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The Pianist, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Midnight in Paris, The Thin Red Line—these are all films that made Adrien Brody a household name, but now the leading man is taking on work behind the camera too. His latest movie, Clean, is a passion project that has been years in the making.
Clean is a dark and violent thriller about a garbage man looking for redemption. Brody plays the eponymous protagonist—but he also produced the film, co-wrote the screenplay alongside director Paul Solet and composed the score.
"This is the most I've ever been immersed in a film ever in my lifetime or any creative endeavor," the 48-year-old Oscar winner told Newsweek.
"Just everything all in—financially, spiritually. All my time, all my every creative thought that I could pour into this I did—and lost sleep for years on it."
Brody revealed that he had a long-held wish to tell a story like Clean and explore a complex character within a genre that he loves—the action-revenge thriller.
"I feel like I've been desperate to marry the two to create something that I feel has the visual, emotional, artistic, creative sensibilities for me as an actor, my aspirations as a filmmaker, and also, that feels just entertaining and exciting," he said.
Brody said he also wanted to champion the stories of young people who find themselves in the kind of situation depicted in Clean.
In the film, his character looks out for teenager Dianda (played by Chandler DuPont) and Brody said her story mirrored his real-life concern about income inequality and its impact on young people.
"It speaks to a lot of what I struggle with in the world around me—the hardships for young people to overcome all of the oppressive forces. Young people in particular, in impoverished communities, and the injustice and inequality that is pervasive in this great country, how difficult it is for a young person to fight," he said.
Although people mostly know Brody for film or TV performances—he has recently appeared in Succession and Chapelwaite—he says he has always expressed his creativity through other mediums as well.
Asked about how he combined the many roles he had on Clean, he said: "I could only do it sparingly. I yearn to pour my heart and soul into the creative process, whatever that may be."
He added: "I know most people understand me as a professional actor, and I've done that for a lifetime—but I have painted for a lifetime, and I've made music for a lifetime and and I grew up in a very artistic home.
"My mother is a wonderfully accomplished photographer in New York. My father is a talented painter and, you know, all of these things are deeply important to me in my way of feeling whole, I guess.
"I love to share that and I feel like I have a lot to share with people. And it lifts me up and I hope to lift others up with that."
Clean will be in theaters and everywhere you rent and buy movies on January 28.
