Adrien Brody: “I understood the struggle of an immigrant through my mother’s experience”

What made you decide to do this film?

The truth is that it was Brady Corbet who cast me. I was very excited when I read the script about five years ago. At that moment I felt that I had a great emotional connection to the material, and that I was also perfect for the role, because I could understand what the struggle of an immigrant is through my mother's experience, who escaped with her parents from Hungary during the 1956 revolution and came with them to the United States. I grew up hearing Hungarian and meeting people with unique characteristics that belong to that culture. All of that gave me a deep understanding of who Laszlo is. Now as an adult I was able to explore Hungarian dialects and work to find truths that would help me portray a man from the same era as my grandfather. I had all of that at my disposal and I knew that it was going to be key for all of us to be able to create something that had a lot of authenticity.

How would you describe the shoot?

Filming The Brutalist was an extraordinary experience for me for many reasons, including the parallels to my own family history, which is also a universal theme because a lot of people are children of immigrants. On the other hand, my mother is also an artist. She is a photographer and has dedicated her life to her work, in order to leave a legacy. Also, I was always very clear about how the experiences of her past have influenced not only her work, but the way she sees the world. I think that has also affected my own work and my choices as an actor. So it was amazing to be able to include those parallels in my performance.

Do you find it difficult to find projects like this at this point in your career?

It's always a challenge. We always want to find proposals that have a deep meaning and that's why when you come across something like The Brutalist , filming it becomes something very profound. All of us who participated in the shoot were immensely moved by the experience. It has been transformative, rejuvenating and inspiring in many ways. I feel that Brady Corbet's work gives a new dimension to cinema. What he has achieved with few resources is amazing, because he tells a very ambitious and very human story. He has gone into it without being afraid of anything, and he has done it with many complications and sacrifices. He has been very brave and I applaud him. It has been a 7-year odyssey for him and his wife and creative partner Mona Fastvold. In my case, when I first received the script it did not come to fruition, and then miraculously they offered it to me again.

What Brady Corbet has achieved with few resources is surprising, because he tells a very ambitious and very human story.

What did you learn about architecture and perseverance from playing this role?

I have loved and respected architecture and design for a long time, and embodying Laszlo has allowed me to understand that world more. I was able to see through him how any artist uses their own experiences in their work. Much of the context of this story is how post-war architecture was influenced by the traumas left by the conflict. There is a symbolic nature to what Laszlo does. These hollow, cavernous interiors are representative of what has been lost and in some ways speak to the emptiness he carries with him as a man. And his spiritual search for something higher can be seen in the heights and the handling of light, all as a form of artistic expression that speaks to his personal journey.

Do you see a parallel between Laszlo’s desire to leave a legacy as an architect and your own as an actor?

Absolutely. I think this film speaks to a lot of creative souls and also to our own desire to find different approaches. It's a film that can be incredibly personal to anyone with artistic interests who dreams of leaving something behind of great meaning. In the same way that an architect has a vision that leads him to create this indelible structure, actors in film and filmmakers seek to leave something behind that is tangible and that remains relevant despite the passage of time. That entails a great responsibility, and when you are given the opportunity, it can have very comforting results, as was the case with this film, where although there are many historical references, they are things that are relevant today and speak of injustices, of the struggle of artists and of people who come from multiple backgrounds and ethnic groups. That is the goal I have as an actor. That is why I dedicate myself to this and why I have dedicated my life to trying to find moments like this, where I can go out and support the people I have worked with in a creative adventure.

To what extent did working on The Brutalist change your perception of what can be achieved today with a budget of nine million euros?

To tell you the truth, Brady exceeded all my expectations. Not just because of the way he was able to save on the way he shot his shots or the budget and the locations, but because he is a true visionary. It's not like shooting in VistaVision is something that everyone can do. A good friend of mine who is a very well-known director tried it, and he turned it down because everyone told him it was too cumbersome and complicated, because you have to use special equipment. But when Brady gets his head around something, there's no way to convince him otherwise. He knew that VistaVision was a unique way to tell this story. It's a system that was created at the time the film begins, and it's something that hasn't been used since 1961 in an American film, but in this case it served to create an immediate sense that we're in another time, but at the same time that what you're seeing is very real. Even the camera is somewhat brutalist. It looks like a German machine gun. The film is loaded horizontally and as it rolls it makes the sound of a giant sewing machine, which made us feel the presence of the past on the set. Even with that noise, it wasn't visually disturbing because it made us feel closer to the truth. When you shoot on location instead of on a sound stage, it brings back feelings and ghosts of the place that feel very real. It's much better than a fake wall. Instead you're working with real walls with bullet holes left over from wars of the past. There's real erosion and remnants of a life that help you relive the moment. I think all of that influenced the final result of the film. Brady put a lot of thought into everything and assembled a wonderful creative team. We were all able to tell this story with ingenuity and creativity. Judy Becker, who designed those unique structures and the furniture characteristic of the brutalist era, put in a lot of work and creativity, always dealing with limited resources. Obviously the contribution of the director of photography, Lowell Crawley, was very important, because he was able to see with the camera what Brady wanted, and follow us in what we did with that huge device, which was something innovative and beautiful.