Josh Brolin has revealed the Coen brothers don’t like to give their actors positive affirmations on set.

The Dune: Part Two actor has worked with sibling writer/directors Joel and Ethan Coen on three films – No Country for Old Men, True Grit and Hail, Caesar! – and the 2007 short World Cinema.

Brolin shared an insight into how the brothers direct their actors during an appearance on the SmartLess podcast.

“After every scene I’ve ever done, especially in the beginning, I’ve never ever gotten, ‘Great scene’, I’ve never gotten a thumbs-up. It’s literally moving on and looking up and seeing their backs walking away to the next set,” he revealed.

“Maybe later on I’d go, ‘What’d you think of that scene?’ and they go, ‘Meh, yeah.’ Basically we got what we need and you did your job correctly, that’s why we hired you.”

The Goonies actor witnessed one exception to this directing style when he worked with Woody Harrelson on 2007’s No Country for Old Men.

“Woody Harrelson was the only guy who couldn’t remember his lines during No Country and we had that scene in the hospital together and he talks the majority of the time and he couldn’t get through his f**king lines,” he shared. “Then finally he did one take where he kind of stumbled through his lines and then I saw the Coens come from behind set and they looked at him and they go, ‘Wow, that was amazing.'”

Recalling his reaction to this praise, Brolin joked, “I was like, ‘You’ve got to be f**king kidding me! This dude is literally stuttering through his s**t. I get nothing!'”

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