Adrien Brody almost missed out on his role in The Brutalist, for which he is now Oscar frontrunner.
My Oscar Book:
The actor, who is 51, is tipped to win a string of awards for his portrayal of Hungarian architect Laszlo Toth in director Brady Corbet’s historical epic.
However, he wasn’t first choice for the role only for the part to eventually be offered to him after the project faded into the background for some time.
“But initially, it ended up not coming to me. They gave it to someone else. I was very sad to see it go, but it happens.
“The project went away for a year and then came back around. It was complicated. But, hey, that’s the nature of life.”
Adrien saw personal connection between himself and Laszlo: “There are many elements of ‘The Brutalist’ that are relatable to anyone pursuing any artistic endeavor—anyone who wants to leave behind something of lasting importance, to leave behind a body of work, to leave behind more good in the world than not, and to approach things with depth and integrity.
“And I relate to that so much. If you want to pursue anything that is highly competitive and creative, that requires a degree of luck.”
Luck in Getting Cast
“As an actor, I think luck is when you are right for something and the 10 people who are ahead of you are either not available or not interested or not lucky in that moment. And then it’s up to you to deliver and not fail and build upon that.
“The beauty of being an actor is that there’s place for all the misfortune and things that don’t make sense that are painful to witness. You can then share those experiences with the world.”
