Josh Brolin Says Late Mom Jane Was a ‘Force of Nature’ While Recalling How She Once Tamed a Gorilla

“She couldn’t drive any less than 100 miles an hour. Everything that she did was big,” Brolin said of his late mom

Josh Brolin on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’. Photo: Disney/Randy Holmes/Getty

Josh Brolin is recalling his mother Jane Cameron Agee’s animal wrangling prowess.

The Avengers: Endgame star, 56, shared on Jimmy Kimmel Live’s Dec. 17 episode that his mother — despite her small 5’2 105 lbs. stature — once helped wrangle a gorilla in front of him and his brother when they were younger.

“We get out of the truck and she has this kind of deep Texas voice and she goes, ‘Where is he?,’ ” Brolin recalled of his mother, who was a wildlife activist for California’s Department of Fish and Game at the time.

“And they go, ‘Jane he’s over here,’ and then she said, ‘Okay, open the cage, and it was a double door,’ ” he continued. “So they open one door, and then she goes, ‘Go ahead. Open the second door.’ And they’re like, ‘No, no, no, he’s hurt other people. He’s hurt other animals.’”

However, he said that did not deter his mother who knew exactly how to command the exotic animal — as she had experience doing it on her own ranch.

“The gorilla pumps his chest and does all of that kind of masculine showmanship,” the actor said. “And my mom goes, ‘Stop it,’ and the gorilla literally in the midst of doing this goes ‘huh?’”

“This is the God’s honest truth, man,” he explained. “And there’s a truck over there and they open this slide thing, this entrance into the back of the truck, and she goes, ‘You get in there right now…’ [The gorilla] went from [being aggressive] to like watching her in a totally confused [way] and all that.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. 

Jane Cameron Agee, Josh Brolin, and James Brolin.ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty

He went on to describe his mother as a “severe woman” and a “force of nature,” both things he wrote about in his new memoir From Under the Truck, which traces his upbringing among wild animals like wolves and cougars and his rise to Hollywood fame.

“It’s funny because I mentioned [my mom], and somebody said to me, ‘[Your book] is the greatest love letter of a mother I’ve ever read,’ which I thought was the greatest compliment I got ‘cause the stories are severe. She was a severe woman,” he said.

“She was a force of nature. She couldn’t drive any less than 100 miles an hour. Everything that she did was big,” he added.

James Brolin and Jane Cameron Agee at home in Los Angeles, California, circa 1967.Earl Leaf/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty

Jane cared for rescued, illegally owned wild animals at her “wildlife way station” on the Brolin’s 230-acre ranch in Paso Robles, Calif. She also worked as a casting director in Hollywood — which is how she met Brolin’s father James Brolin.

“My mom was a good mom, but my mom didn’t deal with people well,” Josh previously told USA Today in 2013. “She dealt with animals.”

Josh’s father and mother eventually split in 1984, when he was 16. Jane then died in a car crash at the age of 55 on Feb. 13, 1995. Following her death, the actor has continued to pay tribute to her memory, even sharing a look at her mementos, including her ceramics collection, that he’s kept over the years.