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Adrien Brody has been a working actor since 1989, playing dozens of movie and TV roles, and he continues to add to his catalog. However, there's one character he says took a toll on his mind and body alike.
The 51-year-old star recently divulged behind-the-scenes information about the making of Roman Polanski's 2002 film The Pianist and what it took to embody Władysław Szpilman, a Holocaust survivor. Brody commented on the physical transformation he underwent and how it affected him even after the movie was done in an interview with New York Magazine published on Monday, December 23. According to the article, the actor weighed only 129 pounds after shedding 30 pounds and "was barely drinking water by the time they started filming."
Brody told the outlet, "That was a physical transformation that was necessary for storytelling," before adding, "But then that kind of opened me up, spiritually, to a depth of understanding of emptiness and hunger in a way that I didn't know, ever."
The actor was then asked if he suffered from PTSD from his time making the film, to which he responded, "I do, yeah." He went on to explain, "I definitely had an eating disorder for at least a year, and then I was depressed for a year, if not a lifetime. I'm kidding, I'm kidding."
All the effort the actor put into the character paid off, as the film received seven nominations at the 2003 Academy Awards. Some of the nominations included Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor. Brody took home the award for Best Actor, making history that year at age 29 as the youngest actor ever to receive the honor.
After over 20 years, the star is generating buzz for his performance in The Brutalist, with some thinking he might actually have a chance to add another Oscar to his collection of accolades.
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