No Country for Old Men (France 3): Why did Javier Bardem nearly miss his Oscar-winning role?

That day, Llewelyn Moss examines her prey alone and, through her binoculars, sees the body of a dog lying next to several abandoned vans. As he approaches, he sees that several people have been shot at close range. A massacre was committed here, probably among drug traffickers. The cowboy hunter notices another corpse leaning against a tree with a suitcase at his feet. At a glance, it contains nearly two million dollars, which he immediately confiscated and then returned home. Moss knows this: he’s a target now…

The Big Lebowski, O’Brother and the Unbearable Cruelty, after the Joel and Ethan Coen comedies, is Cormac McCarthy’s thriller in 2007, No, this country wasn’t made for the old man. Near the Texas-Mexico border, a hunter played by Josh Brolin finds the bodies of gangsters who killed each other during a drug trade and finds a $2 million bag inside. A murderer is after her to reclaim the loot… Javier Bardem is contacted to play her and she responds: ” I don’t drive, my English is bad and I hate violence. Coens’ response: That’s why we chose you! “Great intuition, because Bardem, adorned with a bowl cut, is as creepy as a psycho armed with a fancy pickaxe stolen from a slaughterhouse.

His bloody voyage is costly to make, 4 liters of fake blood sells for $800, but it’s worth an Oscar to Bardem. For Josh Brolin, the adventure almost turned upside down before filming: He broke his shoulder in a motorcycle accident. “‘Damn, I’ve been wanting to work with the Coens for years, it’s over!’ I said.” Fortunately, he is able to embody it seamlessly, as his character is shot in the shoulder at the beginning of the movie. Tommy Lee Jones plays the fortified sheriff who leads the investigation:I had read the novel and had strongly hoped that the movie would be made. I said yes to the Coens as soon as they called me!”

No Country for Old Men airs on Monday, May 22 at 21:10 on France 3.

pascal pinteau