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Tavis: I'm pleased to welcome Adrien Brody to this program. The Oscar-winning actor's film credits include movies like 'King Kong,' 'The Village' and 'The Pianist.' He is once again receiving acclaim for his latest role in the film 'Hollywoodland.' The movie examines the mysterious death of TV's Superman, George Reeves. Here now, a scene from 'Hollywoodland.'

Tavis: Adrien, take it easy, take it easy.

Adrien Brody: Hey. (Laugh) I had to ruffle his feathers a little bit.

Tavis: Nice to have you here.

Brody: How's it going?

Tavis: I'm doing well. We seem to be forever fascinated with all things Superman, including, of course, the mysterious death of George Reeves. Why is that? Why are we so fascinated with this?

Brody: Well, I don't know. I think there, partially because he's a superhuman character. He's the epitome of masculinity and strength and goodness and all these qualities that we don't all possess. But I'm not so sure that's really where it's at. I think there's an obsession with celebrity, and there's an obsession with death. And when there's a celebrity death, that remains very interesting to people.

Tavis: Tell me about the character you play in 'Hollywoodland.'

Brody: I play a character named Louis Simo. He's a detective that was hired to - he's a fictional character; he's an amalgam of a number of people that were involved in the case. Most of the story is really based on the true events and facts. And, but my character investigates the death of George Reeves.

Tavis: I wonder whether or not there were things that you learned from this project, things that you reconsidered about your own fame, about your own level of exposure. And I'm not trying to compare you with George Reeves. I just suspect, I could be wrong about this, I suspect that every now and then, you work on a project where it's not just about the project. There is something that you end up taking away from the project.

Brody: I took some interesting things away. I have an interesting perspective, because I am on the inside of fame, and I also have known what it's like to be completely anonymous and struggling as an actor. And there are pros and cons with both. Things are rarely what they appear to be, or as simple as they appear to be from the outside. Which is a lot of what this film shows.

And I'm fortunate, I've been working for many years, I've been acting for 20 years. I've done a lot of smaller projects, and I've tried to keep the roles very different, so that I'm not too known as one type of role. But there were times where there was potential for me to go down a certain path only. And I consciously tried to avoid that. But...

Tavis: Let me jump in here right quick, two things. What was the path that - I'm curious now. What was the path that your career was headed down, the direction you were headed in, that you, to your point now, avoid, as you pulled up on?

Brody: That I avoided? The feedback when I was younger was very kind of urban actor. And what's interesting is I became most known from playing a Polish Jew from Warsaw who survived the Holocaust, but. And at times, people didn't even know I was an American actor from that, which is a big honor. But for many years, I really had to struggle to find roles that were not urban.

And yeah, so that was one thing. So I tried to not perpetuate that, by continuing to play kind of a similar character. I'm less concerned about it now, because I believe that I find work that inspires me in that moment, and I try not to think about the rest of the reasons to choose to do something, or not to do something.

Tavis: I would also assume and venture that you're a little less concerned about it now because you've got a statue at home. That gives you, perhaps, a little less reason to be concerned about those things today?

Brody: Perhaps. What that is is essentially a seal of approval, and it's definitely been very helpful, I won't deny that. But I think I'm clearer, also, of what's important to me. I'm clear of, and really, I'm less concerned mainly because I've tried to show my versatility, and I'm not really stuck in kind of one character. It would be interesting to do more lighter comedic roles that are intelligent.

Because oftentimes, when I'm discussing relatively serious things like the work that I've done or the projects that I've done, which are pretty serious dramatic roles, or my feelings about my work, I'm pretty serious. And so people's perception of me is in general, I think, a little more intense than more intense than (laugh) who I am.

Tavis: So would you like to tell me a joke?

Brody: I can tell you a joke. (Laugh)

Tavis: I'll wait for you to say, did you hear the one about? (Laugh)

Brody: I don't know if they're appropriate for television, but I could tell you a joke afterward that I'm sure you'll laugh.

Tavis: Adrien Brody has jokes? You got jokes?

Brody: I got jokes.

Tavis: All right, well, you tell me a joke after we get off the air here.

Brody: Okay, okay, I'll tell you a good one.

Tavis: What is not a joke, and I'm still PO'ed with you.

Brody: Oh yeah?

Tavis: Yeah.

Brody: About what?

Tavis: You know what about.

Brody: Mm.

Tavis: Just take one guess.

Brody: You can't be mad at me about that. You would have done the same thing.

Tavis: I absolutely am. (Laugh)

Brody: It's like a love-hate relationship I have with a lot of people.

Tavis: Yeah, yeah, yeah. You knew exactly what I was talking about, didn't you?

Brody: Well.

Tavis: Yeah. So go ahead, tell the world what I'm mad about.

Brody: He's mad 'cause I killed Halle Berry.

Tavis: Yeah. (Laugh)

Brody: You can't be mad at me for that. (Laugh)

Tavis: I love the way you said that, though. You would have done the same thing.

Brody: Come on.

Tavis: I don't know that I would have, though. I've known Halle for years, but I don't know that I would just, like, grab Halle and put my tongue in her mouth.

Brody: Well, listen, when...

Tavis: I'm not mad, I'm just kidding.

Brody: When something that extreme happens in your life, things that appear extreme are not very extreme in that moment. (Laugh) And it was really, in that moment, it went with this kind of outpouring of emotion and love in the room, and that's all it really was.

Tavis: That is, can I just tell you...

Brody: It was beautiful.

Tavis: Can I just tell you, it was definitely beautiful. For you.

Brody: Yes. (Laugh)

Tavis: Can I just tell you, though, that with all due respect, that is the best spin I have ever heard. (Laugh)

Brody: Oh yeah? And I'm sincere.

Tavis: For doing something you had no business doing. (Laugh)

Brody: Well.

Tavis: But it sounded so smooth, the way you said that.

Brody: Well, I mean that.

Tavis: Nothing was real, it was all surreal. It was just, yeah, yeah.

Brody: It was. It was, though. It was. It's not an excuse. It was - I'm pretty polite. It was a good excuse, though, too, I gotta say. (Laugh)

Tavis: He finally comes around.

Brody: Really. When else would that be, (laugh) would you have an excuse to do something like that?

Tavis: Yeah, it was a moment. It was one of those things that will always be - I assume that you're comfortable with the fact that that will forever be on your clip reel.

Brody: Mm. Sure.

Tavis: That's just on the Adrien Brody clip.

Brody: Sure, I'm okay with it.

Tavis: Okay. (Laugh) As I figured you might be. So in this attempt of Adrien Brody to never do the same kind of thing, you looking at other stuff now? What's the next thing you're looking at?

Brody: I'm actually doing a much more comedic - I'm doing a movie with Les Anderson. I'm going to India in a few weeks with Owen Wilson and Jason Schwartzman. And it'll be really fun and very different, and I played a bullfighter last year, this year. I spent about half of this year in Spain, playing a very famous bullfighter from the forties. So those are very different. (Laugh) For me, and from characters that I've played.

Tavis: Isn't that the coolest thing about acting, though, aside from the acclaim and the money? I hear the pay is okay.

Brody: For some actors. Realistically, that's another misconception. Yeah, for successful actors, it is.

Tavis: But Spain, and India. That's a nice life.

Brody: It's lovely, it's lovely. And you get a chance to really live and exist in those cultures. Not as a tourist, not on vacation, with the pressure of having a good time. When you have a good time, it's a bonus.

Tavis: You made a point earlier in explaining Reeves' life, that he had difficulty because his celebrity overshadowed who he was. And he felt that it was difficult to navigate his own personal life because of the fame that being Superman brought on him at that time. Do you have concerns at all about your own life, that this celebrity culture that you are a part of might some way make it difficult for you to be the Adrien Brody that your friends know you to be?

Brody: Well, I was concerned when I won the Academy Award. I was concerned because it was such a severe shift in what I knew, and I guess the feedback that I was getting is, from everybody was saying, don't change. And the interesting thing is that perception change of me, which ultimately, it wasn't me changing, it was the way people viewed me. And that was strange, and that takes adjusting to.

But it has not, that concern is over, because I made a point of staying focused, and kind of following the same motivation that I've had all these years. And really, I love the work part of what I do. There are aspects that are not great, and fame was not something that really attracted me. It's a by product of being successful as an actor. But, and there are good elements to it, as well.

But it is complicated. It's complicated interacting with people on a normal basis, because it may be normal now for me, but it's not the normal way that I normally interacted. And I think what is really important for an actor is to constantly remain in touch with normal interactions with people and other human beings. And by being noticed before you wanna be noticed, it prohibits that. And so I can't do the research the same way that I can, I have to find alternatives in certain ways.

But I keep my life more simple now than ever, and I'm more appreciative of simplicity and genuine behavior and all these things. I'm more aware of it. So it's been interesting. It's been an interesting learning process.

Tavis: I hope this conversation has been simple and normal for you.

Brody: Yeah, it's been very much so. With a television camera on. This is normal.

Tavis: I should clarify that. I hope more normal than simple.

Brody: Yes.

Tavis: (Laugh) But I'm glad to have you on. This conversation has been both, how might I put this? Informative and instructive, and to all those beautiful actresses who are watching right now, if I should happen to walk up one day and just put my tongue in your mouth, I hope that you will forgive me in advance for being caught up in the moment. And Mr. Brody's line, I hope will work, and save me.

Brody: I hope so. In the right moment.

Tavis: And not get me arrested. (Laugh)

Brody: It's on you. (Laugh) I can't defend you.

Tavis: I thank you, Mr. Brody.

Brody: Okay, appreciate it.

Tavis: 'Hollywoodland,' the new project starring one Adrien Brody, and an all-star cast. Nice to meet you.

Brody: Thank you very much, pleasure.

Tavis: I'm glad to have you here.

Brody: Thank you.

Tavis: That's our show for tonight. Catch me on the weekends on PRI, Public Radio International. Check your local listings. I'll see you back here next time on PBS. Until then, good night from L.A., thanks for watching, and as always, keep the faith.