Brody and Berry reunite!
Adrien Brody and Halle Berry recreated their controversial 2003 Academy Awards kiss on the 2025 Oscars red carpet on Sunday.
Brody, 51, won Best Actor at this year’s Academy Awards for his performance in “The Brutalist,” his second win.
However, it was Brody’s first Oscars win that was on the mind of many as Berry, 58, arrived.
Halle Berry and Adrien Brody recreate their iconic 2003 Oscars speech while on the 2025 Oscars red carpet. Access Hollywood
“I had to pay him back. You know I did,” Berry told Brody’s girlfriend Georgina Chapman after. Access HollywoodThe pair reunited on the red carpet ahead of Sunday’s ceremony and re-enacted their famous kiss.
The smooch occurred after Berry spotted Brody doing an interview with Access Hollywood’s Mario Lopez and made a beeline for the “Asteroid City” star.
Embracing Brody, Berry turned to the actor’s girlfriend Georgina Chapman, 48, and said, “I’m sorry, Georgina, but I gotta do it.”
She then pulled Brody in and gave him a forceful kiss.
“I had to pay him back. You know I did,” she added to Chapman after.
Halle Berry attends the 97th Annual Oscars at Dolby Theatre on March 2, 2025, in Hollywood. Getty Images
Adrien Brody attends the 97th Annual Oscars at Dolby Theatre on March 2, 2025, in Hollywood. Kevin Mazur/Getty ImagesBerry, dressed in a sparkling Christian Siriano gown, went on to explain to Lopez, 51, that she only kissed Brody “because Georgina said I could.”
Making sure she didn’t feel left out, the “Brutalist” star then kissed Chapman.
Brody famously kissed the “Never Let Go” actress in 2003 as he accepted his Oscar for Roman Polanski’s “The Pianist” at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood (then the Kodak Theater), which also played host to the 2025 Academy Awards.
Berry presented the Best Actor award, keeping with Oscars tradition in which the previous year’s acting winners return to present the category for the opposite sex. Berry made history in 2002 when she took home the Best Actress Oscar for “Monster’s Ball,” becoming the first black actress to take home that trophy.
“If you’re known by the company you keep, tonight’s recipient of the Oscar for Best Performance by an Actor will be known as a major, major player,” Berry said before introducing the 2003 nominees.
Adrien Brody surprises presenter Halle Berry with a kiss after he won the Oscar for best actor for his work in “The Pianist” in 2003. Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
“If you’re known by the company you keep, tonight’s recipient of the Oscar for Best Performance by an Actor will be known as a major, major player,” Berry said before introducing the 2003 nominees. Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
After Berry announced Brody as the winner, the actor rushed onstage, embraced Berry and kissed her passionately for several seconds, even dipping the star as they locked lips. AFP via Getty ImagesAfter Berry announced Brody as the winner, the actor rushed onstage, embraced Berry and kissed her passionately for several seconds, even dipping the star as they locked lips.
“I bet they didn’t tell you that was in the gift bag,” he told Berry, who looked shocked as she wiped her lips.
At just 29, Brody became the youngest Best Actor winner in Oscars history. His record is challenged this year by Timothée Chalamet, nominated for his portrayal of Bob Dylan in “A Complete Unknown,” who is 10 months younger than Brody was when he won in 2003.
Adrien Brody attends The CAA Pre-Oscar Party at The Living Room on Feb.28, 2025, in LA. Getty Images for Creative Artists Agency, LLCBrody’s kiss has attracted derision over the years, given that Berry did not consent to the snog.
The actor addressed the smooch in a 2015 interview with Vanity Fair.
“That sure was probably one of the most memorable moments ever,” he told the magazine. “You could say time slowed down. That was that moment where I really, really felt it slow down. In fact, it must have, because by the time I got finished kissing her, and people kinda settled in, they were already flashing the sign that said, ‘Get off the stage, your time is up.'”
Adrien Brody won Best Actor for “The Pianist” in 2003. WireImage
Adrien Brody during the 75th Annual Academy Awards – Nominees Luncheon at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. WireImageIn February, Brody touched on the criticism he has received over the kiss.
“We live in a very conscious time, which is a wonderful thing,” Brody told Variety. “And nothing that I ever do or have done or would’ve done is ever done with the intention of making anyone feel bad.”
For her part, Berry spoke about the kiss in 2017 during an appearance on “Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.”
Halle Berry gets real about the Adrien Brody kiss on “WWHL” in 2017. Bravo
Halle Berry on “WWHL” in 2017. NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images“That was not planned. I knew nothing about it,” the actress told host Andy Cohen. “I was like, ‘What the f–k’s happening right now?’ That is what was going through my mind. And because I was there the year before and I know the feeling of being out of your body, I just f–king went with it. But I was like, ‘What the f–k is going on right now?”
When Cohen asked Berry about the quality of the kiss, Berry responded, “I don’t know — I was too focused on what the f–k is going on right now! I don’t even know.”
Halle Berry attends Lionsgate’s “Never Let Go” world premiere at Regal Times Square on Sept. 16, 2024, in New York City. The Hollywood Reporter via Getty ImagesPrior to Sunday’s red carpet, it was clear that Berry bore Brody no ill will, as she congratulated him on his Golden Globes nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama in January.
“Congratulations my friend. You are truly one of one!” she wrote.






