The Brutalist director Brady Corbet was never that sentimental — until he met Adrien Brody
‘Adrien just breaks your heart in the role,’ Corbet says in a Q interview
When Brady Corbet started working on his sprawling historical epic The Brutalist, he felt it was important to portray a survivor who wasn't an altruist.
"I've seen so many survivor stories where these characters are angels," the director tells Q's Tom Power in an interview. "I struggle with that because I think it suggests that we can only empathize with someone if they're perfect."
Earlier this month, The Brutalist won big at the Golden Globes, taking home best drama, best director and best actor for Adrien Brody, who stars as the fictional Jewish Hungarian architect László Tóth. The film follows László as he emigrates to the U.S., seeking to rebuild his life after surviving the Holocaust. He settles in Pennsylvania, where he meets a wealthy industrialist (Guy Pearce) who recognizes his talent and commissions him to build a monumental hilltop community centre — but the relationship soon becomes toxic.
Though Corbet says László, who struggles with trauma and addiction, is meant to be "an absolute mess," he was struck by the warmth and emotion that Brody brought to the character.
"He's a pretty poetic guy in real life," the director says about his lead actor. "I was really moved by him the first time that we met, and it's actually something I think I'll probably carry with me for a long time."
As a filmmaker, Corbet admits that he's never really bothered to find "the heart and soul of a character," but rather focused on whether his characters were fascinating and compelling. Now, thanks to Brody, he's reconsidering his approach.
"I've never been a sentimentalist," he tells Power. "I've never really cared if a character was likable. And yet, this was the first time that I had a likable protagonist in a film because you couldn't help but like Adrien. I mean, he's just this beautiful guy. I actually think it's one of the reasons that the people are really, really connecting with the film.… Adrien just breaks your heart in the role."
Like the Brutalist architecture that László obsesses over, there's something about the character that's deeply connected with audiences despite his flaws. "[Brutalism is] not perfect," Corbet says. "There's many ugly Brutalist buildings and there's many Brutalist masterpieces as well, but it seems to provoke very strong reactions."
The full interview with Brady Corbet is available on our YouTube channel and on our podcast, Q with Tom Power. He also talks about his early work as an actor, and how his personal story parallels the tension between art and commerce that's seen in the film. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
Interview with Brady Corbet produced by Mitch Pollock.
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