In 2003, Adrien Brody became the youngest winner in history of the Best Actor Oscar for his powerful performance in “The Pianist”. The Roman Polanski-directed war drama launched Brody onto Hollywood’s A-list, and since that film’s success he has impressed in a variety of high-impact roles.
Brody was born in New York City on April 14, 1973, the son of a Jewish history teacher, Elliot Brody, and the famed Hungarian photojournalist Sylvia Plachy. During his youth he repeatedly accompanied his mother on assignments for The Village Voice and other New York publications, giving him an early introduction to the photographic arts. His parents enrolled him in the LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts as a teen, where he excelled as an actor. The acting experience he garnered in high school led him to a few early professional screen appearances, including a small part in “New York Stories”. Brody later landed parts in Steven Soderbergh’s grossly underrated “King of the Hill” and 1994’s “Angels in the Outfield”.
After floating through the mid-90s with roles in mostly forgettable films, Brody nabbed his big break with a major role in Terrence Malick’s breathtaking WWII drama “The Thin Red Line”. Unfortunately, the notoriously unpredictable Malick cut most of Brody’s part, after 20th Century Fox pressured him to cut down the film’s excessive six-hour running time. The next year, 1999, saw Brody receive heaps of praise for Spike Lee’s “Summer of Sam”, but that film’s commercial failure once again thwarted his chance at stardom. Luckily, he was soon offered the lead role in Polanski’s “The Pianist”. Brody’s preparation for the role has made him famous as a method actor – wanting to get in touch with his character, he lost nearly thirty pounds off his already slender frame, got rid of his car and his apartment, and holed up for months to master Chopin pieces on the piano. The depressing, controversial film earned him enormous acclaim, and his Oscar win made him not only the youngest Best Actor winner but also the first to beat out four previous winners – he won over heavyweights Jack Nicholson, Nicolas Cage, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Michael Caine.
Brody hasn’t yet equaled the dramatic success of “The Pianist”, but has nonetheless starred in several popular and well-received films, including “The Singing Detective”, M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Village”, “The Jacket”, and Peter Jackson’s terrific remake of “King Kong”. The stylish actor is soon to take over cinema screens with the promising mystery thriller “Hollywoodland” alongside Ben Affleck and Diane Lane.