Adrien Brody hopes The Brutalist can offer ‘perspective’ amid ‘divisive’ times

By Hannah Roberts, PA Entertainment Reporter

Bafta-winning actor Adrien Brody has said he hopes The Brutalist can give people “perspective” as he spoke of the “divisive” times we are living through.

The American actor, 51, won the leading actor gong during Sunday’s awards ceremony for his role as Hungarian-Jewish architect Laszlo Toth, who flees from post-war Europe for the US.

Speaking at the winners’ press conference, he said: “I’m really grateful for Brady (Corbet) and Mona (Fastvold) to write something, and a role in particular, that is so full of complexity and humanity and speaks to the great deal of hardship in this world, both in the past and also that has relevance today.”

 

Brody added: “This film, as many of you may know, is an opportunity for me to honour my own ancestral struggles.

“My grandparents and my mother fled Hungary in ’56 during the revolution.

“They too were refugees and immigrants in the United States, and their story of hardship and their resilience and all that they’ve sacrificed to pave the way for me to have this beautiful moment is something that I’m really grateful to speak to in the work as Laszlo, my character’s journey echoes many of their struggles.”

He continued: “It’s very important that a film that speaks to tremendous cruelty and despicable behaviour in our past, that we see elements existing today that can guide us and remind us of that.

“It won’t necessarily change those things.

“I don’t have an expectation that it does, but we all have to recognise that we’re one and that we live in a time that is quite divisive and it (the film) speaks to the need for all of us to share in the responsibility of how we want others to be treated and how we want to be treated by others.

“There’s no place anymore for antisemitism, there’s no place for racism, there’s no place for petty bigotry and stereotypical resentments.

“And if you can look at the past and you can look at this universal hardship of so many, you gain, hopefully, some perspective.”

When he accepted the award Brody thanked his fellow nominees and said the award was “incredibly meaningful, as England has felt quite a bit like home lately”, explaining that he lived in London while doing a play.

Last year Brody made his London theatre debut in The Fear Of 13, billed as “the extraordinary true story of Nick Yarris”, who spent years on death row before being exonerated.

Brody is nominated for an Oscar for his performance in The Brutalist, which has already seen him win at the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards.

He previously won the leading actor gong at the Academy Awards for Holocaust drama The Pianist in 2003.

Brody is also known for the adventure film King Kong, as well as Wes Anderson comedies The Darjeeling Limited and The Grand Budapest Hotel.