On April 14, 1973, exactly 61 years after the Titanic went down, Adrien Brody, an actor of contending proportions, was born in Woodhaven, Queens. His mother, the renowned Hungarian photographer Sylvia Plachy, often took him on assignments for The Village Voice. Brody, in fact, credits her for making him feel comfortable before the camera from an early age.
It was clear from his formative years that he was meant to perform. At the age of 12, he was already a hit, staging magic acts at children's parties as "The Amazing Adrien." So strong was his passion for acting that his mother promptly enrolled him in the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and Manhattan's La Guardia High School of Performing Arts.
Before receiving his high school degree, Brody had already starred in off-Broadway productions and acted alongside Mary Tyler Moore in the short-lived TV series Annie McGuire. That same year, in 1988, he starred as Billy in the PBS family film Home at Last. Brody knew he was going places, but he waited to finish up high school before embarking there.
After a bit part in Woody Allen's New York Stories, he had a substantial role in Steven Soderbergh's King of the Hill in 1993. While not making headlines, Brody was starting to get noticed by Hollywood casting directors. He went on to appear in several other flicks, like Angels in the Outfield (1994), Ten Benny (1996) and The Last Time I Committed Suicide (1997).
Though most of his films up to this point did not receive enough attention to make him a star, he was noticed by Vanity Fair magazine, which put him on its cover as one of 1998's hot, young, photogenic men.
