Adrien Brody's physique, skillfully utilized by Roman Polanski in the award-winning film The Pianist (which earned Brody an Oscar in 2003), diverges from the conventional Hollywood blockbuster hero.
However, when Peter Jackson sought the protagonist for his King Kong remake, presented in New York and set for a global release next week (in Spain on the 14th), Brody emerged as the first and only choice. Ahead of the film's highly anticipated premiere, Brody, aged 32, shared insights at a New York hotel on Sunday, navigating the unique universe of Peter Jackson's King Kong.
Reflecting on the offer, he stated, "I received a call from him to talk about the film, thinking that I would have to compete against other candidates. Still, when I found out that I was the only one chosen for the role, I was very excited. The script, signed by Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens, was very well written. The characters had depth, something rare in a blockbuster. I immediately accepted; it was a challenge too interesting to pass up."
"My Jack Driskoll is a hero despite himself, just like 'King Kong' when he arrives in the concrete jungle, and that's a novelty."
"I have been attached to the Manolete film project from the beginning. There is no one more prepared for the challenge than me."
King Kong, with a budget of approximately 175 million euros, adapted from the 1933 classic by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Shoedsack, captivates audiences with its spectacle despite its three-hour duration. The film's allure is attributed not only to the endearing female protagonist, Naomi Watts (playing Ann Darrow), and the remarkably realistic portrayal of the gorilla but also to the reinterpretation by Jackson of the hero-antihero role, embodied by Adrien Brody (Jack Driskoll). In the original 1933 film, Ann Darrow embarks on an expedition to a mysterious island with her lover, adventurer Driskoll, organized by Broadway producer Carl Denham (Jack Black in Jackson's version).
They encounter King Kong, bring him to New York for exhibition, but the gorilla, infatuated with Darrow, escapes, kidnaps her, and climbs the Empire State Building in a desperate flight, ultimately shot down by Army planes. The leading man in the original was the epitome of handsome and brave, whereas in Jackson's version, Brody's character is a Broadway writer, an intellectual without heroic aspirations, propelled by the strength derived from fighting for his love against the gorilla.
Brody expressed, "I had always wanted to be the protagonist of a romantic production because, for someone like me, achieving it was an obstacle. If you look at the type of actors who usually play those roles, I am not one of them. When a studio invests in a big production, it needs to recover many millions, and that is why they bet on a safe bet, using actors assimilated to a certain type of character and with a large audience. I am not a safe bet because I do not fit within those parameters. That is why I feel very honored to have been chosen."
"My Jack Driskoll is a reluctant hero. He's someone who, as a writer, you could imagine a character who would do anything to save the girl but who would never find himself forced to be that man. Jack is forced into a hostile and unknown world, Skull Island, just like King Kong when he arrives in the concrete jungle, and that is a novelty compared to the original. Neither of them wants to go to those places, but they are drawn by their love for a woman," he stated.
Brody's character not only confronts the gorilla physically but also emotionally, as the female protagonist develops an affinity for the animal. "In a way, it's a love triangle. We are three creatures alone in a difficult world, and Anne is the first person to come to Kong's universe and show him affection instead of brutality. She makes him feel things he never felt, and she also trusts him because the gorilla has offered him protection in a hostile world.
It is almost a love triangle, and I don't think it is so much the metaphor of beauty and the beast as the most classic of Greek tragedies. The desire for affection is very different in the relationship between King Kong and Anne than between my character and her. Jack does not compete with the gorilla because his emotional intelligence allows him to understand why the ape does not want him around, and he does not wish him any harm for it, but his objective is to bring home the girl."
