Inside Adrien Brody’s Private World: How ‘The Brutalist’ Pushed Him to the Limit — and Just Might Win Him Another Oscar

variety.com:

Adrien Brody never looked like a leading man. Casting agents and executives made that message clear over and over again throughout his three-plus decades as a working actor. “Overtly,” Brody, 51, says. “But, yeah, it was often told to my representatives, and my representatives would share that with me.” Even after nabbing the best actor Oscar in 2003 at the age of 29 for “The Pianist” — making him the youngest winner ever in the category — he never quite maintained A-list status.

While a few directors came calling with the occasional studio lead role, like Peter Jackson for his $200 million 2005 tentpole “King Kong” and Nimród Antal for the 2010 “Predators” sequel, those were the exceptions.

Yes, he’s booked five movies with Wes Anderson since joining the director’s repertory company in 2007’s “The Darjeeling Limited,” but other major roles have eluded him, even while peers such as Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Leonardo DiCaprio never lacked access to better material.

Being overlooked was a familiar scenario for Brody: As a teen, he struggled to follow up his debut as the star of the PBS movie “Home at Last,” and the repeated rejections stung. “I’ve had to prove that the leading man can be unusual and unique and not typically handsome,” he explains. “But oftentimes, somewhat nondescript-looking choices are easier.