Oscars 2025: Adrien Brody Winning Best Actor Will End A 3 Year Trend Will Smith Started
Adrien Brody is a frontrunner to win the Best Actor Oscar thanks to his performance in The Brutalist, and he'll end a recent trend if he does. Over two decades after Brody made history by becoming the youngest Best Actor winner in Oscars history, the over three-hour epic has brought him back into the awards conversation. There was every expectation that he would be part of the Best Actor nominee lineup and that was confirmed when the nominations were officially announced in January. Since then, Brody has been in a tight race with Timothée Chalamet (A Complete Unknown).
There have been several shifts in the race, including The Brutalist's AI controversy creating more drama in the category. Chalamet was an early favorite to win in some circles, but Brody has continued to solidify his place as the frontrunner to win. His wins at the Golden Globes, BAFTAs, and elsewhere have strengthened his case. Meanwhile, Chalamet has failed to be victorious in a major precursor. Since The Brutalist is one of Adrien Brody's best performances, a win would be justified. It would also mean ending a three-year Oscar trend that began with Will Smith.
Best Actor Has Gone To A First Time Oscar Winner The Last 3 Years
From Will Smith To Cillian Murphy
Over the last three years, Oscars voters have favored giving Best Actor to performers who are not yet Oscar winners. Instead of continuing to reward people who have won previously, the trend has been to finally acknowledge a range of career actors who never got this level of recognition. The trend began in 2022 when Will Smith won Best Actor for King Richard. Although he had been nominated once before and had starred in several huge hits, this marked the first Oscar win for Smith.
2023 continued the trend when Brendan Fraser won Best Actor for The Whale. The victory came from Fraser's first Oscar nomination in Darren Aronofsky's film. 2024 then saw Cillian Murphy win for Oppenheimer after his first Oscar nomination. The trend arguably should be even longer, as Chadwick Boseman was expected to win his first Oscar posthumously in 2021 for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, but Anthony Hopkins' surprise win prevented that. The trend would have been 11 years long if not for Hopkins' win, as 10 of the last 11 Best Actor winners were first-time Oscar winners.
Adrien Brody Is The Only Best Actor Nominee In 2025 Who Is A Previous Oscar Winner
The Rest Of The Nominees Have Never Won An Oscar
The odds looked good that the Oscars 2025 would continue the Best Actor trend once the nominees were announced. Adrien Brody is the only one who has already won an Oscar. Chalamet, Ralph Fiennes (Conclave), and Colman Domingo (Sing Sing) are previous nominees who have never won. Meanwhile, Sebastian Stan (The Apprentice) earned his first Oscar nomination. Four of the five nominees winning would then continue the trend of Best Actor going to a first-time Oscar winner. That further shows how impressive Brody's win could be.
Brody would be the 12th two-time Best Actor winner
Adrien Brody will join a small group of actors who can say they've won multiple Best Actor Oscars if he wins for The Brutalist. Hopkins was the last actor to become a multiple-time Best Actor Oscar winner. It's only happened 11 times in history, so Brody would be the 12th two-time Best Actor winner. Barring a major surprise in the final stretch of the awards season - even after Oscars voting has closed - the trajectory of the race points to Adrien Brody winning Best Actor and ending the three year trend.
The Brutalist
- Release Date
- December 20, 2024
- Runtime
- 215 Minutes
- Director
- Brady Corbet
- Writers
- Brady Corbet, Mona Fastvold
Cast
László Tóth
Harrison Lee Van Buren
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