Adrien Brody: Is The Brutalist star Adrien Brody close to breaking this 65-year record? Here's a pre-Oscars sneak peek

The Brutalist has been in discussion throughout this award season because of its long runtime, and now, the same runtime might help Adrien Brody to break a 65-year-old record if he wins the Best Actor award.

The Brady Corbet directorial is one of the most talked-about films of 2024 for a number of reasons. It has been widely praised for its moving depiction of a Jewish architect after the tragic holocaust. The audience also admired the film's camerawork and production design as it centered around a form of architecture. However, what caught everyone's eye was its whooping three-and-a-half-hour-long runtime.

The Brutalist was considerably longer than the films usually being released these days. So, in the age of dwindling attention span, it became a rare spectacle that the audience needed to be patient with. The same runtime led Adrien Brody to appear for nearly 2 hours 8 minutes, and 30 seconds on screen during the film. So, he stands a chance to break a 65-year-old record in the Best Actor race for a performance with one of the longest screentime.

Will The Brutalist star Adrien Brody break a 65-year Oscar record? Details explored

Expand Tweet

The Brutalist offers its lead, Adrien Brody, a chance to break a 65-year-old record. The 51-year-old actor is currently in the race for Oscar in the Best Actor category. If he wins this award, he will reportedly become a winner with the longest time on screen. The record is currently held by Charlton Heston, the American actor who won for his performance in William Wyler's Ben-Hur. He appeared on screen for almost 2 hours and 1 minute during the film's 3-hour and 32-minute runtime, per Screen Time Central.

If Brody wins the Best Actor Oscar, he will effectively break Wyler's record by roughly 7 minutes. That will offer him a chance to hold two records at the Oscars since he has already been the youngest Best Actor winner for his role in The Pianist. Until now, Brody has won most of the awards he was nominated for for his performance in The Brutalist. He is already a BAFTA winner, a Golden Globe winner, and a Critics Choice Award winner for his role as pianist László Tóth. So, there's a high chance he can break this record.

The Brutalist, Adrien Brody, and the state of the Best Actor race

The Brutalist offers Adrien Brody a chance to win his second Academy Award after his victory for a performance in The Pianist. If he wins, he will join a select list of actors like Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained, Inglourious Basterds) and Mahershala Ali (Moonlight, Green Book) to win every Oscar they have been nominated for.

Per Screenrant, Brody is among the Best Actor Oscar nominees with the longest screen time. The past nominees include talented actors like Cate Blanchett (Tár), Denzel Washington (Malcolm X), and Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street).

The plausible threat to Brody's Best Actor win is SAG award winner Timothée Chalamet for his performance in A Complete Unknown. If Chalamet wins, he will be the youngest actor to win this award, breaking Brody's old record by a margin of just a few months. At the time of his The Pianist Oscar win, Brody was 29 years old, reportedly just a month away from entering his thirties. Chalamet will be 30, this coming December.

Adrien Brody fans can find the results during the Academy Awards ceremony, scheduled to be on March 2, 2025, from 4:00 pm PT / 7:00 pm ET onwards.