Josh Brolin appeared almost unrecognizable as he displayed some eye-popping faux tattoos while on the set of the forthcoming thriller Whalefall on Monday.
The 57-year-old veteran actor went shirtless at the San Pedro, California location, adding dark jeans and a faded purple baseball cap.
His chest, arms, and back were heavily inked, more than one year after the star removed a real tattoo on his shoulder blade.
Whalefall is an adaption of the Daniel Kraus novel and follows Jay, a young scuba diver in search of his late father’s Mitt Gardiner’s (Brolin) remains.
Amid his hunt, he gets swallowed by an 80ft, 60-ton sperm whale and has a limited amount of time before his oxygen runs out.
After giving in to defeat, Jay suddenly finds a reason to live.
It was announced by Deadline in March that Josh was in negotiations to star opposite Austin Abrams in the film the outlet described as ‘The Martian meets 127 Hours.’
Whalefall entered production earlier this month, as Kraus gave fans a first-look at Josh as the tattooed Mitt.
Originally shared via his newsletter, the photo was later circulated on X by the horror-themed account @BloodyDisgusting.
It showed Josh shirtless, covered in his character’s tattoos as he wore a ribbed green hat and sported a goatee.
Kraus co-wrote the screenplay in collaboration with director Brian Duffield.
Also part of the cast are Elisabeth Shue, Jane Levy, John Ortiz, and Emily Rudd, according to ComingSoon.Net.
Daniel reflected in his newsletter, ‘Nearly all of my books have been optioned at some point, but very few get shot, and I wouldn’t have necessarily bet on the book that’s mostly set inside a whale would be the one to get there — and attract so much talent.’
He added, ‘Not only Brolin, but Austin Abrams (playing Jay), who I’ve gotten to know as a good dude who is super-super-super serious about this role.’
In May 2024 Josh took to Instagram to post footage having a tattoo on the upper right side of his back removed.
He posed in a photo in front of a black van with the business name ‘Removery Tattoo Removal & Fading’ across it.
Wearing a burgundy trucker hat, brown shirt, and jeans, he flashed the ‘hang loose’ hand gesture.
The next slide was a video snippet showing him stretched out while a specialist took a laser to the tattoo.
‘Thank you @removery for getting this bulls**t off my back. And my bro @tobymorse Early morning session.’
