The 97th edition of the Academy Awards or Oscars turned into a nostalgic trip for fans of Adrien Brody and Halle Berry as a candid moment between the actors went viral on social media platforms. Before the commencement of the prestigious award ceremony, Halle bumped into Adrien on the red carpet, and the two shared a kiss that immediately sparked memories of their iconic 2003 Oscars moment.
The moment was captured on camera and shared by The Academy on social media, reminding fans of the night when Adrien famously kissed Halle on stage.
For those unversed, back in 2003, he had rushed on stage to accept his Oscar for Best Actor for his role in Roman Polanski’s The Pianist, and in a spontaneous move, planted a passionate kiss on Halle, who looked visibly surprised. The ceremony was held at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, then known as the Kodak Theater, the same venue that hosted the 2025 awards night.
Halle, who made history in 2002 by becoming the first Black actress to win the Best Actress Oscar for Monster’s Ball, was presenting the Best Actor award that night, following the tradition of previous acting winners presenting for the opposite category.
Before announcing Adrien as the winner in 2003, Berry had reportedly said, “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.” When Brody’s name was called, his exuberant reaction culminated in the now-famous kiss, which led him to joke, “I bet they didn’t tell you that was in the gift bag.”
Adrien Brody wins Best Actor award this year
This year’s ceremony saw Adrien taking home the Best Actor award for his performance as Hungarian-Jewish architect and Holocaust survivor Laszlo Toth in Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist. The brief kiss with Halle this time around was a lighter, more playful gesture, but it was enough to reignite the internet’s fascination with their memorable Oscars history.
Fans took to social media, flooding timelines with side-by-side comparisons of the 2003 and 2025 moments, expressing delight.
