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CNN Live Sunday

Interview With Adrien Brody

Aired March 09, 2003 - 18:44   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: It's the moment you've all been waiting for especially you.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Absolutely, can't wait.

WHITFIELD: An award ceremony presented by actors and the winners are...

COOPER: By actors for actors.

WHITFIELD: Getting -- yes.

COOPER: Yes, the SAG awards.

WHITFIELD: Awards by actors.

COOPER: Screen Actors Guild, a very prestigious prelude to the Oscars. In less than two hours the 9th Annual Screen Actors Guild awards are set to begin in L.A. and right now Andy Culpepper joins us live from outside the Shrine Auditorium with a look at who's who in the red carpet -- Andy.

WHITFIELD: And hopefully you've got some actors for us, huh?

ANDY CULPEPPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Indeed I have. I do indeed.

WHITFIELD: All right.

CULPEPPER: I have one of the most familiar faces out there right now. Let's say hello to Adrien Brody who's nominated for "The Pianist" and it's got to be an exciting day for you.

ADRIEN BRODY, BEST ACTOR NOMINEE: Oh, it's fantastic. It's thrilling. It's incredible.

CULPEPPER: This movie started getting buzz almost a year ago, more than a year ago when it started out in Cannes and since then it's been a whirlwind.

BRODY: Yes, I mean I couldn't have imagined that kind of an overwhelmingly positive response because just, you know, Cannes was fantastic and the film received, you know, a tremendous amount of recognition.

But, you know, that's Europe and here we are in the United States and this is a very -- it's a very serious film that deals with very, you know, serious subject matter and I'm really happy that it has become so popular here and that people are really are moved by Roman's work and by my involvement and all of that. So, it's really, it's been pretty tremendous.

CULPEPPER: And you're getting to dress a lot better than in a lot of those scenes that you appeared in in "The Pianist." One story that some people out there may not be familiar with, you actually had to shoot some of the toughest scenes first and lost how many pounds?

BRODY: Thirty pounds. We had to shoot in reverse because of the weight loss and because I had to grow a beard and then the fact that it's kind of good. I mean I did the hardest stuff first and then it was a matter of getting through the rest of it. But, you know, it was a six-month shoot and it was pretty intense. Even the lighter stuff was relatively intense.

CULPEPPER: A lot of people talk about this as a precursor to the Oscars but where the Oscars have members of the academy which number between, I don't know, 6,000 and 8,000. This Screen Actors Guild number in excess of 100,000, so to be nominated for this award, let alone to win it, to be nominated for this means an awful lot of people out there voted for you.

BRODY: Not only an awful lot of people but my, my fellow actors and that kind of recognition means everything. I mean if you have the respect of your fellow actors who understand the difficulties in this business and the challenges and appreciate your work and on this level it's phenomenal because of the sheer amount of actors that are out there and to be singled out, I'm just incredibly grateful, really.

CULPEPPER: In the state of affairs in which we find ourselves your film also speaks to a greater thing than merely entertainment and I know that's been something that's been very important to you. How special would it be to you to win for something like that?

BRODY: Well, you know, I've given it a great deal of thought because the whole experience has changed my life. The making of this film has increased my awareness about the world and suffering that exists in this world, not only in the past but currently and starvation and it also awakened an understanding of how much freedom we have here as young Americans.

And it's something that I think a lot of us take for granted. I've taken it for granted at times and just having the simple things in life that a lot of people are deprived of and so it puts so much into perspective in my own life that, you know, now when this kind of stuff happens it's just beyond anything I could have anticipated.

CULPEPPER: Without getting into all the controversy, I would like to ask you about Mr. Polanski. He's someone who doesn't get to appear before the cameras here so give us your firsthand account of what it was like working with someone who's an acknowledged master of the cinema.

BRODY: Well, obviously he is the master filmmaker and incredibly gifted but he also brought elements to this film that he could never have -- that no one else could ever have delivered and shared with the audience and also the kind of guidance that I received from him.

I don't think another director had an experience loss on that level, hadn't experienced firsthand what an individual goes through who is in hiding, who suffered in isolation the loss of their family members and he conveyed it in a way that really made me very honored to be a part of it and very honored to share it, and I'm amazed.

CULPEPPER: Adrien I know you've got a busy day ahead of you. Thanks so much for talking with us here on CNN and good luck, good to see you.

BRODY: You're welcome.

CULPEPPER: Adrien Brody here in Los Angeles at the Screen Actors Guild, back to you in Atlanta.

COOPER: All right, Andy Culpepper thanks very much.

WHITFIELD: Yes, good luck to him.

COOPER: Yes, I don't know if you've seen Adrien Brody's movie.

WHITFIELD: I haven't seen it yet.

COOPER: It is an extraordinary, really, really extraordinary movie.

WHITFIELD: I've only heard great things about it. It explains why it's the nominee.

COOPER: As it should be.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired March 9, 2003 - 18:44   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: It's the moment you've all been waiting for especially you.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Absolutely, can't wait.

WHITFIELD: An award ceremony presented by actors and the winners are...

COOPER: By actors for actors.

WHITFIELD: Getting -- yes.

COOPER: Yes, the SAG awards.

WHITFIELD: Awards by actors.

COOPER: Screen Actors Guild, a very prestigious prelude to the Oscars. In less than two hours the 9th Annual Screen Actors Guild awards are set to begin in L.A. and right now Andy Culpepper joins us live from outside the Shrine Auditorium with a look at who's who in the red carpet -- Andy.

WHITFIELD: And hopefully you've got some actors for us, huh?

ANDY CULPEPPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Indeed I have. I do indeed.

WHITFIELD: All right.

CULPEPPER: I have one of the most familiar faces out there right now. Let's say hello to Adrien Brody who's nominated for "The Pianist" and it's got to be an exciting day for you.

ADRIEN BRODY, BEST ACTOR NOMINEE: Oh, it's fantastic. It's thrilling. It's incredible.

CULPEPPER: This movie started getting buzz almost a year ago, more than a year ago when it started out in Cannes and since then it's been a whirlwind.

BRODY: Yes, I mean I couldn't have imagined that kind of an overwhelmingly positive response because just, you know, Cannes was fantastic and the film received, you know, a tremendous amount of recognition.

But, you know, that's Europe and here we are in the United States and this is a very -- it's a very serious film that deals with very, you know, serious subject matter and I'm really happy that it has become so popular here and that people are really are moved by Roman's work and by my involvement and all of that. So, it's really, it's been pretty tremendous.

CULPEPPER: And you're getting to dress a lot better than in a lot of those scenes that you appeared in in "The Pianist." One story that some people out there may not be familiar with, you actually had to shoot some of the toughest scenes first and lost how many pounds?

BRODY: Thirty pounds. We had to shoot in reverse because of the weight loss and because I had to grow a beard and then the fact that it's kind of good. I mean I did the hardest stuff first and then it was a matter of getting through the rest of it. But, you know, it was a six-month shoot and it was pretty intense. Even the lighter stuff was relatively intense.

CULPEPPER: A lot of people talk about this as a precursor to the Oscars but where the Oscars have members of the academy which number between, I don't know, 6,000 and 8,000. This Screen Actors Guild number in excess of 100,000, so to be nominated for this award, let alone to win it, to be nominated for this means an awful lot of people out there voted for you.

BRODY: Not only an awful lot of people but my, my fellow actors and that kind of recognition means everything. I mean if you have the respect of your fellow actors who understand the difficulties in this business and the challenges and appreciate your work and on this level it's phenomenal because of the sheer amount of actors that are out there and to be singled out, I'm just incredibly grateful, really.

CULPEPPER: In the state of affairs in which we find ourselves your film also speaks to a greater thing than merely entertainment and I know that's been something that's been very important to you. How special would it be to you to win for something like that?

BRODY: Well, you know, I've given it a great deal of thought because the whole experience has changed my life. The making of this film has increased my awareness about the world and suffering that exists in this world, not only in the past but currently and starvation and it also awakened an understanding of how much freedom we have here as young Americans.

And it's something that I think a lot of us take for granted. I've taken it for granted at times and just having the simple things in life that a lot of people are deprived of and so it puts so much into perspective in my own life that, you know, now when this kind of stuff happens it's just beyond anything I could have anticipated.

CULPEPPER: Without getting into all the controversy, I would like to ask you about Mr. Polanski. He's someone who doesn't get to appear before the cameras here so give us your firsthand account of what it was like working with someone who's an acknowledged master of the cinema.

BRODY: Well, obviously he is the master filmmaker and incredibly gifted but he also brought elements to this film that he could never have -- that no one else could ever have delivered and shared with the audience and also the kind of guidance that I received from him.

I don't think another director had an experience loss on that level, hadn't experienced firsthand what an individual goes through who is in hiding, who suffered in isolation the loss of their family members and he conveyed it in a way that really made me very honored to be a part of it and very honored to share it, and I'm amazed.

CULPEPPER: Adrien I know you've got a busy day ahead of you. Thanks so much for talking with us here on CNN and good luck, good to see you.

BRODY: You're welcome.

CULPEPPER: Adrien Brody here in Los Angeles at the Screen Actors Guild, back to you in Atlanta.

COOPER: All right, Andy Culpepper thanks very much.

WHITFIELD: Yes, good luck to him.

COOPER: Yes, I don't know if you've seen Adrien Brody's movie.

WHITFIELD: I haven't seen it yet.

COOPER: It is an extraordinary, really, really extraordinary movie.

WHITFIELD: I've only heard great things about it. It explains why it's the nominee.

COOPER: As it should be.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com