The article recounts how the Coen brothers cast Tommy Lee Jones as Sheriff Ed Tom Bell in their 2007 film No Country for Old Men. It matters because Jones’s age, Texan background and reputation helped establish the weary, reflective lawman central to the film’s moral perspective.

Joel Coen said Jones was among a short list of actors suitable for the role because of his age and ability to convincingly embody the region; he is himself from Texas. Ethan Coen then jokingly said they hired him “because he’s so fucking old”, while Jones was 59; Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin were also cast in the acclaimed adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s novel.