Adrien Brody Biography

Adrien Brody
Biography

Birth Name
Adrien Brody
Date of birth (location)
14 April 1973
New York, New York, USA

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A perfect example of an actor who has been hovering on the brink of stardom for far too long, Adrien Brody has become all too familiar with the slings and arrows of outrageous PR. With an undeniable talent and looks that recall a young and hungry Al Pacino, Brody has long seemed a candidate for the role of one of the leading actors of his generation. With his appearance in two high-profile movies, Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line and Spike Lee's Summer of Sam, Brody has once again found himself on the verge of stardom, a place he has visited many times before.

Born and raised in New York City, Brody knew he wanted to be a performer from a young age. He got his first taste of acting when he was 12 years old, performing as a magician at children's parties. With the encouragement of his photographer mother, he enrolled in acting classes, attending both the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and the High School for the Performing Arts. He found work in off-Broadway productions and made his television debut in the 1988 PBS movie Home at Last.

After his debut and some minor TV work, Brody went back to school and attended a year of college before being cast in Steven Soderbergh's 1993 drama King of the Hill. The film, which cast Brody as the lead character's delinquent mentor, met with wide critical acclaim and presented the actor with new opportunities. He won roles in several films, including 1994's Angels in the Outfield and 1997's The Last Time I Committed Suicide, which co-starred Keanu Reeves and the then-unknown actresses Gretchen Mol and Claire Forlani.

In 1997, Brody also had lead roles in The Undertaker's Wedding and Six Ways to Sunday, two fairly obscure pictures that paved the way for both more high-profile work and a turn as one of Vanity Fair's Hot, Young, and Photogenic cover boys. With his 1999 Vanity Fair cover and principle roles in two highly anticipated films, The Thin Red Line (1998) and Summer of Sam (1999), Brody seemed perfectly positioned to step into the limelight. Despite the disappointment of having most of his Line scenes cut, his turn as a bisexual punk in Summer of Sam helped to guarantee that whether or not the actor finally found stardom, he had certainly won critical respect and the privilege of further, steady employment.

Though he would continue to flirt with full-fledged stardom in the coming years, it was Roman Polanski's The Pianist that truly delivered Brody into the good graces of the critics. As a brilliant pianist and Polish Jew who bears witness to such Nazi atrocities as the construction of the Warsaw ghetto and desperately attempts to escape their clutch, Brody's wrenchingly sensitive and melancholy turn delivered the sort of desperation that touched audiences worldwide.