The Stunning Transformation Of Adam Brody

Teen idols like Adam Brody have been a staple of the entertainment landscape for decades, yet the careers of the button-cute young men who are marketed as the objects of desire for teenage girls tend to have a short shelf life.

While many of these — say, Fabian and Troy Donahue in the 1950s, or 1970s-era crushes Leif Garrett and Bobby Sherman — have long since been relegated to where-are-they-now terrain, there have been notable exceptions. Frank Sinatra, for example, was once derided for entertaining "bobbysoxers" before emerging as one of Hollywood's biggest multi-hyphenate stars, while such actors as Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Wahlberg, and the ever-complicated Johnny Depp all transcended their teen-idol origins to gain mainstream respect as adults. Like the latter stars, Adam Brody has demonstrated that he is no one-trick pony. After making fans swoon as "adorkable" nerdy sex symbol Seth Cohen on hit Fox teen drama "The O.C.," he's gone on to enjoy a successful career in both film and television.

As fans and critics alike praise his fall 2024 project — a delightful Netflix rom-com series in which he stars as an L.A. rabbi who falls for a neurotic shiksa (Kristen Bell) — it's easy to forget the long and winding road that took him there. For a fully fleshed-out look at his journey so far, keep on reading to experience the stunning transformation of Adam Brody.

Adam Brody was born and raised in San Diego, the son of a graphic artist (his mom) and a lawyer (his dad). He was not a great student, and he admitted to spending more time surfing than he did studying — something that was reflected in his not-at-all-impressive grades.

Brody was in the sixth grade when he first expressed an interest in acting. His mother encouraged him to become involved in community theater, and he wound up landing a small role in a local production of "Inherit the Wind." "I played the paper boy and went to 80 rehearsals and had two lines. I was like, 'Well, screw that!'" Brody recalled during an interview with Elle Girl. "It was with a bunch of crabby people, and I thought I'd never do this again. Until I was 18." With his interest in acting officially paused, Brody instead embodied the Southern California stereotype of surfer dude — and he was nothing if not committed. "I was pretty much all about surfing," he said. "I worked at a surf shop, I surfed every day, I had independent surf P.E. My driver's license is from when I was 17, and I have a blond Afro and a tan."

After graduating high school, Brody's academic prospects were limited, thanks to his aforementioned decision to emphasize surfing over studying, and he decided to go to community college. He would not, however, stay there for long.

Adam Brody was keenly aware of the limitations of his education, and made a bold choice: he decided to drop out, relocate to Los Angeles and reinvestigate the acting ambitions that he shut down as a sixth-grader. The whole head-to-Hollywood-in-search-of-stardom thing could have certainly gone horribly wrong, as it has for so many, and could easily have sent Brody careening down a potential career path waiting tables. Yet that's clearly not what happened. Brody's raw talent shone through, and as he progressed through the typical actor's life of slogging from audition to audition, he ended up getting cast in some minor parts in TV shows.

Finally, in 2000 he landed the role of Barry Williams in the made-for-TV tell-all tale "Growing Up Brady," in which he portrayed the actor who starred as Greg Brady in the 1960s TV series "The Brady Bunch." "The truth of the matter is, nothing was ever as big a leap forward for me as this TV movie I did, 'Growing Up Brady' [filmed] in 1999," Brody recalled in an interview with "Entertainment Tonight," noting that it was by far the biggest role he'd had at that point. "It felt life-changing," he added.

That led to more roles, including TV guests spots on shows like "The Amanda Show" and "Judging Amy" and a small part in "American Pie 2." However, it was a 2002 audition for a beloved teen drama that would ultimately send Brody on his way. 

By 2002, fans had fallen in love with the charming multigenerational dramedy "Gilmore Girls," which centered on single mom Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham) raising her teenage daughter Rory (Alexis Bledel) in a small and delightfully quirky New England town. That year, Brody auditioned for a role on the show and was ultimately cast as Dave Rygalski, love interest to Rory's bestie, Lane (Keiko Agena).

Becoming a recurring character on a beloved TV show proved to be a career catapult for Brody, who ultimately appeared in nine episodes of "Gilmore Girls." "It was a joy," Brody later told the AV Club (via Today) of his role on the show. "It was phenomenally well written." He did, however, admit to having some issues with the painstaking nature of the show's notoriously verbose dialogue. "I remember at the time chafing a little at how exacting they were with the dialogue ... I didn't love it," he added.

Looking back on that experience, Brody continues to be amazed by how that particular character remains so memorable to fans, so many years later. As he told "Entertainment Tonight" in 2021, "It's in the top five things people would know me from."

That recurring role on "Gilmore Girls" was instrumental in Adam Brody's next big break when he was cast as affluent, wisecracking teen Seth Cohen in "The O.C." Debuting in the late summer of 2003, the show surrounded a working-class teenager from the wrong side of the tracks (Ben McKenzie) who went to live with a wealthy family in California's affluent Orange County, aka the titular O.C. The show proved to be an instant hit, transforming its young cast into stars while the show catapulted into the pop culture consciousness. 

The show's success ultimately proved to be a mixed blessing for Brody, making him a high-paid TV star while also trapping him as a teenager. "Quite honestly, playing high school ... I was always in my 20s," he mused to E! News. "And you kind of yearn to be someone with a job or be someone, at a certain point, with a family." 

Speaking with the Los Angeles Times, Doug Liman, who directed the first two episodes of "The O.C.," said that Brody eventually felt he was boxed in with nowhere to go in terms of character development, which proved to be stifling. While Liman credited Brody's innate comedic sensibilities for much of the show's success, he also observed, "Still, four years in, he was playing the same story lines. He grew as a human being, and the part didn't grow. And I think that became tremendously frustrating for him." When "The O.C." was canceled in 2007, Brody was eager to embrace challenging new acting opportunities.

Acting wasn't the only passion that Adam Brody was pursuing during his four seasons on "The O.C." At the same time, he was also performing with Big Japan, the rock band that he formed with some pals. With Brody as the drummer, the band released its debut album, which also proved to be its swan song, titled "Music for Dummies."

Brody looked back on that experience while revisiting his career highlights in an interview with the AV Club, conceding that the whole thing was more of a lark than a serious musical pursuit. "I had a very casual band [Big Japan] with some friends in my 20s where I played drums," he explained.

During that interview, Brody also revealed that his experience as a drummer — as limited as it was — led him to be cast as a drummer in "Yoga Hosers," the 2016 horror-comedy from "Clerks" director Kevin Smith. "I don't call myself a drummer, because I'm not and I don't know that much, but I can play drums so that's actually why [Smith] hired me for the movie," Brody said. "Funnily enough, he just looked up actors that play drums and he was like, 'Hey, I know that guy.'"

While still starring on "The O.C.," Adam Brody continued to expand his creative horizons. Beyond acting in a hit TV show and drumming in a rock band, he also teamed up with some pals to create a comic book. 

As TV Guide reported, Brody joined forces with with Danny Bilson (father of Rachel Bilson, who was his co-star on "The O.C." and real-life girlfriend at the time) and comic book scribe Paul DeMeo for "Red Menace," a comic book published in 2007 by an imprint of DC Comics. "As much as I love comics, writing one wasn't something I ever thought about doing," Brody told TV Guide. "Danny brought it up, so I thought it would be fun, and it has been. I've had a blast."

The story is set in Los Angeles during the 1950s, during the dark days of McCarthyism. The focus is on a superhero — The Eagle — who's become a victim of the notorious Hollywood blacklist. As Brody explained, the idea came when he and co-writer Danny Bilson were discussing the 1976 film "The Front," in which Woody Allen starred as a deli cashier who poses as a screenwriter, in order to sell Hollywood the scripts of actual writers who'd been blacklisted. "I said, 'Why don't we just do that, but as a comic?'" Brody recalled.

As Adam Brody told the AV Club, his ambition to expand as an actor beyond the boundaries of Seth Cohen didn't dilute the gratitude he held for the role and the impact it had on his career. "But it's a big part of why anyone identifies with me as an actor — if I have any fans, ['The O.C.'] is the biggest part of that, and I'm thankful for it," he said.

In fact, his "O.C." stardom afforded the opportunity to enter the movies, beginning with small roles in "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" (the movie that brought us Brangelina and all the drama that followed) and "Thank You For Smoking," before co-starring in the misunderstood cult favorite "Jennifer's Body." That led to further roles in films like "Cop Out," "Scream 4," and many others that combined to become an eclectic cinematic legacy that Brody has continued expanding over the years.

In 2011, he was cast in "The Oranges," a wry comedy about the fallout that ensues between two families who've been the best of friends for years when the middle-aged patriarch of one of them ("House" star Hugh Laurie) embarks on an ill-considered affair with Nina (Leighton Meester), the 20-something daughter of his best friend. The experience of making that film would go on to change Adam Brody's life in some very profound ways.

While filming 2011's "The Oranges," Adam Brody became close with co-star Leighton Meester, who was then starring as Blair Waldorf on hit TV series "Gossip Girl." Perhaps it was their shared experience starring in soapy teen dramas, but the two formed a bond that blossomed into love. 

In 2013, it was revealed that couple had gotten engaged – although they'd gone out of their way to keep their relationship private and out of the pages of celebrity gossip columns. The secrecy that characterized their relationship was in place when the two finally tied the knot. While neither had publicly confirmed they were an item, Us Weekly reported in 2014 that they'd secretly wed. As the magazine pointed out, Meester had previously dated actors Sebastian Stan and Aaron Himelstein, while Brody had been romantically linked to his fellow "The O.C." alum Rachel Bilson, his co-star on "The O.C." 

In 2013, Adam Brody reunited with Amanda Seyfried, with whom he'd costarred in "Jennnifer's Body," for the biopic "Lovelace," telling the story of "Deep Throat" star Linda Lovelace. Brody portrayed adult film star Harry Reems, who'd appeared in the infamous movie and made Lovelace a pop-culture phenom.

For Brody, the role was the latest in a series of film and TV projects that seemed to be purposefully chosen with a goal or removing the last remaining remnants of Seth Cohen from his acting persona, including the comedy thriller "Revenge for Jolly!" and playing an utter cad in "Some Girl(S)."

Then, of course, there were the coveted roles that got away, including his failed attempt to play a younger version of Jim Carrey's "Dumb and Dumber" character in the prequel, "Dumb and Dumber: When Harry Met Lloyd." "I'm like, I don't give a f***, I would love to just be Lloyd Christmas," he admitted in a 2023 interview with Variety. During that same interview, he also lamented losing the lead role in Marvel's "Guardians of the Galaxy" to Chris Pratt. "I wanted that one," he said, conceding that Pratt was more suited for the role, at least physically. "He is bigger, stronger," Brody observed, "but tonally, I really dug it."

After their secret wedding in 2013, Adam Brody and wife Leighton Meester started a family. They became parents in 2015, with the arrival of their first child, daughter Arlo Day. While neither confirmed they'd had a baby — or even that they were a couple — Meester did hint that she was settling down in a 2014 interview with Nylon. "Most people I know are starting to get married," she said. "It'll be kids next. I like the grown-up stuff. I like having a house. I've got dogs."

In April 2020, People reported that Brody and Meester were expecting a second child. Once again, the couple issued no comment, although a photo published by the magazine indicated that Meester was far enough along in her pregnancy that the due date was not far off. The following September, People reported that they'd welcomed a boy. 

As the magazine pointed out, Brody revealed the news while appearing on Hold the Phone TV's "The Fun Time Boys Game Night Spectacular," streaming on the Twitch platform. "I have a new kid," Brody said. "I have a boy, and he's a dream. He's a dream boy."

In addition to edgy movie roles, Adam Brody also ventured back into television, but it was evident that his teen drama days were far behind him. That was clear when he was cast in the lead role in "Startup," a 2016 series for the Crackle streaming service. In the show, he portrayed a shady financier who landed himself on the FBI's radar after funding a tech startup with laundered cash. "It's not bland, and it's very intense," Brody told Harper's Bazaar of what attracted him to the project.

Brody followed that up with a role in "Fleishman is in Trouble," portraying a 40-something finance bro desperately clinging to the remaining scraps of his youth. Interestingly, the character is named Seth; however, as he told GQ, this guy was a world apart from his character on "The O.C." It was also, he noted, refreshing to be playing a character that reflected his actual age, given that he was 23 when he played a high-schooler on "The O.C." "It's very exciting at any time in my career where I can play someone that is more or less my exact age and I can bring everything I've learned to it, rightly or wrongly," he pointed out.

He also played one of the slimeballs who becomes an object of revenge for Carey Mulligan's damaged character in "Promising Young Woman," a role he found to be particularly freeing. "It's very fun to not have to worry one little bit about getting an audience to like you," he told GQ.

In 2024, Adam Brody returned to television once again, this time in a quirky romantic comedy series that was unlike anything he'd done before. In "Nobody Wants This," Brody stars as a Los Angeles rabbi who embarks on an opposites-attract romance with a decidedly non-Jewish woman played by Kristen Bell. 

The show became a Netflix hit and a pop culture sensation. Interviewed by The Hollywood Reporter, the Jewish, but not particularly religious, actor admitted that he needed to do some research in order to bone up on his rabbinical knowledge. "I dabbled in the temple," he said, adding, "With this, there's such a real history representing a real culture and religion, and I felt more of an obligation to get it right." As he explained to Variety, the research he undertook for "Nobody Wants This" not only prepared him to play a rabbi, it also provided him with some unexpected insight into his own heritage. "It was very interesting, and I'm a lot wiser for it," he said. "It spanned the breadth of all things Jewish: I had my Torah studies, I had my Holocaust studies, I had my history of a people, tracing the lineage. It was all very illuminating."

Asked by Variety to single out the role for which he's most associated, Brody conceded that he'd made peace with how he believes he'll always be remembered by the public. "I think it will always be Seth Cohen, if I'm being honest," he said.