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Adrien Brody Wins Golden Globe for Lead Role as Hungarian Jewish Architect, Holocaust Survivor in ‘The Brutalist’
Adrien Brody, winner of Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama for “The Brutalist” poses at the 82nd Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California, US, Jan. 5, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni
American actor Adrian Brody won best actor in a motion picture drama at the Golden Globes in Beverly Hills on Sunday night for his lead role as Hungarian Jewish architect and Holocaust survivor László Tóth in “The Brutalist.”
The drama, which follows Tóth’s life after he survives the Holocaust and emigrates to the US, also won best drama film and best director for Brady Corbet, making the film one of the top winners at the Golden Globes this year. In his acceptance speech on stage, Brody thanked his parents, who were in the audience, for fostering his growth as an artist. Brody’s mother, photographer Sylvia Plachy, and her parents fled Hungary in 1956 during the Hungarian revolution and eventually immigrated to the US. Brody’s father is Jewish and the actor’s maternal grandmother was a Czech Jew.
“You always hold me up,” he told his mother. “I 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 that I receive flows back to you.” Brody additionally talked about how he has a personal connection to the movie from independent studio A24.
“The character’s journey [in ‘The Brutalist’] is very reminiscent of my mother’s and my ancestral journey of fleeing the horrors of war and coming to this great country,” he said. “And I owe so much to my mother and my grandparents for their sacrifice. And although I do not know fully how to express all of the challenges that you have faced and experienced, and the many people who have struggled immigrating to this country, I hope that this work stands to lift you up a bit and to give you a voice. I’m so grateful and I will cherish this moment forever.”
In the category of best actor in a motion picture drama, Brody beat Timothee Chalamet for his role as Bob Dylan in “A Complete Unknown,” Daniel Craig for “Queer,” Colman Domingo in “Sing Sing,” Ralph Fiennes in “Conclave,” and Sebastian Stan for the Donald Trump biopic “The Apprentice.”
Backstage after his win, Brody talked about receiving the night’s honor 23 years after winning an Oscar for “The Pianist,” which is about a Polish Jewish radio station pianist who survived the Holocaust.
“It’s been many years, it’s been decades, and I’ve had a long life and career and a lot of peeks and a lot of valleys, and it’s given me perspective,” he said in part. “That you can have a triumph in your life again is incredibly healing and rewarding, and also for what it speaks to of my family’s struggles and the hardships that they’ve faced that have given me the good fortune of having front footing as an American actor and the ability to hope and dream and pursue something like this.”
Brody further discussed his mother and her family fleeing oppression in Hungary and coming to America, and how their journey “mirrors” the one depicted in “The Brutalist.” He said about his mother’s family: “Their resilience and their sacrifice is something that was very important for me to honor as well as this universal theme of wanting to find a home; to find acceptance. To not be ‘other’-ed because of how you look, how you sound, or what your religion might be.”
For best drama film, “The Brutalist” beat “A Complete Unknown,” “Conclave,” the sci-fi film “Dune: Part Two,” “Nickel Boys,” and “September 5,” which spotlights the murder of Israeli athletes by Palestinian terrorists at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
The post Adrien Brody Wins Golden Globe for Lead Role as Hungarian Jewish Architect, Holocaust Survivor in ‘The Brutalist’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.