Adrien Brody was asked to boycott the Oscars by Jack Nicholson.
Adrien Brody won an Oscar in 2003
The 'Succession' actor became the youngest ever winner of the Best Actor statuette at the age of 29 in 2003 for his role in 'The Pianist' and he knew it was too big an occasion for him to "sit out", despite his fellow nominee - who was up for his work on 'About Schmidt' - inviting all the men on the shortlist to his house to discuss how best to respond to the war in Iraq, as the ceremony was due to take place four days after the US invasion.
Adrian told how Jack handed out Scotch and cigars and urged him, Nicolas Cage, Sir Michael Caine and Daniel Day-Lewis - who had all won the award in the past - to boycott the ceremony.
He recalled to Sunday Times Style magazine: “I said, ‘I don’t know about you guys, but I’m going.' I said, ‘I kind of have to show up. My parents are coming. This doesn’t come around too often. I know you guys are all winners. You can sit it out. But I can’t.’ ”
All five men ultimately attended the event, but Adrien acknowledged the war in his speech.
He said on stage: "I’m filled with a lot of sadness tonight because I’m accepting an award at such a strange time. My experience of making this film made me very aware of the sadness and the dehumanisation of people at the times of war, and the repercussions of war.”
Meanwhile, the 48-year-old star - who split from his girlfriend, sold his car, disconnected his phones and gave up his home, as well as mastering the piano to play Polish Jewish musician Wladyslaw Szpilman in 'The Pianist' - admitted he still can't watch his award-winning performance because of the memories it brings back.
He said: "I can’t even watch the film. I can’t. I kind of cry when I talk about it.
“I got sick from it. It was cumulative. I had a starvation diet, then had to gain it back. My metabolism shifted. I thought I’d experimented and lost, that my body was going to be different from now on.
"At the time there was an opportunity to work with Werner Herzog, but I read the script and I hadn’t recovered. My character had dysentery and an ant hill on his head. He was consistently tortured. It seems silly now but I really hadn’t recovered.”
Tagged in Adrien Brody Jack Nicholson Nicolas Cage