Adrien Brody won't actually own Academy Award despite winning Best Actor at Oscars

Adrien Brody may have won Best Actor at this year’s Oscars, but they won’t actually even own it.

This isn’t to say they won’t be able to take it home though, as The Brutalist actor will surely be tucked up at home with their golden statue under arm.

Brody won this year after beating out Timothee Chalamet for A Complete Unknown, Colman Domingo for Sing Sing, Sebastian Stan for The Apprentice, and Ralph Fiennes for Conclave.

The actor was awarded the trophy for his performance as László Tóth, an architect who comes to America to rebuild his life.

Brody won't be the owner of the coveted gold statue.

Adrien Brody won for The Brutalist (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

This is due to the Academy having strict rules about their Oscars – an agreement that every winner will have to sign tonight.

This agreement outlines the fact that actors cannot sell their Oscars.

Some have tried to do this in the past, which has even led to lawsuits, as winners are forced to sign an agreement stating that, if they ever wanted to sell their award, they must first offer it to a measly $1.

While we can never know for certain, as it hasn’t been an option since 1951, the market would likely be incredibly generous when it came to buying certain Oscars.

Imagine how much a collector would pay to hold on to the famous Moonlight Best Picture Oscar?

Or Will Smith’s Best Actor award he collected after smacking the sh*t out of Chris Rock?

Wouldn't we all pay an ungodly amount of money for Will Smith's Best Actor Oscar? (Neilson Barnard via Getty Images)

Alas, if these actors find strapped for cash, they will have to follow the way of Will Smith and wheel out sequels to their old films.

As such, the film industry stars who win these awards are considered to not actually own them, but instead they're essentially being lent the statues from the Academy.

There is still, however, a market for Oscar trophies handed out prior to the 1951 rule, as it does not apply to them.

Michael Jackson bought the Best Picture award for Gone With the Wind in 1999 for $1.54 million, while magician David Copperfield owns the Casablanca Best Director trophy.

Copperfield bought this for $232,000 in 2002.

Brody beat out his fellow nominees, talking in his Oscar speech about the honour that was being awarded Best Actor due to how unstable the acting industry is.

This comes as his second win, having previously won for his only other nomination - the lead role in The Pianist.

Oscars 2025 results: the nominees and winners announced so far

Best supporting actor

Yura Borisov - Anora

Kieran Culkin - A Real Pain - WINNER

Edward Norton - A Complete Unknown

Guy Pearce - The Brutalist

Jeremy Strong - The Apprentice

Best animated feature

Flow - WINNER

Inside Out 2

Memoir of a Snail

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

The Wild Robot

Best costume design

Wicked - WINNER

Nosferatu

A Complete Unknown

Conclave

Gladiator II

Best original screenplay

Anora - Sean Baker - WINNER

The Brutalist - Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold

A Real Pain - Jesse Eisenberg

September 5 - Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum, Alex David

The Substance - Coralie Fargeat

Best adapted screenplay

A Complete Unknown - Jay Cocks and James Mangold

Conclave - Peter Straughan - WINNER

Emilia Pérez - Jacques Audiard

Nickel Boys - RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes

Sing Sing - Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar

Best make-up and hairstyling

A Different Man

Emilia Pérez

Nosferatu

The Substance - WINNER

Wicked

Best film editing

Anora - WINNER

The Brutalist

Conclave

Emilia Pérez

Wicked

Best supporting actress

Monica Barbaro - A Complete Unknown

Ariana Grande - Wicked

Felicity Jones - The Brutalist

Isabella Rossellini - Conclave

Zoe Saldaña - Emilia Pérez - WINNER

Best production design

Wicked - WINNER

The Brutalist

Dune: Part Two

Nosferatu

Conclave

Best original song

'Never Too Late' - Elton John: Never Too Late

'El Mal' - Emilia Pérez - WINNER

'Mi Camino' - Emilia Pérez

'Like A Bird' - Sing Sing

'The Journey' - The Six Triple Eight

Best sound

A Complete Unknown

Dune: Part Two - WINNER

Emilia Pérez

Wicked

The Wild Robot

Best visual effects

Alien: Romulus

Better Man

Dune: Part Two - WINNER

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

Wicked

Best cinematography

The Brutalist - WINNER

Dune: Part Two

Emilia Pérez

Maria

Nosferatu

Best original score

The Brutalist - WINNER

Conclave

Emilia Pérez

Wicked

The Wild Robot

Best international feature

I'm Still Here - Brazil - WINNER

The Girl with the Needle - Denmark

Emilia Pérez - France

The Seed of the Sacred Fig - Germany

Flow - Latvia

Best actor

Adrien Brody - The Brutalist - WINNER

Timothée Chalamet - A Complete Unknown

Colman Domingo - Sing Sing

Ralph Fiennes - Conclave

Sebastian Stan - The Apprentice

Best director

Jacques Audiard - Emilia Pérez

Sean Baker - Anora - WINNER

Brady Corbet - The Brutalist

Coralie Fargeat - The Substance

James Mangold - A Complete Unknown

Best actress

Cynthia Erivo - Wicked

Karla Sofía Gascón - Emilia Pérez

Mikey Madison - Anora

Demi Moore - The Substance

Fernanda Torres - I'm Still Here

Best picture

Anora

The Brutalist

A Complete Unknown

Conclave

Dune: Part Two

Emilia Pérez

I'm Still Here

Nickel Boys

The Substance

Wicked