Adrien Brody has more gilded hardware to add to his mantle, taking the Golden Globe for best actor in a drama on Sunday night for his role in “The Brutalist.”
Brody is central to director Brady Corbet’s epic story of a holocaust survivor and celebrated Hungarian architect, one who falls prey to a toxic and controlling patron (Guy Pearce) over decades in post-war America.
Read Brody’s speech in full below.
“Hello. Thank you to everyone in this room. Golden Globes voters, for this honor, I am deeply humbled by this. I have much to say. I’m going to try and be brief. At the core of ‘The Brutalist,’ it is really a story about the human capacity for creation, so I would be remiss to not acknowledge my fellow nominees. Daniel, Colman, Timmy, Sebastian, Sebastian, Ralph. You guys really just — you reached such heights with your work, and you are such inspirations to me. To my — God, Brady and Mona, I love you guys.Thank you for giving me wings. Thank you for allowing me to be a small part of building this triumph and monument to humanity and the arts.
“To my cast and crew, and everyone who has been a part of making this movie, this is a collaborative effort, and I share this with all of you. To my friends and team at CAA, A24, thank you for supporting me through this journey. To my mom and dad, who are here tonight. Oh, my goodness. You always hold me up. I often credit my mother for her influence on me as an artist, but Dad, you are the foundation of this family, and all this love that I received flows back to you.
“To my beautiful and amazing partner, Georgina. Your generosity of spirit, your own resilience, your immense creativity are a daily reminder of how to be. I would not be standing here before you if it wasn’t for you. There was a time not too long ago that I felt this may never be a moment afforded to me again, so thank you.
“You know, this story is really the character’s journey is very reminiscent of my mother’s and my ancestors’ journey of fleeing war and coming to this great country. I owe so much to my mother and my grandparents for their sacrifice, and although I do not know fully how to express all of the challenges that you have faced and experienced, and the many people who have struggled immigrating to this country, I hope that this work stands to lift you up a bit and to give you a voice. I’m so grateful. I will cherish this moment forever.”
For his second Globe nomination and first win, Brody prevailed over fellow nominees Ralph Fiennes (“Conclave”), Colman Domingo (“Sing Sing”), Timothée Chalamet (“A Complete Unknown”), Daniel Craig (“Queer”) and Sebastian Stan (“The Apprentice”).
Brody won the Academy Award for best actor at age 29 for the 2002 drama “The Pianist.” He still holds the record for the youngest winner in the category. In addition to roles in films like “The Thin Red Line,” “Midnight in Paris” and “Blonde,” Brody is one of Wes Anderson’s repertory players. He has appeared in Anderson films including “The Darjeeling Limited,” “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” “Fantastic Mr. Fox” and “Asteroid City.”
