What is Whale Fall about, according to Josh Brolin?

Josh Brolin describes Whale Fall as an adaptation of a Daniel Kraus novel in which he plays the father of Austin Abrams's character. After the father dies at sea, the son goes looking for his remains and is swallowed by a whale, where he spends about 80% of the story. Brolin says he read the book in Italy while filming The Dog Stars with Ridley Scott, sobbed at the ending and agreed to the film without reading the script.

• Brolin says the book moved him because the son survives using exactly what his hard father taught him.
• Brolin says Kraus later won the Pulitzer for his novel Angel Down and stayed at Brolin's house while finishing a book.
• Brolin says Whale Fall inspired him to write The Fisherman, which he says will shoot in January.

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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