Adam Jared Brody (born December 15, 1979) is an American film and television actor and musician. He is best known for his role as Seth Cohen on The O.C. Brody has also co-starred in many film roles, including Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Thank You for Smoking, Jennifer's Body, In the Land of Women, Cop Out, and Scream 4.
Early life
Brody was born in San Diego, California, the oldest son of Valerie and Mark Brody. He has younger twin brothers, Sean and Matt. His parents, both Jewish, are originally from Detroit, Michigan, and Brody had a Bar Mitzvah ceremony. Brody attended Wangenheim Middle School and Scripps Ranch High School, receiving "poor grades", and grew up in suburban San Diego, spending time surfing. He has said that while he was not a "Casanova", he had "cute girlfriends" and "pretty much lived at the beach". Brody attended community college for one year and dropped out at the age of nineteen, moving to Hollywood in order to become an actor. He subsequently hired an acting coach and signed with a manager.
Career
After a year of training and auditioning, Brody landed the role of Barry Williams in the television movie Growing Up Brady (2000). He also appeared in the Canadian comedy television series The Sausage Factory. In 2001, he played a minor role in American Pie 2, named as "high school guy". Brody's major role in a television series came in 2002, when he was cast in a recurring role on Gilmore Girls as Dave Rygalski, Lane's bandmate and love interest.
In 2003, Brody wrote a short film called "Home Security", appeared in the feature film Grind and a music video for a song called "Too Bad About Your Girl" by The Donnas. The same year, Brody was cast in his breakout role as Seth Cohen on the television show The O.C.. Brody is reported to have improvised some of the character's comedic dialogue. The role turned him into a teen idol, with the character having been described by the Los Angeles Times as "TV's sexiest geek" and by Time as having "redefined" the screen persona of "unapologetic" nerdiness. The role also developed Brody a female fan following and as a result, Brody was ranked No. 17 in Independent Online's "100 Sexiest Men Alive" of 2006, was twice placed on Teen People's annual list of "25 Sexiest Stars under 25", Voted as Elle Girl Magazine Coolest Guy Celeb and Coolest TV Star in 2005, Voted number 1 in UK CosmoGIRL as pin-up sex-symbol beating out Johnny Depp in 2005, chosen as one of the People Magazine Sexiest Man Alive in 2004â€"2006 and was the first male on the cover of Elle Girl.
In 2005, Brody appeared in a supporting role alongside Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt in the film Mr. & Mrs. Smith, and played a Hollywood studio assistant in the film adaptation of Thank You for Smoking (2006). His next film role was in a romantic comedy entitled In the Land of Women (2007), starring Meg Ryan and Kristen Stewart. Brody plays a writer who returns to his mother's Michigan hometown in order to take care of his sick grandmother. Brody did not have to audition for the part, but was almost unable to appear in the film because of scheduling conflicts with the second season of The O.C.; the film's director pushed filming back eight months because he wanted Brody to star.
The O.C. ended its run in February 2007 after the network announced its official cancellation. Brody has said that he is "not unhappy" with the show's cancellation and that although he was "fortunate" to be on a successful series, he was also glad to "not be on it for 10 years". After the end of The O.C.'s run, Brody turned to a full-time film career. The same year, Brody also appeared in supporting roles in the independent films, Smiley Face and The Ten. He also appeared in an episode of Smallville.
In 2009, he co-starred with Josh Lucas in Boaz Yakin's drama, Death in Love, and in Diablo Cody's horror film Jennifer's Body, co-starring Megan Fox. In 2010, he appeared in Kevin Smith's film Cop Out, which was shot in NYC and co-starred Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan and then in The Romantics alongside Katie Holmes and Josh Duhamel. It was announced on July 1, 2010 that Brody landed the role of Detective Hoss in Scream 4, released in April 2011. In 2011, Brody voiced "Woodie" in the MTV animated series Good Vibes. The same year, Brody appeared in The Oranges alongside Leighton Meester and Hugh Laurie. In January 2012, it was announced he had joined the cast of Lovelace, a biopic about the late '70s porn star Linda Lovelace which was directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman and starred Amanda Seyfried. Brody portrayed Harry Reems.
Brody co-starred with Meester again in Life Partners (2014).
Personal life
Brody played drums for the band Big Japan He wrote screenplays and songs during his spare time and has co-written, along with Danny Bilson and Paul De Meo, a comic book miniseries for Wildstorm Comics called Red Menace.
Brody is now in a band called The Shortcoats.
Brody has described himself as a "fake intellectual" and his sense of humor as sarcastic. He is a secular Jew and has stated that he "couldn't be less religious". Brody has said that when he moved to Hollywood he became "more nerdy" and embraced his "neurotic side".
Relationships
He dated The O.C. co-star Rachel Bilson for three years but the relationship ended in December 2006. In November 2013, Brody and actress Leighton Meester became engaged after a year of dating and married in a private ceremony first reported in February 2014.
Filmography
Film
Television
Awards and nominations
References
External links
- Adam Brody at the Internet Movie Database
- Works by or about Adam Brody in libraries (WorldCat catalog)