Adrien Brody Net Worth

Biography of Adrien Brody

Adrien Brody is a Hollywood actor, the youngest winner of an Academy Award and the country’s only winner of the French “Cesar” for best role in “The Pianist”.

By the power of exceptional talent, pronounced individuality, unpredictability, obsession with work and remarkable appearance, he is compared with Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. True, the actor himself would prefer to be famous not as “the second Pacino or De Niro”, but as the “first Brody” (as he noted in an interview).

For the breadth of the range, the diversity of the images created, the impressive variety of genres and roles, he is called a chameleon actor. Among the works of the movie star are the picture about the war “The Thin Red Line”, the horror films “The Secret Forest” and “Jallo”, the dramas “The Death of Superman” and “The Brothers Bloom”, the comedy films “The Darjeeling Train” and “Fantastic Mr. Fox” (voice acting ), thrillers “Experiment” and “Predators”. In total, there are more than 70 works in his filmography.

Brody’s creative credo: to act in films not for the sake of money, but only when he wants to work.

Childhood

The actor was born on April 14, 1973 in a disadvantaged area of ​​u200bu200bNew York – Queens, where immigrants and African Americans predominated among the residents. Adrian is the only son of Eliott Brody, a Jew with Polish roots, and Sylvia Plach, the daughter of a Hungarian aristocrat and Czech Jewess. She emigrated from Hungary as a child during the 1956 uprising, which was crushed by Soviet troops.

Edie’s dad taught history at a regular school, and her mom was a photojournalist and hosted a weekly series of author’s shots for the Village Voice. Her son accompanied her in search of subjects for photographs, often being in the frame himself, thanks to which he learned early the art of feeling comfortable and natural in front of the camera. The mother liked to use the natural charm and characteristic appearance of her son, as if specially created to depict starving artists – an elongated nose, a thin figure, sad intelligent eyes.

The spouses did not have large incomes. Therefore, being a reasonable child, already at the age of 12, Brody himself began to earn money. Possessing a vivid imagination and fantasy from a young age, he did not become a banal newspaper peddler, but came up with something special – a performance with tricks in front of children. Relatives sought to develop his creative abilities: the boy learned to play the piano, went to the school for gifted children La Guardia, then attended the Academy of Dramatic Art.

First roles

Since 1986, Adrian began to appear in advertising, serials, and also made his debut on the stage of the theater. The first significant role of the star was the image of an orphan boy in the television movie Home at Last (1988), which he performed deeply and sincerely.

At the age of 15, he played in Woody Allen’s New York Stories in the novel about a Jewish family, Life Without Zoe. He then earned praise from film critics by appearing in the realistic melodrama King of the Hill (1993), directed by Steven Soderbergh. In 1996, he, along with Mickey Rourke and his friend, rapper Tupac Shakur, played in the little-known film “Bullet”, in 1997 – in the film “Suicide” about the legendary Neil Cassidy.

As an important step in the work of the actor, it is worth noting his performance in The Thin Red Line (1998), filmed by Terrence Malick based on the book by James Jones. He captivated viewers and critics with his vision of the image of a corporal. The result of the success was the appearance of a photo of Brody in the April issue of Vanity Fair.

In the work of a movie star, critics noted an attraction to characters with an intense intellectual and creative component, to heroes with shortcomings and mental disabilities. An example of this statement is the 1999 film Sam’s Bloody Summer. The works of the same plan include “Oxygen”, where Adrian embodied the sinister image of a maniac.

Fully trusting the taste of Ken Loach, without getting acquainted with the script, Brody signed a contract to participate in the film “Bread and Roses” (2000) about workers defending their rights. To study the issues raised in the tape, he incognito attended meetings of members of their trade union.

Realistically, by all accounts, Adrian played in “Restaurant” (nominated for the film award “Independent Spirit”). He was recognized as a convincing actor in “The Story of the Necklace”, where he played the vile scoundrel, Count Nikolos.

“Pianist”

The famous painting by Roman Polanski (2002), in which Adrian brilliantly embodied the image of Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Jew, a musician who survived in Nazi-occupied Warsaw, is considered a turning point in Brody’s fate. After the premiere, the actor was at the epicenter of universal recognition and admiration.

At the Cannes Film Festival, the film received the Palme d’Or and an 18-minute standing ovation from those present. In addition, The Pianist won three Oscars in different categories.

The ceremony was also remembered for the fact that upon receiving the coveted statuette, Brody went on stage and shocked the audience with his impromptu passionate kiss from Halle Berry, who presented him with the award. He became the youngest recipient of this prestigious award in history.

In preparation for filming, Brody felt a great responsibility towards the memory of his father’s family members who died during the Holocaust. He studied the rare dialect of the Polish grandmother, her precious memories of those times.

In order to get used to the image and at least to a small extent realize the pain and despair of Polish Jews, Adrian stepped back from real life. He gave up a car, an apartment, learned to play Chopin, left his girlfriend Monit Mazur and lost 14 kilograms.

I realized that I took a lot in the history of the war for granted, and there can be no forgiveness for this. Immersed in this material, in the hardest fate of a real person, I was able to feel the suffering and deprivation that millions of people went through then.

Later career

After the recognition of his talent and the presentation of the film award, Brody began to participate in the most prestigious and financial projects. At first, “The Doll” appeared on the screens, where he improvised with Milla Jovovich and studied ventriloquism. Then among the works of the Oscar-winning star was The Singing Detective.

In the 2000s, the films “The Secret Forest”, “The Jacket” with Keira Knightley, “King Kong” (2006, in a new version) replenished the filmography. Released in the rental “Manolete”, “Chimera”, “Predators” and others. We can note the film “The Third Person” (2013) with Mila Kunis and Liam Neeson, the role of the famous illusionist Harry Houdini in the TV movie of the same name.

Adrian participated in charity auctions (Artists for Peace & Justice 2011), produced paintings (Giallo), made his debut as a composer at the age of 35, and was a guest of honor at the 2009 Film Festival in Moscow.

In the 2010s, the actor starred in many iconic films: Retreat, the Irish political drama Septembers of Shiraz in Bulgaria, Jackie Chan’s comedy film Dragon Sword in the Gobi Desert. Then – in the tape of Lee Tamahori “Emperor” in Prague and, returning to New York, in the thriller “Nocturne of Manhattan”.

Some consider him a large-scale creative personality and call him an intellectual, others argue that he is arrogant, aggressive and strange, but no one remains indifferent to his work.

Adrien Brody’s personal life

Brody is still unmarried. At 16, he dated model Sky Nellor. Then – with actress Monet Mazur, but broke up with her before filming “The Pianist”. Since 2003, Brody’s close friend has been Michelle Dupont. Together they came to the Oscar ceremony, which became the triumph of Brody and The Pianist. But in 2006, before the film Manolette, their relationship ended.

In Spain, where the shooting of this picture took place, Adrian had an affair with actress Elsa Pataky. They were engaged and even bought a castle together, but also broke up. Elsa later became the wife of Chris Hemsworth.

The next beloved of the Hollywood actor was the Russian model Larisa Tyaka, known as Lara Lieto, with whom he appeared at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.

In February 2024, the media learned the name of Brody’s new girlfriend, British actress Georgina Chapman.

Adrien Brody now

Recently, Adrian rarely appears on the screens. In 2017, he appeared in the acclaimed series Peaky Blinders, playing mobster Luca Chagretta, the main antagonist of the fourth season.

In 2018, a film produced by the People’s Republic of China “Unbending Spirit” about the Japanese raids on China during the Second World War was released. Adrien Brody appeared in a small role as Steve.

In 2024, it became known that the next project with Brody’s participation is the crime drama Clean from director Paul Soletta, who previously worked with Adrian on the film Watchdog.

In March 2024, Brody was cast as basketball coach Pat Riley of the legendary Lakers team. The series is filmed by HBO. According to the creators, it was in the era of Pat Riley that the team reached its peak of development and became a cult.

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