Adrien Brody Net Worth

Adrien Brody's Quotes

• [on his portrayal of Jewish pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman who survived the Holocaust, in The Pianist (2002)] It made me have a much greater understanding of loss, of loneliness, and the level of intense tragedy that so many people have experienced in this world, I take a lot less for granted. It's really valuable to gain that, especially at a young age.
• [on his role as the village idiot in The Village (2004)] It just felt like it was the unconventional choice. It was the kind of role that I would have taken prior to the Academy Awards. A lot of actors tend to wait for the perfect role. And that perfect role may never come. I don't want to start changing the way that I view things and become precious.
• I was a wild, mischievous kid and I had tremendous imagination. Any experience I had, I'd try to reenact it. I always had an actor within me.
• I think to be a well-rounded person, you have to experience good and bad, wonderful moments and pain. You need to meet people who have no exposure to kindness, who lack any opportunity and have no way out--like the homeless, the mentally ill--and you've got to learn empathy for them.
• [on working on Peter Jackson's King Kong (2005)] I'm running around in front of a green screen screaming, "Where's the monkey? Where's the monkey?"

Interesting Facts about Adrien Brody

1. Is the only actor to win a Best Actor Oscar when nominated alongside four previous Oscar winners.
2. In 2003, at the age of 29, he replaced Richard Dreyfuss as the youngest actor ever to win the Best Actor Academy Award, for his role in The Pianist (2002).
3. Has great appreciation for hip-hop music. Like the Beatnuts, one of his favorite groups, Brody is also from Queens.
4. Performed magic shows at children's birthdays as a child as the Amazing Adrien.
5. In 2004, Esquire Magazine named him the Best Dressed Man in America.
6. Once owned and drove a Hummer H2.
7. Was considered for a role in Pearl Harbor (2001).
8. Was dressed by Zegna for the Academy Awards.
9. Is a big hip-hop fan and plans on becoming a producer. He is being mentored by The RZA.
10. Ranked #21 on VH1's 100 Hottest Hotties.
11. Adrien's father, Elliot Brody, is a retired history teacher; Elliot is of Polish Jewish descent, and lost family members in the Holocaust. Adrien's mother, Sylvia Plachy, the renowned Hungarian-born photographer, fled Communist Hungary as a child during the 1956 revolution against the Soviets. Adrien's maternal grandfather was from an aristocratic Hungarian background, while Adrien's maternal grandmother was of Czech Jewish descent (her own parents, Adrien's great-grandparents, were killed in the Holocaust). Adrien's mother was not aware of her own mother's Jewish background until later in life.
12. Took acting classes as a youth; by age 13 he had done an off-Broadway play and a PBS-TV movie.
13. In 1992, he was seriously hurt in a motorcycle accident in which he flew over a car and crashed feet-first into a crosswalk. He spent months recuperating.
14. 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.
15. Shares a birthday with Sarah Michelle Gellar.
16. Admits a shot of his parents in a passionate, back-bending embrace inspired his famous kiss with Halle Berry at the Oscars in 2003.
17. Is one of only two American actors to win a César, the French equivalent to the Oscar. The other one is Kristen Stewart.
18. Has been compared to Robert De Niro and Al Pacino for his unconventional acting skills and unique looks.
19. Did sessions in an isolation tank, performed prison exercises, and went on a protein diet for his role in The Jacket (2005).
20. He was furious when his nose was broken during the final fight in Summer of Sam (1999). When he had it fixed, he didn't change it: his nose is one of his most distinctive features and sets him apart from other actors.