'Whale' director Brian Duffield on using Josh Brolin's heartbeat for whale: 'Feel as personal as possible'

Josh Brolin can now add a different role to his resume. In addition to playing Mitt Gardiner, the late father of Austin Abrams' character Jay, aspects of the actor were also used to create the appearance of the sperm whale that traps Jay inside its body for most of the film. […]

Josh Brolin can now add a different role to his resume.

In addition to playing Mitt Gardiner, the late father of Austin Abrams' character Jay, aspects of the actor were also used to create the appearance of the sperm whale that traps Jay inside its body for most of the film.

As Jay fights for survival, he communicates with his father's spirit (via Brolin's voice), which also doubles as a whale spirit. Because its heartbeat creates a special lighting effect throughout the film, director Brian Duffield revealed that they recorded Brolin's heartbeat and doubled it for the whale, further cementing his late father's connection to the mammal. RELATED STORIES Hillary Clinton co-hosts James Murdoch's Vox Media podcast on the 2026 midterm elections with Cara Swisher.

"Obviously, we didn't record the heartbeat of the native sperm whale," Duffield told Variety at the film's premiere on Tuesday. "It just went, 'Well, we've got to have a heartbeat.' Where are we going to get the heartbeat?'' And then it was, 'We've got Josh!'" popular in Variety

At the premiere, which was held at the El Capitan Theater, Duffield revealed that Brolin was also inspired by the whale's physical appearance. In an effort to visually tie the two together, the creators gave the whale similar scars from Brolin's character's face. It was an unconscious choice, says Duffield, but it was enough for Abrams and the filmmakers.

"It's just whatever," said the director, "even if it's something no one notices."

"Whalefall" is one of three films Brolin is starring in this year, including the third installment of the "Dune" series, which is set for release on December 18. While promoting "Whalefall," Brolin told Variety that he's happy that the theatrical releases have seen a jump at the box office, including for the recent reboot of "Avenger: Back to the Big Screen."

"On Sundays when I was in the theater in my early 20s and late teens, and the lights would go down — it was just a mind-blowing experience that I never wanted to let go of," Brolin says.

However, Ridley Scott Brolin's "Dog Stars" earned just $8 million in its opening weekend in August. The actor said he's not worried about the numbers because it's impossible to know "what's going to work."

"'Dog Stars' did an incredible marketing campaign, and no one saw it," he said, noting that box office flops can eventually find success through streaming.

Brolin recalled his 2017 film Only the Brave, which initially bombed at the box office but later became a blockbuster. "You don't know if you're going to be part of the zeitgeist or not," he said.