The list of heart-breaking World War II films is plentiful, but Adrien Brody's jaw-dropping performance in Roman Polanski's The Pianist particularly resonated with viewers. Brody participated in the sometimes dangerous practice of method acting to achieve the Best Actor award at the 75th Academy Awards, becoming the youngest actor to ever do so at merely 29 years old. Lee Strasberg, along with several other actors, founded method acting in 1930s New York City, but while the theatre practice helped actors better understand their character, it has had a detrimental effect on some, particularly in recent years.

One of the most notable instances of method acting was Heath Ledger's role as The Joker in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight, which earned the actor a posthumous Oscar. According to the 2012 documentary Too Young to Die, Ledger frequently immersed himself in the role of the sinister Batman villain to a dangerous degree, such as when he isolated himself in a hotel room for weeks. Like Ledger, Brody also extensively prepared for his portrayal of Polish-Jewish composer Wladyslaw Szpilman, and he may have gone too far.

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The 2002 film The Pianist focused on Szpilman's Holocaust survival story, which he recorded in his 1946 eponymous autobiography. The Szpilman family lived in a Warsaw ghetto until everyone, except Wladyslaw, was sent to the Treblinka extermination camp. A friend in the Jewish Ghetto Police spared Szpilman's life and thus began his time as a construction worker in poor working conditions. Szpilman smuggled weapons into the ghetto, which led to the failed Warsaw Ghetto Uprising before he was forced into hiding.

While he hid for his life, a German officer named Wilm Hosenfeld suddenly encountered a starving Szpilman but had an unusual reaction to his discovery. Hosenfeld learned Szpilman was an acclaimed pianist and began to supply him with food and shelter until the Germans retreated from the Soviet Red Army. Hosenfeld reportedly died from a stroke in Soviet captivity in 1952, and none of Szpilman's family members survived the war. Szpilman lived a long life until his death at 88 years old in 2000, two years before The Pianist released. He never reunited with Hosenfeld but allegedly kept in contact with the officer's relatives.

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With all the unexplainably life-threatening hardships Szpilman faced during World War II, there were massive expectations on Brody's shoulders to rightfully portray the composer. That led Brody to go to extreme lengths in preparation for his role, including altering many aspects of his life. "I gave up my apartment, I sold my car, I disconnected the phones, and moved to Europe," revealed Brody in a 2003 interview with BBC News. In addition to selling almost all his possessions, Brody also lost 30 pounds and broke up with his girlfriend.

Considering all Brody sacrificed in preparation for the film, it should come as no surprise that his mental health suffered as a result. "I was very disturbed by what I embraced [in making that film], and of the awareness that it opened up in me," opened up Brody in a 2017 press conference at Locarno Film Festival. And when people consider everything Brody gave up for the role's sake, they can't help but wonder if his sacrifices were really worth an Oscar and an altered state of mind. However, the actor answered said questions when he didn't seem to regret his choices during an interview with GQ because it "gave him a level of empathy." So, while some may criticize his level of dedication, Brody believes he came out the better for it.

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