“I always had an actor within me.”–Adrien Brody
English: Adrien Brody at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival premiere of Detachment (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Adrien Brody was born on this day in New York City, New York, USA in 1973. He is 40 years old.
He grew up in Queens, New York. “His father, Elliot Brody, is a retired history teacher of Polish-Jewish descent who lost family members in the Holocaust. His mother Sylvia Plachy, the renown photographer, fled Communist Hungary as a child during the 1956 revolution against Russia.” Brody’s earliest performances came as a magician for children’s parties as the “Amazing Andrien.” His mother encouraged him to take acting lessons. He went to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and the High School for the Performing Arts.
By 13 he was working Off Broadway. His first film role was as an orphan in Home At last a 1988 Western. He spent the next 14 years hovering on the brink of fame. He made some good movies (Thin Red Line, Summer of Sam, Liberty Heights) but it wasn’t until he got the call from Roman Pulaski to be in The Pianist that he finally broke through as a star.
The Pianist (2002 film) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Broody played “Poland’s greatest pianist”, Władysław Szpilman.
To prepare for his title role in The Pianist (2002), he learned to play Frédéric Chopin pieces on the piano and shed 30 pounds off his already-thin frame. He cut himself off from his real life by giving up his car and apartment because he felt responsible to those Polish Jews who had suffered greatly and wanted to connect, to some small degree, with their hurt and despair. [IMDb]
Brody won an Oscar for his work in The Pianist. At 29 he is the youngest man to have won the Best Actor award.
Other Brody movies to put in your queue are:
- Hollywoodland
- The Darjeeling Limited
- Predators
- The Village
- King Kong
- The Jacket
- and especially The Brothers Bloom
Next up for Brody is Third Person with James Franco, Mila Kunis, Olivia Wilde due out later this year.
Brody Adrien at Cannes in 2002. My own picture. Created by Rita Molnár 2002. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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