Which actor nearly played young J in Men in Black 3?

In the 2012 sequel “Men in Black 3”, Will Smith’s Agent K travels back in time to work with a young J (Tommy Lee Jones’s character from the first two films), as played by Josh Brolin.

In a new interview with Cinema Blend’s The Reel Blend, director Barry Sonnenfeld tells how Brolin quite nearly lost the gig to Mark Wahlberg.

“One of the most powerful agents there are is a guy named Ari Emanuel. He’s the head of William Morris Endeavor. And he’s really good friends with Mark Wahlberg. And he really wanted Mark Wahlberg to play young Tommy Lee Jones. And I think Mark would have done a great job. But I think Brolin was born to play Tommy.

“I ended up having to meet Mark Wahlberg. And Mark was lovely. He was great. He would have been great in the role. But I wanted Brolin. So I got Brolin, and thank God, the studio backed me up. But they were really nervous about making Ari upset that I didn’t go with his guy.”

Brolin was pretty great as a young Tommy Lee Jones – check this out :