Josh Brolin is best known for playing Thanos in the Avengers films and Cable in Deadpool 2, but in a podcast released on 13 October he revealed a very different chapter of his life. Speaking to comedian Theo Von on This Past Weekend, the actor said he spent almost five years as a full-time stock trader, working from home across three screens. “I was day trading. I was swing trading and day trading,” he said. “I made more money in those four years, really it was five years, but within four years, than I had made in 20 years acting.” The interview, which coincided with the 16 October release of his new film Whalefall, was quickly picked up by Fox News and shared widely on social media.
Brolin is not the only famous name to have been drawn to the markets. Some celebrities have traded successfully, some have become famous because of trading, and others have learned expensive lessons. Here is a look at the stories behind them.
Josh Brolin: from Hollywood lull to trading desk
Born in 1968, Brolin began trading around the age of 30, in the late 1990s, when acting work had slowed down. In an earlier interview with podcaster Guy Raz, reported in June 2025, he explained that the motivation was simple: “I just wasn’t making money, man.”
He learned from the entrepreneur and investor Brett Markinson, peppering him with questions about how trading worked. Brolin has described himself as “very disciplined”, buying fairly solid stocks and selling when prices rose, and he has rejected the idea that his success came from getting lucky with a single stock that “went to the roof”.
He has also been candid about the demands. Trading that way, he said, requires a tight schedule: “you have to be up at 4:30 every morning”. He eventually returned to acting, and his career took off again with No Country for Old Men and Milk in 2007 and 2008, the second of which earned him an Oscar nomination. Today he describes himself as a long-term investor rather than an active trader.
Keith Gill: the trader who became a celebrity
If Brolin is a celebrity who traded, Keith Gill is a trader who became a celebrity. Better known online as Roaring Kitty, the former financial wellness educator from Massachusetts became the face of the GameStop frenzy of January 2021, when an army of small investors drove the shares of the struggling video game retailer to extraordinary heights.
Gill testified before the US Congress in February 2021, and his story was turned into the 2023 film Dumb Money, with Paul Dano playing him alongside Seth Rogen, Pete Davidson and America Ferrera. In 2024 he returned to social media after almost three years of silence, and his posts were again followed by sharp moves in GameStop shares. His story shows both the power of online communities and how quickly prices can swing when enthusiasm takes over.
Nick Leeson: the British cautionary tale
For British readers, the most famous trader of all may be Nick Leeson. In 1995, the Watford-born derivatives trader brought down Barings, Britain’s oldest merchant bank, after hiding losses of around £827 million from unauthorised trades in Singapore. Leeson was sentenced to six and a half years in a Singapore prison.
His story became a book and then the 1999 film Rogue Trader, with Ewan McGregor in the lead role. Leeson later became a public speaker on risk and an occasional media personality. His case is still used in finance courses as an example of what happens when losses are hidden and controls fail.
Reality stars and the trading promotions that went wrong
Not every celebrity link to trading is about making trades. In February 2026, seven reality TV personalities, including The Only Way Is Essex star Lauren Goodger and former Love Island and Geordie Shore cast members, were sentenced at Southwark Crown Court after pleading guilty to issuing unauthorised financial promotions. They had promoted a foreign exchange trading scheme on Instagram, where their combined following was around 4.5 million.
The fines ranged from a few hundred pounds to £3,750, plus costs. The Financial Conduct Authority’s executive director of enforcement and market oversight, Steve Smart, said: “These influencers betrayed the trust of those who followed them.” The case was one of the regulator’s first prosecutions of so-called finfluencers and was widely seen as a warning to anyone tempted to post about money-making schemes.
What day trading actually involves
Brolin’s description of early mornings and multiple screens is a reasonable picture of the reality. In simple terms, day trading means buying and selling financial instruments, such as shares, currencies or commodities, within the same day, aiming to profit from small price movements rather than holding investments for months or years. Positions are usually closed before the market shuts, which means traders must make many decisions quickly.
It is also an activity where most participants struggle. A widely cited study by Brazilian economists Fernando Chague, Rodrigo De-Losso and Bruno Giovannetti followed people who day traded futures in Brazil for 300 days or more and found that 97% of them lost money. Only around 1% earned more than the Brazilian minimum wage. Trading costs, emotional decisions and the speed of the markets all work against beginners.
That is one reason why famous success stories can be misleading. For every Josh Brolin, who had a mentor, a strict routine and a period of years to learn, there are many people who lose money and never talk about it publicly.
Why celebrity stories matter
Celebrity trading stories attract attention because they mix fame, money and risk. They can also shape how ordinary people see the markets. A clip of an Oscar-nominated actor saying he made more from trading than from films travels much further than a research paper on loss rates.
The more useful lesson from Brolin’s account may be the part that went viral less: the discipline, the long hours and his eventual move to long-term investing. As he put it, active trading requires knowing what you hold and doing your homework.
FAQ
Was Josh Brolin really a day trader?
Yes. Brolin has said in several interviews, most recently on This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von in October 2026, that he traded full-time for around four to five years, mixing very short-term trades with swing trading.
Who taught Josh Brolin to trade?
He has credited entrepreneur and investor Brett Markinson with teaching him how trading works.
Who is Roaring Kitty?
Roaring Kitty is the online name of Keith Gill, the American investor who became famous during the GameStop share rally of 2021 and was portrayed by Paul Dano in the film Dumb Money.
Which reality stars were sentenced over trading promotions?
In February 2026, seven personalities from shows including The Only Way Is Essex, Love Island and Geordie Shore were sentenced at Southwark Crown Court for promoting an unauthorised foreign exchange trading scheme on Instagram.
