Adrien Brody Biography, Life, Interesting Facts

Adrien Brody

Adrien Brody is an American actor famous for his portrayal of W?adys?aw Szpilman in the movie The Pianist (2002). The 43-year-old actor has appeared in 53 films, two music videos, and has had 8 TV appearances. He currently lives in Los Angeles, California.

Childhood And Early Life

Adrien Brody was born in Queens, New York on April 14, 1973. His father, Elliot Brody, is a professor and painter of Polish descent. His mother, Sylvia Plachy, is a Hungarian photographer who has worked for notorious publications like the NY Times.

When he was younger, he used to perform as a magician at children’s parties and attended acting lessons. He studied at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. When he was 13, he appeared in an Off-Broadway play and a TV film. Brody attended Stony Brook University and transferred in 1990 to Queens College.

Career

In his early twenties, Adrien Brody appeared in several movies, including Bullet (1996) alongside Tupac Shakur and Mickey Rourke, and Restaurant (1998). But it wasn’t until he starred in The Pianist (2002) that he gained fame. The movie is set in the years of the German invasion of Poland during World War II. Brody appears as W?adys?aw Szpilman, a Polish Jewish pianist who has to go into hiding from the Nazis.

Brody earned a reputation for taking his work seriously with this role, losing 13 kg and becoming skilled enough playing the piano to be able to interpret Chopin. In 2003 he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, becoming the youngest actor to receive the award. He was 29 years old. This role also earned him a César Award.

Following this iconic performance, Adrien Brody continued appearing in films and on TV. He starred as a ventriloquist in Dummy (2003). For this role, he learned ventriloquism from a professional. He became so skilled that he performed all the voice tricks himself while filming. He also appeared in The Village (2004), and in the 2005 remake of King Kong. His TV appearances include a hosting episode on Saturday Night Live (2003), and the character Harry Houdini in the TV miniseries Houdini (2014).

More recently, he appeared in The Budapest Hotel (2014), and Dragon Blade (2015). The movie Emperor, in which he plays King Charles V, is set to be released in 2017. Apart from films and TV shows, he has also appeared in several commercials, and in 2012 was a runway model for the Prada Men Fall/Winter 2012 show.

The actor also has an interest in film production. He has produced several films, including Giallo (2009) and Manhattan Night (2015), in which he starred.

Awards And Achievements

Adrien Brody has received several award nominations for his work, but his only wins so far have been for The Pianist, and include: Academy Award for Best Actor, Boston Society of Film Critics for Best Actor, César Award for Best Actor, and National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor.

Personal Life

• Even though Brody’s parents came from Jewish and Catholic backgrounds, they raised him without an attachment to either of their faiths.
• Brody dated Spanish actress Elsa Pataky from 2006 to 2009. In an extravagant gesture, the actor gifted her with a 19th Century farm on her 31st birthday in 2007.
• From 2012 to the present he has been in a relationship with Lara Lieto.
• Adrien Brody mentioned in an interview in 2016 that he has a passion for racecar driving, and even performed the driving stunts in the movie King Kong. He also likes to make music, and spend time in nature.