" in quotes, 'cause you can never really control fire,
but try to do it in as safe a way as possible.
BROLIN: But this had a perimeter of desert, so it could only go so far.
KOSINSKII Right.
But still, we all made sure we knew our escape routes,
if it should go off.
BROLIN: But I remember at this point, we got so comfortable around fire.
We started to get comfortable around fire.
KOSINSKI: That's probably a dangerous place to be.
And now we come to one of our most spectacular locations,
which is a giant canyon just north of Santa Fe,
where we shot this scene.
The trees and the fire are digital, obviously, but we still had you guys...
BROLIN: On the edge of a cliff.
KOSINSKI: On the edge of an 800-foot cliff, sitting.
And, yeah, again, a case where the light was changing so quickly.
I just remember only 20 minutes to shoot this scene.
And the wind was blowing hard,
and this was on a 70-foot Technocrane.
No doubt, man. I thought I was done.
If this ain't the greatest job in the world,
I don't know what is.
But I love it, because that is Marsh's mantra of hotshoting.
BROLIN: I remember Badge ran down during lunch, ran down to the river and then...
KOSINSKI: Ran back?
BROLIN: I don't think he could figure out how to get back.
There's a lot of exercising going on in this movie.
KOSINSKI: It was like a CrossFit competition.
BROLIN: The entire film.
By the way, I never said that. I thought that was really well done.
KOSINSKI: The accident? Yeah.
It was sad to trash that truck. lt was a nice little pickup truck.
...thanks for the ride.
You need anything, give me a call.
Yeah.
All right.
BROLIN: Boom.
KOSINSKI: Marsh's favorite truck.
Now, this next scene is interesting 'cause this was a really good note
that Jennifer gave us,
which was, originally, it was scripted that Marsh would come over,
and Amanda was gonna stop her class and go talk to him.
And Jennifer had the really smart note of saying, "Why would I stop? I'm fine.
"L didn't ask him to come home. He shows up, I'm not gonna stop.
"L'm gonna finish what I'm doing." I thought that was a really great note.
BROLIN: So, where did all that kind of teaching dialogue happen?
Was that hers or was that already...
KOSINSKI: Yeah, we got that from Amanda.
But originally when Marsh showed up, she was gonna stop the class and go,
-"I'm sorry, my husband's here," yeah. - She said that early on and then you...
KOSINSKI: But instead, we just decided to play it that she doesn't stop.
- Look at the damn truck. - No, no, no!
Wait a minute!
Now we talked over it,
but that lightning strike, when he said, "God damn," was in camera.
And that's when I knew this was the take we were gonna use.
BROLIN: What? When she went...
KOSINSKI: When I saw the lightning bolt, it was almost you had to,
and it was a great take.
BROLIN: I think that was a real fight. I'd like to think of it as a real fight.
There you go.
KOSINSKI: You can see the daughter not getting...
Not getting...
KOSINSKI: Great performance by this kid.
BROLIN: And instigating a great performance by Miles,
whether he likes it or not.
- KOSINSKI: Yeah, perfect. -(BROLIN CHUCKLING)
Young kids just need consistency.
KOSINSKI: She eventually warmed up to him.
Who's a big girl?
- BROLIN: At exactly the right time. - Yeah.
(BOTH GASP)
- Look at you. What? - What is that?
JESSE: All right, we got a new start-up
by Granite Mountain.
KOSINSKI: So, yeah, this is the Doce fire, which...
BROLIN: Eric was not...
KOSINSKI: He was not the supe of the Hotshots.
He was the division head on this fire,
which was a promotion and was kind of a hint as to what...
- BROLIN: His future might look like. - His future might look like, yeah.
KOSINSKI: Many believe that this probably was gonna be
his last season as the superintendent,
and he was gonna move on to be some sort of higher up job.
And Jesse was the natural pick to be superintendent
and would've been an amazing one.
You know, Jesse was described to me as the Hotshot
that all the guys looked up to and wanted to be like.
BROLIN: And trusted. KOSINSKI: And he had it all figured out.
He had, you know, the balance, family life and being a Hotshot.
He seemed to have it figured out and the guys really looked up to him for that.
...that tree is on our line.
If the fire gets past our line, it goes to our town.
BROLIN: And Eric was a little more...
- A little harder. - KOSINSKl: Harder, yeah.
- He was a little moodier. - BROLIN: A little more emotional.
KOSINSKI: And had a hard time working with captains.
I think he had been through a couple, but he and Jesse got along
because Jesse always...
BROLIN: They balanced each other out.
KOSINSKI: When Marsh would come at it with the darkness,
Jesse would respond with the joy.
And that was his way of dealing with Eric,
and that's why they worked so well together.
BROLIN: Good leadership duo.
So I remember when Pat McCarty took me out to this tree.
Yeah, the 2,000, what was it, 1,500-year-old tree or something?
KOSINSKI: Yeah, alligatorjuniper.
I went out with Pat and Brendan on my first trip to Prescott,
and it's quite a hike to get there, but when you see it,
it is special. It's majestic.
BROLIN: You know, it's funny, when I went to Prescott the first time,
after you and I met, I ended up there.
I ended up around Yarnell, I don't know why.
- KOSINSKl: Yeah? - I just took a drive.
Itjust kind of happened that way, and then I came down into Yarnell,
and lwas like, "Wow, this is where it all happened."
And I remember, I walked around that area.
I didn't know exactly where it had happened at that point,
but I walked around that area and just kind of, viscerally.
KOSINSKI: Right before we start shooting, I remember that.
Yeah, I remember you told me that, yeah.
BROLIN: Before training, before all that.
KOSINSKI: On my first trip, I did a trip to the tree
and then I went up to the deployment site, which is now a state park.
BROLIN: Right, which has happened since we've done this movie.
KOSINSKI: Yeah, so anyone can go and make the five-mile hike
down to the deployment site and learn about the guys.
It's a really amazing thing that the state of Arizona has done.
I think you can also go out to the tree, if you're in Prescott.
I'm not sure, you might need someone to show you how to get there,
but there's a plaque there.
BROLIN: Yeah, you could get really lost going out there just to let it be known.
Because without Pat, I don't know if I would've made it back.
KOSINSKI: Exactly.
BROLIN: This is all us, or them. I wasn't there at that moment.
But this is all them, cutting the trees that are on fire.
KOSINSKI: Setting back fires, yeah. This was a big fire day.
But this is where we really explain just the idea of the line
and holding the line and showing what hotshots do.
BROLIN: And I know it was asked of us, "Did those lines really help?" Yes.
They're essential in stopping a fire.
KOSINSKI: Yeah, now when I look up in the hills above Los Angeles,
I see all those fire breaks that have been pre-cut and they all make sense.
S0, this is the recreation of the famous photo that Chris MacKenzie took.
And the guys really did this.
It's harder than you think to build a pyramid this tall.
Granite Mountain on two.
One, two...
ALL: Granite Mountain!
But it was an important moment I wanted to capture.
It was found on Chris MacKenzie's phone.
- Didn't we do that during training? - We practiced it. It was hard.
And I remember the stunt guys came to me with, like, pads and wire rigs
and all this stuff we need to do to do it safely.
And on the day, we said, "Let's just try it."
And the guys did it.
BROLIN: I think that was kind of the feeling of the whole movie.
It's like, "Let's protect our actors and insurance and all that."
And when it came down to it, theyjust did it.
KOSINSKI: So, again, this is another moment
where we were inspired by a story from Pat McCarty,
who was bit by a diamondback rattlesnake
while working for Granite Mountain.
Had to spend a couple days in the hospital,
never took the antivenom.
BROLIN: All the bad things that happened
that we put into the story happened to Pat.
KOSINSKI: He was on the crew for, what, four or five years, I think, yeah.
BROLIN: And was invaluable to us.
KOSINSKI: We could not have done this movie without his help.
DR. OCHOA: Vitals look good, stable.
You give him antivenom?
- No, and I'd rather not. - Why?
So this whole idea of antivenom only working once
was something that Pat told me, but I don't...
BROLIN: Think it's true? KOSINSKI: I don't know.
BROLIN: It's the one inaccuracy of Pat McCarty's?
KOSINSKI: I don't know.
I haven't been able to substantiate that from any other medical personnel.
BROLIN: But he's so convincing when he says it, you just kind of believe it.
(BROLIN CHUCKLING)
That's Pat.
You're gonna be fine.
I got to get back to ICP, okay?
KOSINSKI: Yeah, so Marsh was the division chief on this fire,
which is why he wasn't with the Hotshots.
You all are heroes.
Hang in there.
See you, Supe.
So this scene is kind of interesting, 'cause it was kind of written, like,
a day or two before we shot it.
In that we thought for sure Mack would be there with his buddy.
And the idea of Nora, the nurse, all that came together.
BROLIN: But was instigated by who?
KOSINSKI: I can't remember exactly how it came together,
but itjust seemed like the right idea.
Again, things, as we were watching this relationship
between Mack and Brendan develop,
it felt like we wanted a little bit more of it
and there was more to be told. And so...
BROLIN: ljust like the arc of this relationship so much.
KOSINSKI: And then, you know, it's a testament to both these guys,
that they were able to play that friendship in a way that feels real.
That was a real rattlesnake tail,
and I'll never forget the smell of that thing.
- That's good luck. -(KNOCK ON DOOR)
-lt's good luck. - Yeah, it's good luck.
- It is. - You take it, then.
Okay, really?
I mean, you can't let a brother get bit
and let him tell the story, you know?
BRENDAN: Nora, this is, uh...
Yeah, most of this scene was kind of just created on the day, which was fun.
Hey, okay, you need to put that away
'cause your family's here.
Okay.
BROLINI I love this.
(BROLIN LAUGHING)
I don't know why, ljust really like these guys' personalities.
I know your type.
(CHUCKLING) Yeah, you do.
Hello, family.
- Hey. - Hi.
- Hi, how are you? - Good.
- BRENDAN: Sweetie. - Look who's here.
Thought you could use some huggies.
- And some kissies. - I could.
Daddy get kissy?
Mwah.
- Yeah. - Sweetie.
- I missed you so much. - How you feeling?
I'm feeling all right.
- Yeah, he's gonna be okay. - What'd she say?
I think she's hungry.
BROLIN: I love it, shejustwent with anything, didn't she?
- Yeah, shooting with kids, you know... - BROLIN: The hardest thing.
KOSINSKI: You just gotta roll with it, and she ended up being great.
This was based on a real Daily Courier article,
after the guys saved the juniper tree.
It was really the first time, I think, a lot of people in Prescott
became aware of the Hotshots and who they were.
You know, I think myself included,
had no idea that this job existed until I worked on this project.
Just wrongly assumed that firefighters were firefighters.
BROLIN: Just generally, as opposed to
structure firefighters and wildland firefighters.
KOSINSKI: Yeah, not working with water,
that whole thing was just something that you just don't realize in the city.
This was shot in downtown Santa Fe.
BROLIN: Made to look like Prescott.
- Hey, Mack. - Gentlemen.
- Yeah, don't kick my ass tonight. -(CHUCKLES)
Have a good night.
BROLIN: Whose idea was it for Jeff to sing?
KOSINSKI: Well, once I met Duane and found out about the Rusty Pistols...
BROLIN: ltwasjust the first thing that came to mind because Jeff is...
KOSINSKI: Yeah, I don't know if I had cast Jeff at that point.
I think he was my ideal one,
but I don't think I had the script ready to send to him yet.
But yeah, the real Duane Steinbrink has a band called the Rusty Pistols,
which is a cowboy band.
And I think that was certainly a factor
in Jeff agreeing to do the movie.
BROLIN: And I remember when I met with Duane and Marvel for the first time.
They had to cancel, even though I was only in town for a day,
and I stayed an extra day
because he had to rehearse with his band and not meet me.
(BROLIN CHUCKLING)
- And he made me wait for a day. - Yes.
KOSINSKI: I think I remember that. I remember you sent me a text.
You're like, "I think Duane Steinbrink just stood me up."
- BROLIN: It's true. - Yeah.
KOSINSKI: But hey, man, the Rusty Pistols had to practice.
BROLIN: That's something about that bucolic mentality, of like,
"We're on our own schedule. You Hollywood people can wait."
KOSINSKI: "Yes, the Rusty Pistols are gonna practice today."
And Ghost Riders in the Sky
was their most requested song, which is why we put it in the movie.
And it happened to be a song that Jeff Bridges' father, Lloyd,
-would sing to him at night. - Really?
- Yes. - BROLIN: I didn't know that.
KOSINSKI: And those are the real Rusty Pistols in the background.
...take this opportunity
to extend a heartfelt Prescott thanks
to our very own Granite Mountain Hotshots.
(CHEERING)
Yeah!
Now, lbelieved in you guys from the very beginning,
-and I'm so gratified... - Bullshit!
...to see that gamble pay off for the old juniper...
BROLIN: Are those his clothes? KOSINSKI: This one might...
I'm not sure about this one.
BROLIN: I would say yes.
KOSINSKI: Copperhead Road, this was based on...
BROLIN: The quintessential country song.
KOSINSKI: Yeah, I mean, my first night in Prescott, we went to Matt's Saloon,
and this song came on,
and everyone started line dancing, just as if...
ltjust seemed like everyone in town knew how to dance in that moment.
So I had to get that in the movie.
You're Mack, right?
I am Mack.
Have we met?
- No. -(BOTH GIGGLING)
What's up?
Itjust says your name on the sock stuck to your back.
Are you serious?
Now, this is interesting 'cause these next four scenes,
and I remember we talked a lot about this,
kind of very important
for Eric Marsh, the character and you, as the actor.
I just remember saying you won't go through a range of emotions,
I can't imagine in another movie, quite like these next four scenes.
We see Marsh at his worst, with Brendan.
We have an extremely...
BROLIN: And there's already tension between Amanda and him.
Right. It's been under the surface there for a while. It's been building.
And it all comes out.
BROLIN: And this goes into this thing of giving somebody a shot
and feeling like you're disrespected on a personal level.
KOSINSKII Yeah.
And again, this was another scene, I remember,
this one took a while to find the way into it.
And this one took more work, I think, than others.
- Because there's so much going on. - BROLIN: I don't remember it.
KOSINSKI: Here's what I remember. I remember we...
I remember you had an idea of going at it.
And again, we were, like, 12 or 13 takes in.
And it's playing the disrespect with a smile, was what it was.
It wasn't going angry right away. It was this...
BROLIN: And then what did we, finally, at the end of the day, kind of decided
that when I came toward him at the end,
it would be more like that, almost creepy.
KOSINSKI: So cold. You know, the pat on the shoulder at the end, yeah.
- But it's this smile here, yep. - BROLIN: It's that, right.
But we didn't get that right away, right? We found that as we...
KOSINSKI: No, no, that was... I found that you were getting angry
too early and this angle,
the smile made it almost that much more cutting.
- BROLIN: Dangerous. - Yeah.
You're gonna quit on me and this crew?
KOSINSKI: And Amanda watching and knowing exactly what's going down,
that look on her face.
BROLIN: And Jeff wanting to just make things okay and fun.
KOSINSKI: Yep, and walk in and invite her to dance again.
BROLIN: Which is very Duane, by the way.
KOSINSKI: And Brendan trying to stand up for himself here.
Because most of the men on this crew have families.
And I don't hear any of them bitching, do you?
Yeah, look...
And him pushing back a little bit was the other thing we discovered...
BROLIN: By Brendan to push back.
- That's it. - S0 what?
So what, Donut?
I mean, do you think anyone's gonna hire
a cheese-dick like you on the structure side,
an asshole with a record and a rep?
That's just never gonna happen.
And then what? Huh?
You're gonna be washing dishes, miserable?
How long you think you're gonna stay clean then?
Now, listen to me. Listen.
KOSINSKI: I should say that when Brendan asked Marsh to leave,
Marsh was supportive,
but we did also get a lot of stories of when guys left the crew,
Marsh wasn't happy...
BROLIN: That they would be shamed, fight
KOSINSKI: Or he would go off, he would be seen...
Marsh would, like, walk home.
He would be so...
BROLIN: He took everything personally.
KOSINSKI: He took it very personally.
To the crew and that's what we wanted to capture in that moment.
BROLIN: It's funny, you know, ldon't have a lot of memory of that scene.
KOSINSKI: Interesting. I remember that being a hard one.
- Yeah. - BROLIN: And that's probably why.
KOSINSKI: You just blocked it out. BROLIN: ljust blocked it out.
But I liked this scene very much. I think it's an effective scene.
So he grabs her and he runs out.
KOSINSKI: He pulls her out.
We get to a scene, which is very interesting,
shooting this scene in a pickup truck
because, as lwas telling you before...
- BROLIN: That was real. - That was a real lightning strike.
KOSINSKI: I remember this scene because during the rehearsal of it,
as we were driving out to the location,
you guys had a rehearsal that went beyond running lines
and became very, very real and intense
and kind of went off in a way
that I've never seen a rehearsal go off before.
BROLIN: And that was initially, right? That was almost right off the bat?
KOSINSKI: That was before we were shooting, yes.
BROLIN: No, I know right up before we were shooting,
but right off the bat, as we were rehearsing it,
-it kind of got heated right away. - Yeah, itjust kind of went off and then
we started shooting,
and all of that spark, for whatever reason,
was gone for a moment.
Like, it had been a release and then it was gone.
And then you guys were both playing it very, very cool.
BROLIN: And I remember I mentioned this to Jennifer,
and she was like, "Really, the spark was gone?
"L don't think there was any spark gone."
But I think it was this idea of playing with different levels of it.
KOSINSKI: And also, I think actors wanting to not,
afraid they were going too far or something.
BROLIN: Overacting. KOSINSKI: Yeah.
Which I think is every actor's greatest fear, more than underacting.
And then, so I remember,
we stopped at the end of the road and then this was take five,
which was after we had a little conversation about...
BROLIN: lt was a desperate conversation coming from you,
thinking that the scene was gonna suck.
KOSINSKI: Yes, I had never...
What I had seen in the rehearsal was never gonna happen again
because you're capturing lightning in a bottle in a scene like this.
And it went off again.
BROLIN: We had to earn it again.
KOSINSKI: I think so, and that was it. That was all from one take.
BROLIN: And something that you said that's probably
pretty accurate is there was...
When you cut back to me, and she's screaming,
and there's a moment that Eric looks pretty vulnerable.
And I'm not sure if that was Eric or me.
- KOSINSKl: Right. -l'm not sure.
KOSINSKI: Yeah, I wonder if that sometimes you're in a scene,
and you're just admiring what's happening across from you.
BROLIN: ldid that once with Ralph Fiennes.
I watched him and he was going off.
And then there was a long pause and I thought, "My God, he's that good,
"that he can saturate this scene with this kind of pause."
And then I realized it was my line.
- I screwed it up. - KOSINSKI: You were that enraptured
-with his performance. - BROLIN: lwas.
I've been there.
KOSINSKI: So, again, in this kind of series
of four big scenes back-to-back...
BROLIN: This being the third. KOSINSKI: This being the third piece,
this was a scene we spent a lot of time talking about.
BROLIN: And rewriting. KOSINSKI: And rewriting
and talking and rewriting.
And that was great, just, you know,
the wise old sage, giving something thatjust makes no sense,
we thought was the right way to play that.
BROLIN: It's a great way into the speech, too.
KOSINSKI: So, this is all not only one monologue, but one long take,
which makes it really hard for any actor.
Not that I told Josh I was doing this all as a oner.
BROLINI Which you didn't.
KOSINSKI: But a very tough scene to pull off as an actor and just technically,
two-and-a-half minute push-in, holding focus wide open.
BROLIN: ls that what it is? Two-and-a-half minutes?
KOSINSKI: Something like that, yeah.
On location.
BROLIN: It's very, which is a word, poetical,
and it's very tough to pull off kind of poetical writing.
- Do you know what I mean? - KOSINSKI: Right. Of course.
I mean, I think that's what we struggled with was, "How do you do this?
"How do you sell this in a way that feels like you're coming up..."
- BROLIN: Like you're actually... - Telling a story from your own memory.
BROLIN: Exactly. KOSINSKI: In the moment,
and not make it feel like you're reading lines off a page.
And the stop, the start and the pauses and the hesitations are part of that.
BROLIN: I remember Jeff suggested something at one point,
and I remember thinking, "ls he
"(BLEEPING) With me?"
(BOTH CHUCKLING)
KOSINSKI: Did it work? BROLIN: You mean his intention?
If that were his intent? ltjust got me...
I don't know. I mean, you know, nerves work sometimes.
- They actually help in deepening... - KOSINSKI: Well, in this case,
I think 'cause that look in your eyes is a man staring deep into the abyss.
I don't know if it's staring at a two-and-a-half minute monologue or...
BROLIN: (CHUCKLING) Exactly. The abyss of your making.
KOSINSKII N0, it wasn't.
BROLIN: I was happy to do this, you know?
It was hard, but...
KOSINSKI: And Jeff's just instinct to reach out and touch you, I think...
BROLIN: Was great. KOSINSKI: Powerful.
BROLIN: It's the power of simplicity.
And that's going back to what we were talking about,
about overacting something
and when that's appropriate, not overacting,
but really ramping something up
and then when to stay subtle.
I'm very happy with what you decided ultimately to go with.
KOSINSKI: For this scene? BROLIN: Yeah.
KOSINSKI: So quiet and simple.
I'm yours.
I'm yours, Manda-bear.
BROLIN: I love that you tracked off that, nice.
KOSINSKI: So now we've come full circle.
We open with the same shot that we had at the opening of the film.
Okay.
(LINE RINGS)
Hey, Jesse.
We got a new start down in Yarnell. Lightning strike.
Yeah, go ahead, ring the bell.
We'll see you in a few.
What's up?
A skunker down in Yarnell.
It's no big deal.
Kiss.
Yes, ma'am.
I love you, Shortstop.
You, too, Sugartits.
Go back to sleep.
I'll probably be home for dinner.
So this little thing, the clinking of the rings,
was something the Marshes did
we wanted to make sure we got in the movie. Beautiful, simple gesture.
BROLIN: It's just their vernacular, you know,
which I think is special in this movie.
It's very personal.
Jesse, this is gonna be my last year as supe.
KOSINSKI: So this was just to emphasize that thing we talked about earlier,
which is a lot of people who are close to Marsh felt like
this was probably gonna be his last season,
and he was moving on to a job that would allow him to be at home more often.
BROLIN: And interesting that he would react to Donut the way he did,
feeling slighted by Donut,
and yet his own plan and future...
Well, because it has to do with family,
and that's where the family comes into it.
It's like, "How long can I sustain this?"
Because being a wildland firefighter is incredibly dangerous,
-even in the firefighting community. - Right.
KOSINSKI: And hard on the family.
And at that point, it was time to make a choice.
...and your fallback will be
this two-track road.
BROLIN: You know, my brother-in-law is a wildland firefighter
and has since become, since this movie,
you know, meaning while we were filming this movie,
he has since become...
- KOSINSKl: A wildland firefighter? - Yeah.
BROLIN: And my sister waiting for him and experiencing all that.
So when they saw the movie, it was like,
"Oh, my God. I'm in the middle of it right now."
KOSINSKI: So now we get to the Yarnell Hill fire.
And this is a part of the film that I really...
This is where I probably paid most attention
to the absolute facts of the day.
And in fact, went all the way down
to the radio transcripts in the official report on the fire,
to make sure that everything we depicted
was as close to reality as possible, when you're making a movie
and compressing a 10-hour day into 20 minutes.
But yeah, this is pretty much the activities of the day,
as detailed in the reports.
She's nice.
- So, you closed? - Like I said, brother.
Not like that.
What, is she playing hard to get?
BROLIN: Everybody's experience at home is getting more and more intimate.
Mack has found somebody.
Brendan's back with his wife, ensconced in his family.
KOSINSKII Yeah.
BROLIN: Eric has finally come to terms with his wife.
KOSINSKI: And in the next scene, he and Brendan
are gonna repair their relationship as well.
Everything's kind of resolving itself
in a really beautiful way.
MARSH: Operations, this is Granite Mountain.
We got clouds forming above Peeples Valley.
They start to grow, the fire's gonna get a lot worse real quick.
Our line's ready to burn right now.
COMMANDER: (ON RADIO) Copy, Granite Mountain.
You got the green light to burn.
All right, copy that.
Tie it in!
- Tied in. - Tied in!
All right, Jesse, flip the torches, get ready for a burn.
COPY-
So, this whole scene was shot in a private ranch outside of Santa Fe,
which was the only place that we could actually put fire on the ground,
which is obviously always scary when you're doing that out in the wild.
The last thing you want to do is start a wildfire while shooting a movie.
I'm sorry about last night.
BROLIN: And that's where we did some of our training, too.
KOSINSKII Yeah.
...we don't see things as they are.
You know, we see them as we are.
This was a scene that was interesting.
We actually had score written for it.
And it was the only moment where it felt like we were potentially...
BROLIN: Getting in the way of what was going on?
KOSINSKI: Yeah, orjust trying to maybe underline the emotions.
And it felt like it was a scene thatjust didn't need it.
BROLIN: Too manipulative, right.
KOSINSKI: We should just hear the helicopters,
the sound of the fire distant in the background.
Do you hear me?
Thanks, Supe.
All right.
BROLIN: I like how uncomfortable he was. KOSINSKI: Yeah.
After we burn this off, we head back down, boys.
Woyjeck, put more fuel down.
So this is, again, based on reality.
The Hotshots were meant to start a back burn
to kind of create a safety zone
that the fire could not come back and burn across.
And halfway through their burn,
it was mistakenly put out by a single engine air tanker.
BROLIN: I remember that little fire was so hot, that little, tiny fire.
- KOSINSKl: Three-foot flames. Yeah. - Three-foot flames.
You're putting out the wrong damn fires.
Hey, Supe, none of this shit's gonna light off now.
What's your move?
All right, tie it off here.
Take the line all the way up the ridge.
Hey, Donut, come here.
How's that leg, buddy?
Think you can handle a lookout?
Yeah.
Good spot right over there.
Just make sure you got your weather kit handy.
Keep an eye on those clouds.
You got it, Supe.
KOSINSKI: So, the issue this day was
there was a thunderstorm that was developing nearby,
actually not too close, further than you would think.
I wanna say 30 or 40 miles away.
Yet the way that weather works,
a thunderhead that far away can shift the wind
tens of miles away from itself.
And that's what Marsh was keeping an eye on that day,
was this distant thunderstorm.
I think it was raining in Prescott or something like that.
- BROLIN: Wow. - Yeah.
BROLIN: That was working its way toward them?
KOSINSKI: Well, it was the down draft that created winds that shifted...
-lt was just barometric pressure, right? - KOSINSKl: Yeah.
And changed the weather significantly in the afternoon.
So that's something that wildland firefighters
are always trying to keep track of.
BROLIN: And predict, which is almost impossible.
KOSINSKI: Yeah, so you're...
You're taking weather readings.
You're obviously getting reports over the radio.
But it's an unpredictable thing.
I mean, you're talking about an area of the country
that had experienced drought, I think, for a couple of years.
This area had not burned since the 1960s.
You're talking about 50 years of growth that have been dried out.
Very, very dangerous potential, there.
BROLINI And what is the Pat thing?
It was, like, hour, 10-hour, 100-hour,
like, each piece of wood is considered,
it would take an hour to burn it.
It would take 10 hours or something like that, yeah.
KOSINSKI: Interesting.
Yeah, I know that the fuel on the ground,
the type of brush you're dealing with, the amount of resin,
the manzanita that was in the area has a lot of energy in it,
that fire releases.
So, in the afternoon, when the winds started to shift,
the fire, instead of going away from them,
-all of a sudden turned... - BROLIN: Turned toward them.
KOSINSKI: And started coming towards them. And that's when...
BROLIN: And Donut was in the most danger,
even when they were in the black, right?
- They were... - KOSINSKl: He was in the green, there.
So he would've been the first fatality of the fire,
if the superintendent
of the other hotshot crew had not come and picked him up.
S0, even though he had an escape route
with the dozer and a two-track road...
BROLIN: So is that certain, that he would've been the first fatality?
KOSINSKI: Yeah, 'cause that area burned over first.
BROLINI Right.
KOSINSKI: He was down in the valley, below the Granite Mountain Hotshots,
who were up in the black.
And the fire just turned on him pretty quickly,
so that's what we tried to capture here.
The wildfire, moving across the landscape,
throwing embers.
Sometimes it can jump ahead by throwing embers ahead of itself.
BROLIN: And also, a fire can travel up to, what, 20, 25 miles an hour?
KOSINSKI: Yeah, when backed by the wind.
You can see the wind is now blowing towards him,
-so when pushed by the wind... - Yeah, fire can be horizontal
-and not vertical. - KOSINSKl: Yeah.
There were radio communication problems, obviously,
when you're talking about crews spread that far,
people stepping on each other.
We try to capture a little bit
of all the things that were happening that day.
Dozer and retardant line have been compromised.
- We're pulling back into the black. - Copy.
Granite Mountain, pack it up! Let's go!
Pack it up!
Donut, what's your position?
And it's amazing, again,
just shooting on this set with a little bit of fire and smoke,
how quickly you can be overcome, your eyes, your breathing.
BROLIN: Well, and you have no idea how much it hurts to breathe in that smoke.
- KOSINSKl: Yeah. - I mean, it's torturous.
KOSINSKI: And then you can quicklyjust lose sight
of your escape route, or it can get blocked off.
Boys, I've got your lookout. Fire's making its push.
We're gonna go back and bump your buggies.
Copy that. Thanks for looking out for our boy.
I'm gonna go up top, take a look up there.
COPY-
Blue River, can you burn your line off?
Negative. Line is overrun.
- Pulling back to Yarnell. - Copy.
You get your supe truck. We got your buggies.
Let's go.
I don't know how long we made you stand on the top of this mountain this day.
- We were just... - BROLIN: Forever,
as you took your drone or whatever your favorite little camera was.
- Still holding in the black. - Copy that.
Hey, so...
Next Thursday, my band's playing.
- Yeah, sorry, got a thing. - Don't...
With your immediate negativity, okay?
KOSINSKI: So, this whole scene was taken...
You can watch this footage.
It was taken, lthink, from Chris MacKenzie's iPhone.
He shot a lot of footage of them.
- BROLIN: From behind them, right? Yeah. - Yeah.
KOSINSKI: Up at the... They call it the lunch spot.
BROLIN: And that's him, taking the footage.
KOSINSKI: I made sure I got that in there.
But yeah, you can see that online.
They kind of took a break for lunch
and watched the fire move across the valley.
Where are those heavy air tankers?
AIR COMMANDER: They're inbound, but still 10 minutes out.
Come on, knock it out, man!
There you can see the flames getting to 40, 50 feet.
Granite Mountain, can you redeploy to Yarnell?
The fire's advancing on trigger point two.
So, this was in part of the movie where, again,
we have no idea what the guys were talking about at this point,
so we really relied on
talking to ex-Granite Mountain Hotshots, guys who knew...
BROLIN: What they would do at this... KOSINSKI: What they would do,
what they'd be feeling at a point
where you're sitting up in the safety zone,
watching a town being threatened by a wildfire.
- I think... - BROLIN: You said the fire had changed
and it was working its way toward Yarnell, right?
And who would want to sit up there in the black
and not get down there and protect...
- KOSINSKI: Protect those people. - You know, a possible disaster.
KOSINSKI: It's in, I think, every firefighter.
That's why they do theirjob.
So it's, you know, that's...
Again, we don't know for sure,
but we felt like that was most likely what they were probably considering
or what Marsh was considering and trying to figure out
what the best thing to do was.
He knew he had the safety zone down at the ranch.
...l think we should move on to our escape route, head down to the ranch
and work the fire from there.
We're the only crew in position to save these homes.
You and the boys down for getting back in the game?
You guys hear that?
- Let's go to work, Supe. - All right, back to work, boys.
- Back to work. - Come on, man,
-this is what we were born to do. - Let's break a sweat, boys.
And there's a little detail here, Andrew Ashcraft,
played here by Alex Russell,
would collect a rock from every fire and take it home to his son.
BROLINI Right.
KOSINSKI: So his son has a collection of rocks from different fires.
Nice detail that we wanted to make sure we got in there.
...and then on toward the ranch.
Copy that.
Donut, fire just hit trigger point two. We're pulling back
-to the restaurant. - Copy, Blue River.
So, the original headquarters location
had to be moved because the fire was moving so quickly.
So they moved it to a small restaurant
next to the highway in Yarnell.
And this is the moment, which is an important one, was Marsh
Ops, Granite Mountain.
Making the decision to go down the escape route
to the ranch, which was a safety zone,
a place that had been cleared, where they knew they could be safe.
And this is, again,
we said there's a state park now in Arizona,
where you can go and you can walk the same route.
And lwas there and I remember, it is sort of an optical illusion.
You do feel like it is close when you're standing on that ridge.
BROLINI Right.
- The ranch, you mean? - KOSINSKl: Yeah.
KOSINSKI: To this crest in the hill, but...
BROLIN: And what's the distance between the top of that hill and the ranch?
KOSINSKI: I don't want to guess, 'cause I don't know for certain.
But I know that it's one thing, now that it's relatively cleared.
But when it was filled with that heavy brush,
once you get into it with the packs and the gear,
I could see how all of a sudden, it becomes...
BROLIN: And it was filled with shale, too, right?
KOSINSKI: Yeah, it was very rocky.
BROLIN: There's no way you could run back up.
KOSINSKI: Nope. Not with those packs. BROLIN: lt was steep.
KOSINSKI: Yeah, you can see the footing's very loose.
We found a very similar kind of piece of geography.
Brendan worked his way back to the restaurant,
but had no idea where the guys were at that point.
All he could do was listen on the radio.
I'm gonna check in with Operations to get orders.
All right. Hey, thanks for picking me up.
- I owe you one. - Just sit tight, all right?
So yeah, it was around 4:00 in the afternoon
where the wind shifted
and started gusting.
...with heavy wind gusts toward the southwest.
And when the relative humidity is that low,
the temperature is that high,
and the wind is blowing through that kind of brush,
that's when you get this.
The fire starts to get so intense
it creates its own weather pattern,
creates its own wind, and it becomes this unstoppable...
BROLIN: And because of being inthatcanyon,
they couldn't know that it was coming.
KOSINSKI: No, they lost sight. As you descended into the canyon,
they lost sight of the front.
And then, only when they got down to the bottom
did Marsh see it come around the toe of the hill there.
And then at that point,
I think I've been told
from when they first saw the fire, they had somewhere,
maybe two minutes, two to three minutes before...
BROLIN: Before it reached them?
KOSINSKI: Yeah. So that's why
rather than try to run away,
it made sense to create a deployment site,
which is where you clear as much brush as you can around you.
We are in front of the flaming front!
BROLIN: And hopefully the concept
-is that the fire... - The fire burns around, yeah.
- BROLIN: The fire passes around you. - Yeah.
KOSINSKI: And that's where you can pull out your shelter.
BROLIN: Because the shelter can withstand heat,
but is not necessarily meant...
KOSINSKI: Not direct flame contact, yeah.
So you're creating an area that has no fuel to burn.
But at this point,
no one really had any idea where Granite Mountain was.
They could hear them on the radio, but there's no technology,
at least at that point,
that would tell anyone where they were.
So there was a lot of confusion as to where Granite Mountain was,
whether they had gone down the back side of the mountain...
- BROLIN: And he knows at this point... - Yeah.
-...there's just no way out. - KOSINSKl: Yeah.
Air Attack, Granite Mountain.
KOSINSKI: I mean, this is all taken from the transcript.
You can hear this radio transmission that Marsh gave.
Okay, I'm here with Granite Mountain Hotshots,
and our escape route has been cut off.
- Okay. - We are preparing a deployment site.
We are burning out around ourselves...
in the brush.
KOSINSKI: And shooting these scenes, I think these were the most intense,
not only, obviously, emotionally, butjust physically.
The heat from the fire that we were creating,
I remember in one scene after a take, you were right up close.
And you turned around and the backpack had melted,
a wild and fire backpack.
BROLIN: But you're sitting in a situation
where you know this really happened,
and it's one of those things
that you don't want to be an actor at this point and go,
-"Can we stop? It's really hot." - Yeah.
BROLIN: You know what I mean? KOSINSKI: No, I remember that.
BROLIN: I just remember how...
That's why it's hard to watch this movie still,
because I still remember how sensitive this was.
KOSINSKI: Yeah, you guys, I mean,
we had all gotten to know them over the course...
This was probably the last week or two of filming.
BROLINI Yeah.
Just looking at his face.
KOSINSKI: And everyone says
the amazing thing about their deployment was that it was...
They stayed together.
And that's the sign of a crew that truly not only were well-trained,
-but truly... - BROLIN: Relied on each other.
- KOSINSKI: Yeah, and trusted each other. - Right.
It's gonna be okay!
Okay. Okay.
BROLIN: I thought you dealt with this beautifully.
Now, I need you to pay attention.
And tell me when you hear the aircraft, okay?
Very sensitive.
KOSINSKI: Yeah, well, that was always the challenge.
It was the thing that kept me up,
was trying to figure out how to play this scene
in a way that had the emotional impact.
- BROLIN: And not exploit it. - And not exploit it.
KOSINSKI: And that's why I felt like the fire dream,
the idea of going to the fire dream
was the best way to do that because it had been set up.
Marsh, we knew what the importance of it,
we knew what the significance of it was to Marsh,
what it represented, and the fire bear
running past camera into the darkness seemed to be
the best way to handle it.
It can't be explained, you know.
And I think cinema at its best is
left to the viewer to interpret the meaning of it.
I got eyes! I got eyes!
KOSINSKI: So it took a few hours, I guess,
it was like 6:30 that afternoon
before they were able to locate the deployment site again
because they didn't know exactly where Granite Mountain was.
And it was a medic police officer
who spotted it from a helicopter.
And he was the first one on scene.
BROLIN: Did you ever speak with him?
KOSINSKll I did not, n0.
But...
I did read some interviews with him,
and it's an interesting story because he heard voices
as he got to the site.
And that's what motivated him to run that direction.
And it ended up being the radios,
the guys' radios were still working.
- BROLIN: Were still working? - Yes.
- BROLIN: I didn't know that. - Yeah.
BROLIN: I'd never heard that story.
Okay, I COPY-
Let's go ahead and obviously secure the area.
We'll go from there.
BROLIN: I've gotten very close with Donut, even after the movie,
closer after the movie than during the film.
Yeah, that is...
He's taken the worst tragedy you can imagine
and put it to as good a use as he can.
This is just heartbreaking.
KOSINSKI: Yeah, this again, all kind of came from talking with Amanda
and her sharing her experience of finding out.
Bringing all the families over to Prescott Middle School.
Setting up a whole thing for the fallout.
And Brendan wanting to be at the gym, I always thought was
one of those things that you... It seems like a bad idea,
but you understand 100% why he wanted to do that
and to be there,
not fully, maybe, understanding what his arrival...
- BROLIN: Might do. - Right.
- Yeah? - KATHY: Duane,
I just talked to the sheriff.
He's saying 19.
You're sure?
I'm afraid so.
But he told me that one of them got out okay.
KOSINSKI: Definitely some of the hardest days shooting for me,
these scenes and the gym scene were the ones that I kind of
was not, would say, not looking forward to doing,
but knew that it was an important part of this story to tell.
But long, hard days and Jennifer, my God,
what she had to go through on these days.
BROLIN: So 6:30, that they were found.
- Is that what you said? - KOSINSKl: Yeah.
Yeah, I think so. lt was around that time,
so it'd have been about, almost two hours since they had disappeared.
BROLIN: Amanda took me to that gym.
- KOSINSKl: ls that right? - Yeah.
BROLIN: And showed me where she was sitting outside.
Please, just hold on.
KOSINSKI: Yeah, so there was obviously a lot of confusion,
misinformation that was floating around this afternoon.
A lot of things were traveling around in social media,
as you can imagine, before anything...
BROLIN: Of who the survivor was?
- KOSINSKI: Orjustwhat had happened. - What had happened, right.
KOSINSKI: You know, in the world we live in now,
stuff can travel so quickly without being verified.
But the idea that there was a survivor was out there.
The question was no one knew exactly who it was.
BROLINI Right.
KOSINSKI: I think many people assumed it was Eric
because they knew he was division that day, you know?
He actually wasn't with the guys a lot of the time.
BROLIN: Meaning he would pop ahead and scout.
KOSINSKI: Pop ahead, scout, yeah. So seemingly separated.
In some ways, I think Brendan might've been
the last guy they would expect.
And yeah, walking into that gym for him...
BROLIN: Walking into that focus.
KOSINSKI: This is a scene, this is the only scene where I actually wanted
to have everyone stare directly into the camera
because I really wanted to put you in his shoes for a second.
Brendan, come on. Let me get you home.
And a really, really difficult scene for any actor to pull off,
that close-up on Miles 'cause that's a wide-angle lens.
So you're talking about having a camera 12 inches in front of your face.
Brendan.
Brendan!
- Should have been me. - No.
And the interesting thing I thought about this scene was, you know,
throughout the film we play this idea of Amanda,
people saying, "At least you're not a mother,"
you know, this whole idea of not having children.
Yet in this moment,
she's...
BROLIN: A major maternal force.
KOSINSKI: The only one who's able to be a mother to Brendan
because I'm not sure how she was able to do that,
but the idea... You know,
I don't know if it has something to do with what she does for a living,
but being able to go out and be with Brendan
in a time where he was so vulnerable...
BROLIN: And to bring him back into reality.
KOSINSKII Yeah.
KOSINSKI: So, yeah, so now we jump forward three years,
which it's a big jump,
but this was kind of, for me,
this was the Brendan and Amanda that we got to know.
Because we shot the movie three years after Yarnell,
and it was important to show...
BROLIN: We began it just before three years,
and it came out right after four years, right?
KOSINSKI: Yep, that's right.
But Amanda, you know, this moment with the horses is,
for anyone who knows Amanda knows this is her.
She truly believes that... She's a very spiritual person
and believes that Eric is nearby, near her.
BROLIN: In whatever symbolism there is to...
KOSINSKI: To make of that, yeah.
That was for her.
And yeah, going back to the tree,
which has now become a memorial for the guys,
this is how I first experienced the movie,
going there with Brendan.
BROLIN: Was there anything on the tree when you got there?
KOSINSKI: Yeah. Yeah, there were still chainsaw blades
and little things hanging from the tree.
And like you said, Brendan has really taken this tragedy
and through the experience of making this movie and this book,
has really dedicated his life
to spreading the story of his brothers
and making sure people understand
who they were and who wildland firefighters are,
and this film is just one part of that process for him.
BROLIN: Yeah, he's embraced it and really done a greatjob,
especially lately.
I thought he was great in the marketing of this film.
KOSINSKI: So here at the end, it was important for me
to meet the real guys.
BROLIN: I remember there was talk of not having this,
-which I always thought was insane. - KOSINSKI: Yeah, you have to.
BROLIN: Such a respectful moment.
And I always told you what I loved about this film
was that you really got to know them on a communal level, you know.
You felt intimate with these guys
by the time you got to the end of the movie,
and their families.
KOSINSKI: And I wanted to include the actors that played them, too,
'cause I felt like that would provide a little connective tissue
-from who you had... - BROLIN: Just experienced it.
KOSINSKI: Yeah, just experienced and then used that
to tie them into the real person.
But you can also just hopefully
see how each actor took it,
the idea of representing them to heart,
to the point where you really feel like you're,
you know, not only just the way they look,
but the spirit of the guy
is evident when you see them kind ofjuxtaposed.
BROLIN: Baby Rose.
KOSINSKI: Gotta give a shout-out to Danny Yount,
the title designer, who put this piece together for me.
I've worked with him on three films now.
It's a lot of work to, obviously, get all the photographs
and put this piece together.
He did, I think, a wonderful job.
BROLINI And Claudio.
KOSINSKI: Our DP, Claudio Miranda. This is my third movie with him.
Joe Trapanese, who did this incredible score for this film
and co-wrote this song, along with Dierks Bentley and Sean Carey.
Brendan asked me if he could have a message
at the end of the film, which I, of course, agreed to.
And this is what he wanted to say,
which I don't know if he could've written that three years ago.
He now felt that he's in a place to say that, which is fantastic.
BROLIN: And to you, man. You directed a great film.
KOSINSKI: Well, thank you. BROLIN: If there's a film
that I'm most proud of, it's this one,
just proud to be associated with.
And thank you.
KOSINSKI: Well, thank you, Josh.
I could not have done this without you.
You were the first man in, and I really appreciate that.
- Thanks. - BROLIN: Well, thank you.