97th Oscars: Adrien Brody wins Best Actor, tells Academy to cut the music to finish speech

Los Angeles: Hollywood star Adrien Brody has been feted with his second Oscar for best actor, for his role in Brady Corbet’s “The Brutalist.”

He was nominated alongside names such as Timothée Chalamet (“A Complete Unknown”), Colman Domingo (“Sing Sing”), Ralph Fiennes (“Conclave”) and Sebastian Stan (“The Apprentice”) in the Actor in a Leading Role.

Walking on stage to accept the trophy, Brody spit his chewing gum into his hand and threw it to his partner, Georgina Chapman, reports variety.com.

Toward the end of his lengthy speech, the Academy began to play Brody off with music.

Brody said: “I’m wrapping up, please turn the music off. I’ve done this before. Thank you. It’s not my first rodeo, but I will will be brief.”

In 2003, Brody became the youngest person to win the prize at age 29, for his lead role in “The Pianist.” Had Chalamet won, he would have beaten Brody’s record by eight months.

Brody joins a short list of actors who have won the Academy Award for best actor twice: Spencer Tracy, Jack Nicholson, Marlon Brando, Dustin Hoffman, Gary Cooper, Tom Hanks, Fredric March, Sean Penn and Anthony Hopkins. Daniel Day-Lewis is the only person to win best actor three times.

In “The Brutalist,” a three-and-a-half-hour epic, Brody plays the fictional architect and Holocaust survivor László Tóth, who escapes Hungary to come to the United States. After a twist of fate, he begins working on an ambitious project for a wealthy businessman in Pennsylvania as he awaits for the arrival of his wife and niece.

“The Brutalist” scored 10 Oscar nominations in total, including for best picture, best director (Corbet) and best supporting performances for Guy Pearce and Felicity Jones. It’s also up for best cinematography, editing, production design, original screenplay and original score.

–IANS