Adrien Brody won a Golden Globe for his role in The Brutalist, as a Hungarian-Jewish architect and Holocaust survivor who seeks a fresh start in post-WWII America. "I just was in awe when I read the script," he says. Brody spoke with Tonya Mosley about how his family's history helped him with the role, and about his collaboration with Wes Anderson. Also, John Powers reviews the new erotic drama Babygirl.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
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This is Fresh Air. I'm Tanya Mosley. In a stunning new film, my guest Adrian Brody plays a Hungarian refugee who escapes post-war Europe and arrives in the U.S. with dreams of rebuilding his life. The Brutalist is a multi-layered story that runs three hours and 35 minutes long with a 15-minute intermission. And for me, the time flew by.
Directed by Brady Corbet, the film explores the harsh realities of the American dream. And it's visually stunning, shot on a format known as VistaVision. It's what Alfred Hitchcock used to film North by Northwest in Vertigo. Brody portrays a fictional character named Laszlo Toth, who settles in Pennsylvania in 1947.
where he meets a wealthy industrialist, played by Guy Pearce, who recognizes his talent and hires him to create a community center in honor of his mother. However, the relationship between the two comes at a cost.
The sweeping nature of The Brutalist is reminiscent of Brody's work in The Pianist, where he captivated audiences and the Academy in 2002 with his stirring performance as a Jewish pianist from Warsaw who survived the Holocaust by hiding from the Nazis. Adrian Brody has been in a slew of films and television shows. His breakout role was in Spike Lee's 1999 film Summer of Sam.
In 2002, at 29, he became the youngest person to win an Academy Award for Best Actor. He's a regular staple in Wes Anderson films, having starred in five of them, including The French Dispatch, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and The Grand Budapest Hotel. The Brutalist just won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Drama and And Adrian Brody, one for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama.
Adrian Brody, welcome back to Fresh Air.
Thank you, Tanya. What a pleasure to be here.
There are so many layers to this film, many of which are personal to you. Your mother is a Hungarian refugee who fled the revolution in 1956 and started again here in the United States. Can you take me to that day that you first got the script? And was the connection immediate?
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