Adrien Brody Says Best Part ofThe BrutalistAwards Buzz Is the 'Joy' It's Bringing His Parents (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Adrien Brody poses with parents Sylvia Plachy and Elliot Brody at HBO’s Official 2015 Emmy After Party.Photo:Chelsea Lauren/Variety/Penske Media via Getty

Chelsea Lauren/Variety/Penske Media via Getty

Adrien Brody’s “favorite part” of seeing his latest film receive such high praise is witnessing his parents' response to it all.

On Thursday, Dec. 5, the 51-year-old Oscar winner caught up with PEOPLE at the Los Angeles premiere ofThe Brutalist, the A24 film in which he plays Hungarian-Jewish architect László Toth, who survives the Holocaust and emigrates to the U.S. to find work.

Brody himself sees the “parallels” between the movie and his own family story — as his mother Sylvia Plachy is a Hungarian-born photographer and artist, who fled Budapest with her parents during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, later immigrating to the U.S.

“I’m very familiar with the immigrant struggles and how the loss and experiences of the past have affected my mother and her work as an artist,” Brody says. “I feel there are many parallels related to László that I can relate to personally.”

Adrien Brody attends the Los Angeles special screening of ‘The Brutalist’ at the Vista Theatre on Dec. 05, 2024.Jon Kopaloff/Getty

Jon Kopaloff/Getty

As for the “love and appreciation” he’s noticed forThe Brutalistso far, Brody says it’s left him “in awe and shock.”

“I think the favorite part of this is my mother and father. The joy that I’m witnessing in my parents,” Brody says. “My mom will say, ‘Your dad found another one.’ And it’d be a level of not just praise for my work, but a level of respect for the work, my work included. And an understanding and analysis of the work and the film that is quite astute and eloquent and thoughtful without any other references or baggage in the mix.”

“To feel that and to read those so consistently where it is purely based on the work at hand and genuinely supportive and happy for me, I feel like the people writing are happy for me, it makes me very grateful,” he adds. “Because I don’t think I’ve ever experienced this even through the wonderful reaction and support that I’ve gained through makingThe Pianistmany, many years ago. It wasn’t quite like this.”

On Dec. 3, the New York Film Critics' Circle awarded him with the Best Actor prize for his performance inThe Brutalist.

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Premiering at the Venice International Film Festival in September, the film won Corbet Venice’s Silver Lion award for best director.

The Brutalistreleases in theaters Dec. 20.

source: people.com