Strongest Oscars 2025 Contender Once Starred in One of the Best Biopics of All Time

This year’s Oscar nominations have been around for almost a week now, causing speculations among the audience on whether it’s already safe to make their own bets. The race this time is quite unpredictable, with many potential winners striving for the Best Picture award and Timothée Chalamet’s possible record-breaking triumph over previous record breaker Adrien Brody.

The latter is still a strong contender though, as his latest Oscar-nominated period drama The Brutalist once again confirms the actor’s unique take on bringing some tragic stories from world history to the screen. Coincidentally, the movie that got Brody this fame remains the best music biopic more than 20 years after its release.

The Pianist Is the Highest-Rated Music Biopic on IMDb

Directed by Roman Polanski, The Pianist is based on famous Polish Jewish musician Władysław Szpilman’s 1946 autobiographical book and recounts the story of his survival in war-ridden Warsaw during the Holocaust. The movie’s release back in 2002 was followed by universal acclaim that helped The Pianist secure three Oscars wins in Best Director, Best Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay categories.

Upon his historical triumph at the Oscars as the youngest actor to receive the award, Brody revealed that the movie was both the best and the worst thing that had ever happened to him, stating that he had struggled with PTSD after going through an exhaustive diet for bringing Szpilman’s accurate portrayal to the screen.

There was a silver lining though, and The Pianist’s legacy lives on decades later: on IMDb, the movie is ranked 32nd on the list of top 250 movies of all time, also holding a solid rating of 8.5 out of 10.

Adrien Brody Is Likely to Win His Second Oscar This Year

The history might have just repeated itself, and the actor is back to the big screen with yet another heart-shattering story of a Holocaust survivor. Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist follows László Tóth, a Hungarian-born Jewish architect who, trying to flee the almost certain death, immigrates to the United States where the American Dream doesn’t seem to be a real thing until a wealthy client comes along.

The movie is on the forefront of the Oscars race with 10 nominations under its belt, including the ones for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor. Adrien Brody is also one of the potential winners in his category alongside Timothée Chalamet; the latter might become the new youngest actor to ever win the Best Actor award for his portrayal of Bob Dilan in James Mangold’s A Complete Unknown.