Adrien Brody’s First Post-Oscar Role Is Karim Aïnouz’s ‘Last Dance’ with Rachel Zegler and Ben Platt — Is It the Right Career Move?

They say winning an Oscar helps boost an actor’s career, but after winning for “The Pianist” in 2003, Brody notoriously went on to star in an innumerable number of dubious films, including “Predators,” “The Experiment,” “Back to 1942,” “American Heist,” “September of Shiraz,” “Ghosted,” “Fool’s Paradise,” and “Air Strike.”

So, will winning his second Oscar pave the way for a more satisfying set of roles? Last December, Brody admitted that he had yet to accept a new role in the wake of his Best Actor Oscar win, having turned down numerous offers because he was being very picky. His next project was supposed to be S. Craig Zahler’s “The Bookie and the Bruiser,” which was set to go into production in April 2025; he had signed on for that role many months before his Oscar win. However, he suddenly decided to drop out of the film, which delayed Zahler’s project by over a year until Theo James came in as Brody’s replacement.

My best guess is that Brody exited ‘Bookie’ because he didn’t want that project to be his first post-Oscar vehicle—just a hunch. He was also reportedly in talks to star in Damien Chazelle’s “Evel Knievel on Tour,” but when Leonardo DiCaprio dropped out, that project was scrapped as well.

Now, almost a year and a half after the Oscar, Brody has finally signed on to star in something. According to Deadline, he’s set to join Rachel Zegler in leading “Last Dance,” a new drama from Brazilian director Karim Aïnouz.

The film follows Broadway composer Elliot, played by Brody, who takes his daughter Emma, played by Zegler, on a gay Caribbean cruise in 1991 while secretly grappling with AIDS. Ben Platt will co-star, contribute original music, and Zegler will perform songs written for the film. The screenplay comes from Emily Ziff Griffin, adapted from her autobiographical 2021 New Yorker article.

Yeah, I’m not convinced this project is “the one” for Brody. He should have stayed on the Zahler. Aïnouz is not a filmmaker I’d tag along with if I were actually being “picky” with my roles.

Aïnouz was a mainstay at the Cannes Film Festival, winning Un Certain Regard with “The Invisible Life” in 2019, but his last three films, “Firebrand,” “Motel Destino,” and “Rosebushpruning,” were not that well-received, and quite honestly, the synopsis for “Last Dance” sounds pretty bad.

“Last Dance” is supposed to start production this fall. A 2027 release is a real possibility. Best of luck to Adrien.