The Academy Award for Best Actor goes to Adrien Brody at the 2025 Oscars for his role in The Brutalist. Accepting the award, Brody said, "Acting is a very fragile profession. It looks very glamorous and in certain moments it is - No matter where you are in your career, no matter what you've accomplished, it can all go away. and I think what makes this night so special is the awareness of that and the gratitude to still do what I live. Winning this award signifies a destination, something my character references in the film. Beyond the pinnacle of my career, it's the chance to begin again."
He also asked them to turn off the music, extending his speech (the way Kieran Culkin jokingly said he would at the SAG Awards). He continued by saying the film is a reminder to "not let hate go unchecked."
The actor beat A Complete Unknown's Timothée Chalamet, Conclave's Ralph Fiennes, Sing Sing's Colman Domingo, and The Apprentice's Sebastian Stan in the category. Brody was always the frontrunner for his moving performance as Hungarian-Jewish Holocaust survivor László Tóth in Brady Corbet's epic drama.
The film charts Tóth's life after the Second World War when he emigrates to America. However, living penniless and without his wife, life is hard for former architect Tóth until he meets a wealthy businessman who changes his life. He starred in the movie with Felicity Jones and Guy Pearce, who were also nominated in the Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting Actor categories, respectively.
Brody gives a moving and powerful performance in the role, which has been a hit this awards season. The Academy Award completes his run of winning the BAFTA, Golden Globe, and Critics' Choice awards. The only major gong he lost out on was the SAG Award, which went to Chalamet.
This is also Brody's second Oscar win, after he became the youngest winner in the category at 29. That time, he won for his role as Władysław Szpilman in Roman Polanski's 2002 war drama The Pianist.
For more, make sure you follow along with our Oscars 2025 live blog for all the news as it happens. We also have a guide to the best Oscar-winning movies to watch now.
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