Was Josh Brolin really a full-time stock trader?

Yes. Josh Brolin told Theo Von that around age 30 he learned to trade stocks from a man named Brett Markinson and then traded full time for almost five years, day trading and swing trading from home on three screens. Brolin says he was good at it and made more money in those years than in his first 20 years of acting.

• Before trading, Brolin says he also worked as a landscaper for a year.
• Brolin says that if he quit acting tomorrow to trade full time or become a photographer, he wants to be free to do it.

▸In their words

“I made more money in those four years really, it was five years, but within four years than I had made in 20 years acting.” Josh Brolin · at 46:47 — open in the transcript →

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von (2026-10-13). Read the whole episode summary →

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