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Two decades before starring as an architect fleeing Europe following World War II in director Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist, Adrien Brody had critics singing his praises for The Pianist. Directed by Roman Polanski, The Pianist features Brody as real-life pianist and composer Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Polish Jewish survivor of the Holocaust. Based on Szpilman’s 1946 memoir, the movie focuses on his hardships during World War II as he loses contact with his family but finds strength through music.
Before this role, Brody had filmed a lead in Terrence Malick’s The Thin Red Line but found out at the 1998 premiere that he was mostly on the cutting-room floor; he also co-starred in Spike Lee’s 1999 drama Summer of Sam. Joseph Fiennes, having recently starred in Shakespeare in Love, was Polanski’s first choice for The Pianist but was busy with a play. Brody won the part after an extensive casting search and plunged headfirst into preparation. He worked with four piano instructors and practiced for hours a day, and he put himself on a starvation diet to drop 30 pounds. This meant not indulging in French pastry while shooting in Paris. “For that to be the place where you can’t have bread is probably the worst,” Brody recalled at the time.
The shoot also involved a six-week stretch in Eastern Europe with Brody as the only actor on set for when Szpilman hides in solitude. “I found [the piano] to be a wonderful distraction from not only the hunger but the loneliness,” he said.
The Pianist premiered at Cannes in May 2002 and won the festival’s Palme d’Or before Focus Features released it in theaters Dec. 27. It made $120 million at the global box office and was nominated for seven Oscars, with wins for Brody, Polanski and Ronald Harwood’s script.
Brody, who at 29 became the youngest-ever best actor winner, has said that the movie’s story led him to experience depression for a year after shooting wrapped. But he was grateful for his newfound perspective: “Aside from the obvious career benefits and the accolades, it changed my life as a man.”
This story first appeared in a December stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
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