Adrien Brody’s performance as visionary Hungarian architect and postwar immigrant László Toth in the upcoming epic “The Brutalist” has made him a frontrunner for a second Best Actor Oscar nomination, and potentially another win.
In 2003, Brody won for his starring role in Roman Polanski’s “The Pianist” as a real-life Polish Jewish musician who survived the Nazi occupation.
At 29, Brody still holds the record as the youngest lead actor winner.
If Brody wins again, the gap in years between his Oscars would be substantial yet smaller than the 29 years between Anthony Hopkins’ lead acting wins (“The Silence of the Lambs,” “The Father”),
Katharine Hepburn still holds the record of the longest gap–44 years–between her first (“Morning Glory”) in 1933 and her second (“Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner”) in 1967.
Brody’s best awards year post-“Pianist” included Emmy and SAG nominations for playing illusionist Harry Houdini in the History Channel miniseries “Houdini,” and a SAG ensemble nomination for frequent collaborator Wes Anderson’s film “The Grand Budapest Hotel.”
Brody could become the eighth performer with two Oscars on two total nominations, after Mahershala Ali, Helen Hayes, Vivien Leigh, Luise Rainer, Kevin Spacey, Hilary Swank and Christoph Waltz. He will be the only two-time lead actor winner in that group.
