Adrien Brody’s win at the 97th Academy Awards saw him maintain a streak. And no, we're not talking about his two wins from two nominations spaced 22 years apart. The 51-year-old actor’s win for The Brutalist saw him save his tag as the youngest Best Actor Oscar winner, denying Timothée Chalamet (A Complete Unknown). Two nominations. Two wins. And speeches were not prepared on both occasions (we assume so this time as he wasn't reading from a paper). These aren't the only streaks he kept going. Brody repeated what he did in 2003 and that Guillermo Del Toro, and Bette Midler have done in acceptance speeches at various other award shows. 

As Adrien Brody spoke to the Dolby Theater, his address went a tad long. Audiences may have been expecting a disappointed-looking John Lithgow, per host Conan O'Brien’s opening monologue’s “Housekeeping Rules.” Instead, as per the traditional way, the orchestra did their bit about 2-3 minutes into the acceptance speech.

Brody, unperturbed, continued his speech but directed his words to the orchestra. He said, “Please, please, please. I'm wrapping up. I will wrap up. Please turn the music off. I've done this before. Thank you.”

As the audience applauded, his next sentence seemingly acknowledged that this was his second shot at accepting this particular award. Brody said, “It's not my first rodeo, but I will be brief. I will not be egregious. Thank you.”

To be fair to the orchestra, the Lead Actor Oscar winner's speech went on for quite a while. It crossed the five-minute mark (5:36) and became the longest verifiable one, coming quite close to Greer Garson's speech in 1942 (there are no complete recordings or exact timings for that one at the 15th Academy Awards). There's some Oscar history! Perhaps Brody should write these down and time them. But we know why he doesn't as he revealed the reason in 2003. 

22 years back, Brody’s win in The Pianist came as a surprise as he beat out Jack Nicholson and Daniel Day-Lewis. While he may have been resigned to applauding, things changed and did leave him surprised. That may have been the reason he kissed the presenter, who returned the gesture at this year's red carpet.

But wait, this time around a case could be made about Brody not being prepared as he was chewing on gum as he made his way to the stage, only to stop and throw it to his partner. The gum wasn't caught. Add that to Bordy's collection of unique Oscar moments. 

Midway through Brody's speech, as the orchestra began to play him off, he said, “Wait one second. One second, please, one second. Cut it out, cut it out. I get one shot at this. I'm sorry. I didn't say more than five names I don't think, but…”

Orchestras playing off winners at the Oscars, the Globes and even the Tony Awards is a regular thing to get the winners to say a quick thank you. While Brody asked the musicians to pause, there are others who have used this very tactic. A few have even continued to speak over the music. 

Remember the 2018 Golden Globe Awards when Guillermo Del Toro took to the stage to accept the Globe for directing The Shape of Water. 90 seconds into his speech as he was played off, he said, “Lower the music. One sec. It's taken 25 years. Give me a minute.” 

At the 2017 Tony Awards, Bette Midler, who won for Hello, Dolly! tried to speak over the music before she paused an simply asked the orchestra to “shut that cr– off.”

At the Oscars in 1997, Cuba Gooding Jr. did not bother to ask for a break in the music as he continued his speech by yelling over it. Pawel Pawlikowski did not quite yell 10 years back, but spoke above the music.

There is that fine line between a concise and encompassing acceptance speech and the prospect of award shows extending. Deep into the third hour, Brody's speech may have led to a feeling of the audiences wanting him to wrap it up as they needed to head home. To be fair to them, the actor did speak for a while with the music coming in just towards the end of the fourth minute, i.e. he had much more time to speak than any of the other names in this story.

However, there's two things to consider here. The speeches are a moment of celebration and acknowledgment that come again for very few people. Also, the move of Hollywood’s biggest night to 4 pm will ensure that there aren't too many late nights on the West Coast. 

What were your thoughts on Brody's words to the orchestra?

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