15 best roles of the incredible Adrian Brody

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The acting talent of Adrian Brody, the youngest Oscar winner and Wes Anderson's favorite, can only be envied.

Despite his peculiar appearance, the artist easily gets used to both comedic and dramatic roles, and his intellectual acting is capable of pulling out even an average film.

1. King of the Hill

• USA, 1993.
• Drama.
• Duration: 109 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 6.

The drama by Steven Soderbergh tells the story of the difficult growing up of 12-year-old boy Aaron (Jesse Bradford) during the Great Depression in the United States. Left without parents early, the boy shows remarkable ingenuity in order to survive alone.

Adrian Brody played a seasoned guy named Lester, ready to help the protagonist out of trouble. The role was very small, but the young actor was noticed by critics. They noted Brody's great dramatic potential.

2. Thin red line

• USA, 1998.
• War drama.
• Duration: 170 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 6.

World War II, the battle for the island of Guadalcanal. Against this background, the fictional drama of several soldiers thrown into the heat of hostilities unfolds.

The peculiarity of Terrence Malick's film is that the supporting roles are played by the stars of the first magnitude: Adrian Brody, Sean Penn, George Clooney, Jared Leto, Woody Harrelson, Nick Nolte, John Travolta, John Cusack and John C. Riley.

Initially, the role of Corporal Fife, played by Adrian Brody, was one of the most important for the plot. But during editing, most of the scenes with this hero were cut out. Brody was not warned about this. The fact that the numerous remarks of his character were reduced to a couple of phrases, the actor found out only at the premiere.

3. Heights of freedom

• USA, 1999.
• Drama, comedy.
• Duration: 127 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 1.

The film is set in Baltimore in the year of the end of racial segregation in American schools. Changes in the country are affecting many, including the Kurzman Jewish family. The father of the family (Joe Mantegna) gets into trouble with a black drug dealer. The eldest son (Adrian Brody) faces anti-Semitism. Well, the younger (Ben Foster) falls in love with his African American classmate.

The film is somewhat autobiographical. The plot is based on director Barry Levinson's memories of his childhood in Baltimore.

4. Pianist

• France, Germany, Great Britain, Poland, 2002.
• Historical drama.
• Duration: 150 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 5.

The film is based on real events and tells about the life of the outstanding Polish pianist and composer Vladislav Spielman. The protagonist witnesses how during the Second World War the territory of Poland was occupied by the Nazis and all Jews were sent to the Warsaw ghetto.

Before filming, Brody lost 15 kg in a short time and learned to play the piano. And in order to better understand his character, the actor temporarily moved to Europe, sold the car and gave up the TV.

The role of Spielmann is Brody's real triumph. The actor managed to show the incredibly piercing transformation of a free man into a persecuted victim and deservedly became the youngest winner of the Oscar for Best Actor. At that time, Brody was only 29 years old.

In addition, the actor became the first American to receive the prestigious French Cesar Award.

5. Jacket

• USA, 2004.
• Thriller.
• Duration: 102 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 1.

Amnesiac war veteran Jack Starks (Adrian Brody) is accused of murdering a police officer and sent to a mental hospital for criminals. There, in the former military, new drugs are being tested.

In this film, the actor again showed his dramatic talent and was not afraid even of the eerie scenes in the morgue chamber. And for maximum realism, Adrian Brody asked director John Maybury for permission to stay locked up in between takes.

6. Mysterious forest

• USA, 2004.
• Drama, thriller, dystopia.
• Duration: 108 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 5.

The action of the picture takes place presumably at the end of the 19th century in a small Protestant community. Local residents do not go to the surrounding thicket, because they believe that terrible monsters live there. Everything changes when an inquisitive young man named Lucius Hunt decides to go to the forest to get medicine for the villagers.

Adrian Brody plays the rural idiot Noah Percy. This is another interesting tragic image in his filmography. Brody originally claimed the role of Lucius Hunt, but Joaquin Phoenix got it.

7. King Kong

• New Zealand, USA, Germany, 2005.
• Adventure film, action, fantasy.
• Duration: 187 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 2.

Director Carl Denham (Jack Black) travels with talented screenwriter Jack Driscoll (Adrian Brody) and actress Anne Darrow (Naomi Watts) to the sinister Skull Island in the Indian Ocean to shoot an adventure film. And no one even suspects what dangers they will have to face there.

Peter Jackson's film became one of the most expensive and grossing films in history and gave new life to King Kong, a popular character from the 1930s.

At the same time, Adrian Brody was chosen to play the role of intellectual playwright Jack Driscoll even before the script was written.

8. Death of Superman

• USA, 2006.
• Detective drama.
• Duration: 126 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 5.

The crime drama directed by Allen Coulter is set in 1950s Hollywood. Actor George Reeves (Ben Affleck), best known for his role as Superman, mysteriously dies in his own home. Private detective Louis Sim (Adrian Brody) does not believe in the star's suicide and intends to get to the bottom of the truth.

The main role in this film could have been played by Joaquin Phoenix, but this time the producers preferred Adrian Brody. This was the second time since Mysterious Forest that actors auditioned for the same role.

9. Train to Darjeeling. Desperate Travelers

• USA, 2007.
• Comedy, adventure, drama.
• Duration: 91 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 2.

Three brothers - Francis, Peter and Jack - after a long separation find themselves on a train across India to the city of Darjeeling. Not the closest relatives will have to bring each other to white heat more than once and commit many strange things.

With "Train to Darjeeling" began a collaboration between Adrian Brody and American independent filmmaker Wes Anderson. The role of the melancholic brother Peter, who cannot come to terms with the upcoming fatherhood, was written especially for Brody.

10. The Bloom brothers

• USA, 2008.
• Crime comedy.
• Duration: 113 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 8.

Brothers Stephen (Mark Ruffalo) and Bloom (Adrian Brody) are brilliant crooks. One day, Stephen has a plan for another grandiose scam. He wants to rob the eccentric wealthy heiress Penelope Stamp (Rachel Weisz). But for this he needs his brother to meet the girl and start an affair with her.

The sophisticated comedy of director and screenwriter Ryan Johnson, in his own words, was created under the strong influence of the classic adventure cinema ("Reckless Scammers", "The Spanish Prisoner", "Swindle"), as well as the novel by James Joyce "Ulysses".

At first, the director assumed that the role of Bloom would be played by Mark Ruffalo. But when the actors read the script, they switched roles with the director's approval.

11. Cadillac Records

• USA, 2008.
• Biography, historical film, drama.
• Duration: 109 minutes.
• IMDb: 7.0.

The story, based on real events, is set in Chicago in the 50s. Once the Polish immigrant Leonard Chess (Adrian Brody) meets the talented guitarist Muddy Waters (Jeffrey Wright). Together they record a record that instantly becomes popular. This is how the legendary Chess Records studio was born, revealing the talents of Little Walter, Etta James and Chuck Berry to the world.

Cadillac Records is one of those movies that every music lover should watch. It is interesting that Adrian Brody here again had to embody the image of a hero of Polish-Jewish origin, whose life is connected with music.

12. Experiment

• USA, 2010.
• Thriller, drama.
• Duration: 96 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 5.

The protagonist, unemployed pacifist Travis (Adrian Brody), finds a strange advertisement in the newspaper. Volunteers are offered - of course, not for free - to spend two weeks in a prison setting and play the roles of prisoners and guards. The experiment begins peacefully, but soon the "guards" turn into real sadists.

The film is based on the famous Stanford prison experiment, which was staged by the American psychologist Philip Zimbardo in 1971. Many films have been made about this incident, which occupies an important place in the history of sociology and psychology. 2001 saw the release of Oliver Hirschbiegel's German Experiment, and 2015 Kyle Patrick Alvarez's Stanford Prison Experiment, starring Ezra Miller.

Fierce controversy is still being conducted around the experiment itself: it is called controversial, at least from a moral and ethical point of view. Not so long ago, The Lifespan of a Lie reported that Zimbardo's experiment was staged.

13. Substitute teacher

• USA, 2011.
• Drama.
• Duration: 97 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 7.

English language and literature teacher Henry Barth (Adrian Brody) has a pedagogical gift. But he does not stay for a long time in any educational institution, because he works as a substitute teacher. One day Henry comes to a school for troubled teens. And there he manages not only to arouse the children’s interest in the subject, but also to make them look at life differently.

Director Tony Kay's existential drama might seem to be about the state of the educational system in the United States. But first of all, this is a film about relationships between people.

Adrian Brody immediately liked the script, which touches on a topic close to the actor: his father taught at school for many years.

14. Midnight in Paris

• USA, Spain, 2011.
• Comedy, melodrama.
• Duration: 94 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 7.

Hollywood screenwriter Gilles Pender, who arrived in Paris, mysteriously transports himself to other eras every night and has fun with genius people from the past: Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein and others.

Woody Allen's romantic comedy captivated critics and won numerous prestigious awards including Golden Globes and BAFTAs.

Adrian Brody appears in the film for only a few minutes, but in the role of Salvador Dali himself. The master of surrealism has an extremely meaningful conversation with the protagonist about rhinos and gives him valuable advice about relationships.

15. The Grand Budapest Hotel

• Germany, USA, 2014.
• Comedy, drama.
• Duration: 100 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 1.

The most famous film by Wes Anderson is set in the fictional country of Zubrovka. The main characters - the senior concierge of the Grand Budapest Hotel, Monsieur Gustav (Rafe Fiennes) and his assistant Zero Mustafa (Tony Revolori) - get involved in a crazy adventure to prove their right to own the priceless painting "Boy with an Apple".

In The Grand Budapest Hotel, Adrian Brody plays the mustachioed villain Dmitry, who is haunted by the thought that his mother left the most important part of the inheritance not to him, but to some rogue.

Bonus

Later, Wes Anderson directed an adorable Christmas short for the Swedish brand H&M. There, Adrian Brody played the main role.

In the film, passengers travel by train to celebrate Christmas with their families, but winter weather prevents their plans. A busy conductor (Adrian Brody) saves the day and throws a Christmas party right in the train car.