Hollywood Star Josh Brolin Says He Made More Money Trading Stocks Than Acting Due to Discipline And 1 Stock That Went 'to the Roof'

Fahad Saleem

Sun, Jun 1, 2025, 8:51 AM 3 min read

Hollywood actors are often seen as financially set for life, with little reason to seek extra income elsewhere. But acclaimed American actor Josh Brolin revealed in an interview that he turned to stock trading to make ends meet during a difficult stretch in his Hollywood career.

Speaking with podcaster and journalist Guy Raz a few months ago, Brolin said he began stock investing to support his family during a time when his acting career hadn't taken off and he wasn't "cutting it."

"I had children going to school and I just wasn’t making money, man," Brolin said. "If you’re lucky enough to make 100,000 a year, which I wasn’t, then you’re clearing 30,000 after taxes and commissions and if you have a lawyer and you have a manager and an agent and all this stuff that I had back then."

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Brolin said he started taking interest in stocks after meeting entrepreneur and investor Brett Markinson, who introduced him to the technical details and dynamics of trading. Brolin started asking him everything about investing to understand the finer details of the industry. Later, Brolin's role in "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" gave him access to market experts and billionaires, with whom he discussed finance, discipline, and other key aspects of investing, he said. All of this proved worthwhile for Brolin, who said he earned more from investing than from his acting career.

"I made more money than I had ever made acting for sure," Brolin told Raz. "It wasn’t just because I got lucky with one stock that went to the roof, I was very disciplined in the breaths of upward momentum, you know, fairly solid stocks. So I’d get it when it would go down, I’d sell it when it would go up."

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Brolin said that he is a long-term investor now because day trading requires a tight schedule and a disciplined routine.

"If you do that, you have to be up at 4:30 every morning and you have to know your basket and you have done your due diligence for what you’re trading for that day and the night before," according to Brolin.

Brolin said he'd accepted early on that he'd spend his career as a working actor, constantly seeking roles to support himself. But he was also confident from the beginning that he’d always be able to handle his finances and provide for his family.