Adrien Brody wins best actor for ‘The Brutalist,’ taking home his second career Oscar

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Adrien Brody clinched his second Oscar for best actor, winning Sunday for his role as a visionary Hungarian architect in “ The Brutalist ” and solidifying his legacy as one of Hollywood's most compelling talents.

Brody took home best actor at the 97th Academy Awards for his powerful portrayal of Lázló Tóth, who escapes the Holocaust and sails to the United States to find his American Dream. The film spans 30 years in the life of Tóth, a fictional character whose unorthodox designs challenged societal norms, and his relentless pursuit of artistic integrity.

“It looks very glamorous and in certain moments it is,” Brody said during his acceptance speech. He’s the 11th man to win best actor more than once. Daniel Day-Lewis is a three-time winner and nine others — Spencer Tracy, Jack Nicholson, Marlon Brando, Dustin Hoffman, Gary Cooper, Tom Hanks, Fredric March, Sean Penn and Anthony Hopkins — are two-time best actor winners.

“But the one thing that I’ve gained, having the privilege to come back here, is to have some perspective," he continued. "No matter where you are in your career, no matter what you’ve accomplished, it can all go away. And I think what makes this night so special is the awareness of that.”

Brody called out antisemitism and racism during his speech.

“I’m here once again to represent the lingering traumas and the repercussions of war and systematic oppression and of antisemitism and racism and othering," he said. "I pray for a healthier and a happier and a more inclusive world. And I believe if the past can teach us anything, it’s a reminder to not let hate go unchecked.”

Brody thanked his partner, Georgina Chapman, who not only “reinvigorated my own self worth, but my sense of value and my values.” He also mentioned both of Chapman's two children, who she shares with disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, who is currently detained while awaiting a retrial on sex crimes charges in New York.

“I know this has been a roller coaster, but thank you for accepting me into your life,” Brody said. “Popsies coming home a winner.”

Backstage, Brody called the journey toward his win Sunday night a “long and beautiful one.”

“It's been an artistic path as you try to navigate creative choices,” he said. “There are many variables. There's an enormous amount of talented individuals all vying for very few great opportunities. I've been working very hard for the past 22 years, but nothing quite connected on this level, so I'm conscious of that.”

Brody triumphed over fellow nominees Timothée Chalamet, “A Complete Unknown,” Colman Domingo, “Sing Sing,” Ralph Fiennes, “Conclave,” and Sebastian Stan, “The Apprentice.”

Nominated for 10 Oscars including best picture, “The Brutalist” is Brady Corbet's three-and-a-half-hour postwar American epic filmed in VistaVision. Brody starred in the film alongside Felicity Jones and Guy Pearce.

After winning best actor at the 78th British Academy Film Awards in February, Brody said "The Brutalist'' carries a powerful message for divided times.

“It speaks to the need for all of us to share in the responsibility of how we want others to be treated and how we want to be treated by others,” he said. “There’s no place any more for antisemitism. There’s no place for racism.”

Brody won an Academy Award for best actor in 2003 for his role in “The Pianist.” His gap of 22 years would be the second longest between best actor wins. It was 29 years between wins for “Silence of the Lambs” and “The Father” for Anthony Hopkins.

Brody is also known for his performances “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” “The Darjeeling Limited” and “Midnight in Paris.”

For Brody, his role in “The Brutalist” had obvious echoes with arguably his most defining performance. In Roman Polanski’s 2002 “The Pianist,” Brody also played a Jewish artist trying to survive during WWII.

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