Drag racing in super-fast cars, equally racy model girlfriends and thrill rides on 1,000cc motorbikes are not images that immediately come to mind when thinking of the sad-eyed, sensitive musician Adrien Brody portrayed in the melancholy Holocaust movie The Pianist. But in real life Brody is a much tougher character than you might imagine.
Before winning a Best Actor Oscar for The Pianist at 29, he spent a childhood in a working-class neighbourhood of New York. He ran with the daredevil gangs, built and raced sports cars and was frequently up to his armpits in engine oil like Steve McQueen in Le Mans.
“There was a heritage of drag racing in my community; that’s part of our culture. We would hang out on the weekend, eat pizza and go and watch the races. I think most young guys are attracted to beautiful cars.”
| 
|