Adrien Brody's performance in The Brutalist has earned him the second Best Actor Oscar in his career from as many nominations. Brody also won the award in the same category for his performance in Roman Polanski's 2002 film The Pianist. The achievement follows up Brody's wins at the BAFTA Awards, the Golden Globes, and Critics' Choice Movie Awards, among others.

Interestingly, Brody came into the film as a replacement for Joel Edgerton. The Oscar award means a feather in Brody's cap for his performance as a modernist architect who goes to the US to bring his personal and professional life back on track after World War II. Brody's fellow nominees included Timothée Chalamet (A Complete Unknown), Colman Domingo (Sing Song), Ralph Fiennes (Conclave), and Sebastian Stan (The Apprentice). In fact, Chalamet was in the reckoning for becoming the youngest actor to win a Best Actor Oscar, a record that stays with Brody himself.

In his acceptance speech, Brody stated, "Acting is a very fragile profession, it looks very glamorous at times. And the one thing I have gained, to have the privilege to come back here, is to have some perspective. No matter where you are no matter what you have gained, it can all go away and that's what I think makes this night special, it is the awareness of that. Winning such an award is like reaching a destination. Something my character references in the film. To me its also the pinnacle of a career, a chance to begin again and the opportunity to hopefully be fortunate enough for the next twenty years to receive such relevant and important roles."