He was the youngest ever recipient, a record that still stands.
He did not work for a year afterward.
I accepted that role without my agents even reading the script, Brody told me with a wry expression.
WORK ETHICBrady Corbet’s filmThe Brutalistis a three hour epic about a midcentury Hungarian architect, played by Brody, who has been nominated for a Golden Globe. Gucci trench coat. Photographed by Anton Corbijn. Styled by Edward Bowleg III.Vogue, Winter 2025.
Night didnt want anyone to read it, so I honored his request.
I didnt want to say: Okay, now Im only looking for an overtly heroic character.
I wanted to have a creative journey.
LEADING MANBrody is constantly acting, painting, making music; “it all connects,” he says. Tom Ford turtleneck and coat.
But that is the problem.
But the optics are misleading.
Brody is sanguine about the business of show business.
THE MAVERICKBrody’s character László Tóth is human and complicated, stubborn, closed, addicted. Gucci trench coat. CDLP T-shirt.
That is an actors dilemma, he said.
But an actors journey should be a much more creative process, full of experimentation, full of risk.
Its taken me two decades to find something of this caliber, and for that Im grateful.
He told me that Yarris himself comes often to see the performance and that he has wept in catharsis.
LEADING MANBrody is constantly acting, painting, making music; it all connects, he says.
Tom Ford turtleneck and coat.
Brody and I sat in a small room in the Donmars offices.
The way he looks is like nobody else, Wes Anderson told me in a voice note.
Theres something of the old movie star from another time in him.
Im not really sleeping, he admitted.
I wake up with dialogue from the play constantly in my thoughts.
I like a challenge, Brody told me.
Im very open to pushing myself past things that feel a bit intimidating and require a deep dive."
Yet he also carries a very European elegance, which gives this wonderful complexity.
Brody credits his parents with imbuing him with the values that have underpinned his artistic choices.
He played a substitute teacher in a Queens public schoolalmost a paean to his father.
His dedication to the integrity of his craft runs like a plumb line through his career.
I like a challenge, Brody told me.
Im very open to pushing myself past things that feel a bit intimidating and require a deep dive.
You really have no option once youre in it, but to just work hard.
No matter the material, I have the same level of commitment and immersion.
He can change his voicelanguage, accent, cadence, modulationas easily as his hairstyle for a role.
Theres often a tension between a movie star and the character they play; Brody obliterates the distinction.
Hes incredibly raw emotionally, but hes not pretentious, Chapman says.
Brody has admitted that he is, at heart, an introvert, an observer.
Anything that comes into his life gets held, Chapman told me.
Its painful, good and bad; but hes able to draw on this enormous universe inside him.
It is not easy to work at that kind of level of fierce concentration.
It does exhaust him, says Chapman, because he gives so much.
Hes very sensitive, he has a very thin veil emotionally with the world.
At one point, about 10 years ago, Brody put his acting on pause.
To be honest, I wasnt finding material that spoke to me.
Disillusioned, he rediscovered painting.
Painting reemerged as something that gave me a creative autonomy that I dont have making a movie.
It gave me fulfillment.
Its something he loves.
Life at home is low-key: hiking, cooking.
In between working, Brody will disappear into his studio, totally absorbed, into the wee hours.
He paints large, vibrant canvases, often social commentary shot through with humor.
He also makes music.
It all connects, Brody said.
Ive discovered that theyre all collage-like interpretations.
Some clash and some work.
He loved being involved in the whole process.
THE MAVERICKBrodys character Laszlo Toth is human and complicated, stubborn, closed, addicted.
I want to keep pushing the medium as far forward as I possibly can, he told me.
Having Brodys participation was crucial.
Just straight up, the movie would not have gotten made without Adrien, Corbet said.
The Brutalistis cathedral grand and as delicately emotionally sprung as a watch mechanism.
It is a Fitzcarraldo fable of artistic endeavor, a universal immigrant tale and a searing indictment of capitalism.
Brodys performance is a mesmerizing kaleidoscope that conveys all of this.
We never left character when we were doing those scenes, she said.
We completely immersed ourselves in those moments and for the duration we were filming we really became those people.
Brodys mother, Sylvia Plachy, visited, took pictures, and imbued the set with her past.
I think we both felt an obligation to make Sylvia quite proud, Corbet told me.
For Brody it was a way to honor the experience and sacrifice of his mother and grandparents.
That has afforded me opportunities that are not taken for granted.
The Brutalistpremiered at the Venice Film Festival in September.
Brody had seen a rough cut; Chapman was viewing it for the first time.
We were both blown away, she told me.
I was genuinely lost for words.
The film received a standing ovation, and Corbet was awarded the Silver Lion for his directing.
I dont feel particularly affected by opinions, Corbet told me.
I am definitely not going to always be making movies that everyone connects with.
Hes not overly excited by the coming awards season.
Im not worried if I am going to have another great role.
Sometimes work comes and sometimes work may not come.
Ill find ways to stay creative, and that is very comforting.
And the rest: You take the good and the bad.
In this story: Hair, Rudi Lewis; grooming, Aoibhin Killeen; tailor, Nafisa Tosh.
