Adrien Brody

In The Brutalist (2024), Adrien Brody has a habit of looking slightly past the person speaking to him. His László Tóth limps and seems accustomed to humiliation, until praise from Guy Pearce’s patron allows a little hope to appear. We felt uneasy watching that hope arrive, because Brody makes the architect’s eagerness to believe this generous man so clear. Brady Corbet gives him the time to make that need matter, and Brody carries the film even when its second half starts repeating what the first has already made clear.

In King of the Hill (1993), Soderbergh gives him Lester, who passes his knowledge of the city on to the younger Aaron. It is a supporting part, but we can already see the value of casting Brody as someone who has learnt things the hard way. His breakthrough lead in The Pianist (2002) came later, followed by studio work including King Kong (2005). We would not make the size of the part our guide to what to watch.

Wes Anderson offered another way of using him, beginning with The Darjeeling Limited (2007). In Asteroid City (2023), Brody needs only two scenes as the play’s director, Schubert Green, to justify his place in a crowded cast. Those appearances in the grey half are brief, decisive pleasures in a film that takes its time letting us care about anyone. We would welcome more of that economy, with Brody making his impression without being asked to carry an entire film through suffering.

Leading opportunities thinned in the 2010s, and television helped bring him back into view. In Poker Face (2023), he is among the changing supporting cast around Natasha Lyonne, whose company is the chief reason we recommend the series. The Brutalist gives him a major dramatic lead again, and makes the appeal of that casting clear. Choose it for him, with patience for a second half that keeps labouring its point about money and art.