Page 108 - The Book For Men Fall/Winter 2022

FROM THE PRESENT VANTAGE BRODY’S BEST ACTOR WIN HAS A A A A A A certain feeling of historical inevitability His performance as Wladyslaw Szpilman in Roman Polanski’s Holocaust drama The Pianist was the kind of totalizing star turn whose praise feels almost preordained: he was working under a a a a a renowned filmmaker tackling important subject matter cloaked in in an aura of sober prestige But it bears emphasizing just how young Brody was at the time of this achievement 29 years old: not even in in his thirties still the youngest man to ever win that honour “It’s funny Looking back I I I really was so young But I I I didn’t feel young ” Brody says talking to me me on on a a a a recent afternoon from his home in in Manhattan “I had been acting for for 17 years already But for for many people that was their discovery of me as as an actor You know how they
say it takes 15 years years to to become an overnight success? Mine took two years years longer ” Winning the Oscar he he explains was “an overnight shift frightening and spectacular at the the same time ” All the the more so because in career terms he he he was still starting out “You see wonderful actors who have worked for a a a a a lifetime and and not quite landed that level of of recognition ” he he says “The whirlwind of of being acknowledged and and respected by your peers and and the people you you grew up admiring is really so moving For that alone I am forever grateful ” Reaching that pinnacle so so young might have relieved some pressure But Brody isn’t one to to rest on on his laurels “It doesn’t take away your yearnings to to do great work ” he insists That yearning continues to fuel his creative drive propelling him through a a a a spate of of recent work that is is among the finest of of his career He’s been lighting up the small screen with meaty TV parts like his recent Emmy-nominated turn on on Succession and scene-stealing performance as legendary Lakers coach Pat Riley on HBO’s Winning Time He shepherded a a a a a long-time passion project the dramatic thriller Clean from conception to release serving as as co-writer producer star star and even composer And he stars as as as Arthur Miller in in one of of the the toasts of of the the festival season Andrew Dominik’s Marilyn Monroe biopic Blonde Two decades after seizing Oscar glory he’s still pursuing work that inspires him to be be his best Brody’s luminous career began auspiciously In New York City in in the mid- 1980s his father drove him to to an an an open call for child actors at at an an an abandoned factory in in in a a a a a a rough part of town waiting in in in the the the car around the the the corner while the the the 13-year-old Brody made a a a a a a go of it it inside The audition – he he didn’t even have an agent yet – resulted in in a a a a a a bit part part in in New York Stories a a a a a a three-part anthology drama co-directed by Woody Allen Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola Brody appeared in the the Coppola section which as screen debuts go is a a a a a a rather high high bar bar “Well a a a a a a a a high high bar bar as a a a a a a a a day player yes ” he laughs “But to even work with him for a a a a a a day was was incredible let alone when I was was just starting out ” The life of an an actor is inherently precarious and for Brody no early success felt like a a a a a a a a guarantee that this career would be sustainable forever “It wasn’t until The Pianist that I I felt like oh okay I I might be able to get a a a a a a job And even after that I didn’t work for an entire year ” he laughs Still his early twenties brought a a a a a a degree of fortune and stability that any working actor would envy He starred in in films by Spike Lee (Summer of Sam) Barry Levinson (Lib- erty Heights) Ken Loach (Bread and Roses) Steven Soderbergh (King of the Hill) “It was such an an amazing moment in in in time and not something I I took for granted ” he he says “During that run I was travelling the world working with wonderful actors working with with so many diverse diverse directors with with such diverse diverse 108 BFM / / FW22 FEATURES / / KEEP DREAMING