Adrien Brody says he shouldn't take 'a paddling' for longest Oscar speech in history

Patrick Ryan, USA TODAYSat, May 2, 2026 at 1:00 PM UTC

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NEW YORK – Adrien Brody has a reputation as one of the most capital-S serious actors working in Hollywood.

But the A-lister, who is making his Broadway debut in “The Fear of 13,” has always had a good sense of humor about himself.

In early 2025, Brody set the record for the longest Oscars speech in the almost-100-year history of the Academy Awards, taking 5 minutes and 40 seconds to accept the best actor trophy for “The Brutalist.” The actor was harshly ridiculed online for his winding words, in which he reflected on his career and touched on pertinent issues of racism, systematic oppression and antisemitism – all on top of the usual laundry list of “thank yous.”

Looking back now, “it’s a very funny thing,” Brody tells USA TODAY. “First of all, I’d like to see anyone really have perspective in that moment in their life, because you don’t have any. It takes me a while – as you can see – to express my thoughts, but I really try to share what I mean to say. There are a lot of people and a lot of circumstances that got me to that place, miraculously, that I tried to unpack under the pressure of being in front of the world. And it took a little longer than I thought.

Adrien Brody poses for a portrait in New York on April 24. The two-time Oscar winner is now starring in "The Fear of 13" on Broadway.

“I witness people blather on about things that … you know, no one’s criticizing as much,” Brody continues. “But it’s all good. It’s part of the privilege and the joy of recognition. Nothing was done ever to take more time than was allotted, if that makes any sense. (Laughs.) It clearly was a moment of profound contemplation and joy that I needed to try and express as well as I could. And sometimes I don’t.”

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That said, “it was the longest screen time of any actor, too,” Brody notes playfully. “So I should be allowed three extra seconds without a paddling!”

In the nearly 3 ½-hour epic “The Brutalist,” Brody plays a fictional Hungarian-Jewish architect who survives the Holocaust and moves to America, where he encounters insidious exploitation and hardship. With his captivating performance, he broke Charlton Heston’s 65-year record for the most screen time of any best actor winner, appearing in 2 hours and 8 minutes of the Brady Corbet-directed drama.

Brody was on hand at this year's Oscar ceremony in March, where he presented best actor to Michael B. Jordan ("Sinners"). Before he handed off the hardware, Brody had a little fun at his own expense, as he walked out with a stack of papers and pretended to get frazzled by the orchestra's playoff music. (But don't worry: He didn't toss the chewing gum this time.)

The humorous bit was something that Brody and his team pitched to the show's producers. During Oscar rehearsals, he riffed even more than he did during the actual telecast.

"I was playing around, but they asked me to please stick to the script," Brody recalls with a grin. "But we presented (the idea). We thought it was pretty funny and they got the joke."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Adrien Brody defends giving longest Oscar speech in history

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