Golden Globes 2025: Adrien Brody wins ‘Best Male Actor – Drama’ for ‘The Brutalist’
Adrien Brody won the award for ‘Best Male Actor – Drama’ for his performance in Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist at the Golden Globes on January 4th.
Brody, who was previously nominated for the same award in 2002 for The Pianist but lost out to Jack Nicholson, has now won his first Golden Globe. He faced competition in the ‘Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama’ category from Timothée Chalamet for A Complete Unknown, Daniel Craig for Queer, Colman Domingo for Sing Sing, Ralph Fiennes for Conclave, and Sebastian Stan for The Apprentice.
In The Brutalist, Brody portrays architect László Toth, who moves to the United States to start a new life for himself after needing to leave Europe behind following World War II.
The official synopsis for the film reads: “Escaping post-war Europe, visionary architect László Toth arrives in America to rebuild his life, his work, and his marriage to his wife Erzsébet after being forced apart during wartime by shifting borders and regimes. On his own in a strange new country, László settles in Pennsylvania, where the wealthy and prominent industrialist Harrison Lee Van Buren recognizes his talent for building. But power and legacy come at a heavy cost.”
Brody previously told NPR about his personal connection to The Brutalist, which attracted him to take on the role: “It’s a big honour for me to help tell the story of the immigrant experience that is very familiar to me. You know, my mother, this amazing photographer, also emigrated to the United States in the ’50s, much like my character did.”
The actor continued: “Her and her parents fled Budapest during the Hungarian Revolution and moved to New York and began again. That journey of resilience and hope and sacrifice really speaks to me. And I’m here and with firm footing on the ground because of their struggles and all that they’ve overcome.”
In his victory speech, he paid tribute to his parents for being a major supportive influence: “You always hold me up… often credit my mother for her influence on me as an artist, but dad, you are the foundation of this family, and all this love I receive flows back to you.”
Adding, “I owe so much to my mother and my grandparents for their sacrifices… Though I do not fully know how to express the challenges you have faced and experienced …. I hope this work stands to lift you up a bit and to give you voice.”
The Brutalist was the second most-nominated movie at the Golden Globes with seven nominations, only Emilia Pérez featured in more categories with ten nominations.
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