The Brutalist has earned the “they don’t make ’em like that anymore” seal. Its ambition and craft evoke American epics like The Deer Hunter, The Godfather, or The Master, films with breadth and scope, but whose real power comes from their interior landscapes. For an actor to make a canvas that vast feel vital and intimate, it takes more than craft. Adrien Brody’s skill is undeniable, but his real superpower is having an inner life rich enough to fill that epic canvas, and the bravery to put it all on the chopping block. Adrien is always authentic to who he is and where he came from, but in the nearly 20 years I’ve known and worked with him, he’s never lost his passion for growing as a person. Seeing him put all of that up on the screen in this role, I was proud of my friend—and excited for much more to come from one of our true greats.
Johnson is a director and Oscar-nominated writer