Adrien Brody got emotional as he accepted the award for best actor at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards on Wednesday amid raging wildfires in Los Angeles.
“I would be remiss to not mention the weight of what’s on all of our minds and in our hearts tonight,” Brody said during his acceptance speech on Wednesday night for his role as László Tóth in The Brutalist. “It’s been a heavy day for me.”
He then paused as he appeared to get emotional.
“I’m sorry,” he said as he resumed slowly. “It’s always hard to accept something like this when there’s so much suffering in the world. And um, you know, my heart goes out to all of the families and the animals and our colleagues.”
Brody, who won the Golden Globe for best actor in a drama film days earlier, said, “most of the homes on the west side, the beach side of [the Pacific Coast Highway] are gone from Palisades on.”
He added, tearing up, “This is our community.”
Brody went on to say he wanted to “thank and commend the bravery of the first responders and the sacrifices and their meaningful work that deserves our recognition tonight.”
A fire in the Pacific Palisades broke out on Tuesday and, since then, flames have continued to spread through the Los Angeles area, with one fire in the Hollywood Hills, now under control, breaking out Wednesday night and threatening the iconic Hollywood Bowl.
“My thoughts are with everyone affected by this horrific event,” Brody added. “They’re in my prayers, and I know that we’re all praying for their safety.”
A number of Hollywood stars lost their homes in the fires, including Mandy Moore, Anna Faris, Paris Hilton, Billy Crystal, Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag, Cary Elwes, James Woods, Diane Warren, Cameron Mathison, Ricki Lake and Jhené Aiko, among others.
Anora writer-director Sean Baker, who received the award for best screenplay at the NYFCC event, also acknowledged the wildfires in his acceptance speech. “All of our hearts and prayers should be with those being affected by the L.A. fire,” he said after Jim Jarmusch presented him with the honor and expressed him sentiments on the crisis.
“I know all of us are worried about our friends in L.A., and I’ll just quickly say one thing: This climate crisis is brought to you by climate deniers and venal corporate greed,” Jarmusch said. “We’re in a period where these clowns are telling us that woke is a negative thing, and I would just like to say it’s time we wake the fuck up.”
