Adrien Brody Developed an Eating Disorder, PTSD After Weight Loss forThe Pianist: ‘Necessary for Storytelling’

Mar. 15, 2025

Adrien Brody in The Pianist.Photo:Guy Ferrandis/Focus Features/Studio Canal/Kobal/Shutterstock

Guy Ferrandis/Focus Features/Studio Canal/Kobal/Shutterstock

Adrien Brodyrevealed that his Oscar-winning performance in Roman Polanski’s 2003 biographical dramaThe Pianisttook a massive toll on his body.

In an interview withVulture, published Dec. 23, the 51-year-old actor revealed that he developed an eating disorder and suffered PTSD after taking on the role.

“That was a physical transformation that was necessary for storytelling,” he told the outlet. “But then that kind of opened me up, spiritually, to a depth of understanding of emptiness and hunger in a way that I didn’t know, ever.”

Brody admitted that there were long-term effects of that physical transformation, dealing with insomnia, panic attacks and PTSD from the experience.

“I definitely had an eating disorder for at least a year,” he added. “And then I was depressed for a year, if not a lifetime. I’m kidding, I’m kidding.”

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Brody is no stranger to method acting and said he typically goes to extreme lengths to prepare for a movie.

“When he filmedThe Jacket,a sci-fi thriller in which he’s sent to a mental institution, he told the director to leave him in a straitjacket so he could get a feel for it,”Vulturerecounted. “He broke his nose when someone accidentally punched him in the face during the filming ofSummer of Sam,giving him a permanent dent.”

ForWrecked,Brody actually ate ants and worms while portraying a character who is stranded in the woods. And for his role inOxygen,he got metal braces for his character instead of prosthetics.

“I didn’t know how fucking painful that was until they stuck in pliers and ripped them off my teeth at the end,” he said.

Brody’s latest work is inThe Brutalist, the A24 film in which he plays Hungarian-Jewish architect László Toth, who survives the Holocaust and emigrates to the U.S. to find work.

On Dec. 3, the New York Film Critics' Circle awarded him with the Best Actor prize for his performance.

source: people.com