| Adrien Brody |
Adrien Brody at the Cannes film festival |
| Born |
April 14, 1973 (1973-04-14) (age 36)
Woodhaven, Queens, New York, United States |
| Occupation |
Actor |
| Years active |
1988–present |
Adrien Brody (born April 14, 1973) is an American actor. He received widespread recognition and subsequent acclaim after starring in Roman Polanski's The Pianist (2002). He is notable as the youngest actor ever to receive an Academy Award for Best Actor and the only American actor ever to win a César Award.
Early life
Brody was born in Woodhaven, Queens, New York, the son of Sylvia Plachy, a photojournalist, and Elliot Brody, a retired history professor and painter.1 Brody's father is of Polish-Jewish descent, and Brody's mother was born in Budapest, Hungary to a Catholic father and Jewish mother.23 As a child, Brody performed magic shows at children's birthday parties as "The Amazing Adrien".4 Brody attended New York's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts (famous as the inspiration for television's Fame). His parents enrolled him in acting classes to distance him from the dangerous kids with whom he associated.
In 1992, Brody was seriously hurt in a motorcycle accident in which he flew over a car and crashed head-first into a crosswalk. He spent months recuperating. An avid daredevil, he has broken his nose three times doing off-the-wall stunts. His nose was also broken once again during the filming of Summer of Sam.
Career
Taking acting classes as a youth, by age thirteen, he had done an off-Broadway play and a PBS-TV-movie. Brody hovered on the brink of stardom, receiving an Independent Spirit Award nomination for his role in the 1998 film Restaurant and later praise for his roles in Spike Lee's Summer of Sam and Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line. He received widespread recognition when he was cast as the lead in Roman Polanski's The Pianist (2002). To prepare for the role, Brody withdrew for months, gave up his apartment and his car, learned how to play Chopin on the piano, and lost 29 lbs (13 kg). The role won him an Academy Award for Best Actor, making him, at 29, the youngest actor ever to win the award. He also won a César Award for his performance, becoming the only American actor to win one. Throughout his career, Brody has been compared to Al Pacino for his unique looks and method acting.citation needed He is also widely known for giving presenter Halle Berry a back-breaking kiss before accepting his Best Actor Oscar, and as the spokesman for fashion brand Ermenegildo Zegna.
Brody appeared on Saturday Night Live on May 10, 2003, his first TV work, but he was banned from the show after giving an improvised introduction while wearing faux dreadlocks for Jamaican reggae musical guest Sean Paul (the show's producer, Lorne Michaels, is notorious for hating unscripted performances). However, the unscripted intro remains in reruns of the episode. Other TV appearances include NBC's The Today Show and on MTV's Punk'd after being tricked by Ashton Kutcher.
After The Pianist Brody has appeared in four very different movies. He played Noah Percy, a mentally disabled young man in the movie The Village by M. Night Shyamalan, shell-shocked war veteran Jack Starks in The Jacket, writer Jack Driscoll in the 2005 King Kong remake, and father-to-be Peter Whitman in The Darjeeling Limited by Wes Anderson. King Kong was a box office success; it grossed $550 million worldwide and is Brody's most successful movie to date in monetary terms. He also played a detective in Hollywoodland. He has also appeared in Diet Coke commercials and Tori Amos' music video for "A Sorta Fairytale".
On January 5, 2006, Brody confirmed speculation that he indeed was interested and very willing to play the role of The Joker in 2008's The Dark Knight. However, Christopher Nolan and Warner Bros. eventually decided to cast Heath Ledger as The Joker.5 He was also in talks with Paramount to play Spock in J. J. Abrams Star Trek XI, but it ultimately went to Zachary Quinto.67 Brody also starred as a con man named "Bloom" in Rian Johnson's The Brothers Bloom, released in May 2009.8 Brody will star in Splice, a science fiction film directed by Vincenzo Natali that is slated for a 2009 release.
Personal life
Adrien Brody formerly dated model Sky Nellor.9 Adrien Brody is currently dating Spanish actress Elsa Pataky.
There have been some who have disputed this claim, however the following websites prove they are currently together:
Fashion Week Daily
Telecinco
Objetivo Famosas
There are also recent videos of Adrien Brody and Elsa Pataky, together as a couple, on Youtube.com
Filmography
References
External links
![video IFC News coverage of the New York Film Festival press conference featuring the writers and cast of](../viewVideo.html?title=Wes Anderson & Adrien Brody: Darjeeling Limited inspirationsYouTube=YouTube&summary=IFC News coverage of the New York Film Festival press conference featuring the writers and cast of "The Darjeeling Limited." Director Wes Anderson ...&link=http://www.youtube.com/v/F17mkXQIEpA&fs=1&hl=en&source=uds&autoplay=1&thumb=http://0.gvt0.com/vi/F17mkXQIEpA/default.jpg&celebrity=Adrien Brody&videoType=YouTube)
![video Wow!
Adrien Brody won a Leading Role on Oscar 75th 02
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Adrien Brody won a Leading Role on Oscar 75th 02
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