Adam Brodyis a fantastic comedic and dramatic actor who’s been stealing hearts and making audiences swoon with his charming characters in movies and TV since the early 2000s. Brody made a name for himself as part of thecast ofThe O.C.the Fox TV show that aired during the the early 2000s renaissance of teen dramas. Since then, it’s been difficult for Brody to shake off his identity as a teen heartthrob, asmany audiences still think of him as Seth Cohen.However, his additional roles throughout the years have shown that he’s capable of embodying any character.
Recently, Brody’s new rom-com,Nobody Wants This, has seen a resurgence in the star’s popularity, making it the perfect time to revisit some of his best projects.After finishingThe O.C., Brody transitioned into more film projectsand has been in a few indie cult classics that align with his style as an actor. Even when playing smaller roles, Brody is unforgettable onscreen and steals every scene he’s in. While it’s always fun to see him playing a lovable goofball like Seth, watching Brody mature into new characters and play against type is also engaging.
Grind
Cast
Grind follows four young skateboarders who embark on a road trip to compete in a major skating competition. The film explores themes of friendship, ambition, and the skateboarding subculture, featuring performances by Mike Vogel, Adam Brody, and Vince Vieluf. Directed by Casey La Scala, the movie captures the essence of skateboarding through its energetic sequences and camaraderie among the characters.
One of Brody’s earliest forays into feature work and quite the cult classic,Grindwas not favored by critics at the time of its release. However, looking back on it today,there’s a certain charm to the film, and it serves as a time capsule of the early 2000s.Grindwas released around the same time as whenThe O.C.premiered, and though this didn’t saveGrindfrom underperforming at the box office, it’s interesting to see how much of Brody’s early success coincided.
The movie unfolds like most typical coming-of-age road trip movies, seeing the boys embark on many misadventures while ultimately staying true to themselves.
His character, Dustin, is the most straight-laced of the group ofyoung men who decide to travel across the country after high school graduation to realize their dream of becoming progression skateboarders.The movie unfolds like most typical coming-of-age road trip movies, seeing the boys embark on many misadventures while ultimately staying true to themselves. Dustin can be viewed as a prototype of the Seth Cohen archetype. This performance allowed Brody to explore new territory as a young actor.
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The all-star cast ofIn the Land of Womenmakes up for some of what the script lacks, as while the indie dramedy is sweet, it’s not the most complex. Brody plays Carter, a young man who returns home to Michigan from Los Angeles to take care of his grandmother and gets caught up in the drama of the family next door.Meg Ryan and Kristen Stewart play the mother and daughter who Carter gets in the middle ofwhile trying to discover what he wants from life and out of a relationship.
In the Land of Womenhas similar themes as thebest mumblecore moviesthat helped define the genre. Brody fits the type of classic mumblecore leading man. Throughout the film, Carter is asked to confront his relationships with women and decide what kind of person he wants to be. Carter was a more serious and adult role than anything Brody had tackled so far, buthe quickly proved himself to be quite capable of the project and had good chemistry with Stewart and Ryan.
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Fleishman is in Trouble
Based on the novel of the same name, Fleishman Is In Trouble follows 41-year-old divorcee Toby Fleishman (Jesse Eisenberg), who has recently entered the dating scene via apps and has begun to enjoy a freedom he had never experienced prior to medical school. Just as things are beginning to shape up for him, his ex wife, Rachel (Claire Danes) shows up at four in the morning and leaves their two children with him with no itinerary as to where she’s headed. Now faced with full time parenting, a new dating life, and a potential promotion incoming at his hospital, Toby will have to dig into the past of his marriage to find out what went wrong between the two of them if he wants to find out what happened to Rachel. Created by the writer of the original work, Taffy Brodesser-Akner, Fleishman Is In Trouble is an eight-episode mini-series premiering via Hulu and FX on June 23, 2025.
Based on the novel by Taffy Brodesser-Akner,Fleishman Is in Troublefollows the story of Toby Fleishman (Jesse Eisenberg) after his divorce and the sudden disappearance of his wife, Rachel (Claire Danes).Brody’s character, Seth, is a friend and support system for Tobyand serves as a foil for him throughout the narrative. The lives of Toby, Seth, Rachel, and Toby’s friend Libby (Lizzy Caplan) begin to intersect and cause Toby to think about what was missing from his marriage and life.
Though Seth isn’t the biggest character inFleishman Is in Trouble, it’s an intriguing exploration of adult relationships and how easy it is to prioritize the wrong things in life.
Eisenberg and Brody have often been cast in similar roles. However, when seen together on screen, they are markedly different, asBrody’s ease and confidence contrast with Eisenberg’s more high-strung persona in the series.Though Seth isn’t the biggest character inFleishman Is in Trouble, it’s an intriguing exploration of adult relationships and how easy it is to prioritize the wrong things in life. Seth is almost a window for Toby to look back on his life and see what he might have changed.
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The Kid Detective
The Kid Detective is a 2020 mystery-comedy film directed by Evan Morgan. Adam Brody stars as Abe Applebaum, a once-celebrated child detective who is now a disillusioned adult. Struggling with his fading glory, Abe gets a chance at redemption when a young woman (Sophie Nélisse) asks him to solve the brutal murder of her boyfriend, propelling him into a complex and dark investigation.
The underrated dramedyThe Kid Detectivesees Brody’s character, Abe, fall into an investigation too advanced for his skills as he helps a young girl solve the murder of her friend.Abe was a child detective and famous in his town growing upuntil the tragic disappearance of his close friend. However, he gets the chance to redeem himself when Caroline seeks him out. Caroline is recognizable as Sophie Nélisse, who’s risen to prominence thanks toYellowjackets.
The narrative ofThe Kid Detectiveand Abe’s struggle to adapt to adult life after being famous in his youth was the perfect role for Brody. Though it’s not exactly the same,the feelings that Abe grapples with are similar to those of an actor who achieves notoriety early in their career,only to be pigeonholed into this archetype later on. This lends depth and complexity to Brody’s performance and helps the emotional impact of the film land even more poignantly.
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Kristen Bell & Adam Brody’s New Rom-Com Has One Of The Greatest Kiss Scenes I’ve Ever Seen
Netflix’s rom-com Nobody Wants This features an incredible kiss scene between Adam Brody and Kristen Bell that melts my heart because it’s so perfect.
American Fiction
Based on the novel by Percival Everett, American Fiction is a drama film that stars Jeffrey Wright as author and English Professor Thelonious “Monk” Ellison. With his students lacking cultural sensitivity and publishers rejecting his novels, believing them not to be “Black enough,” Monk returns to his hometown where he witnesses a new young Black author who has created an instant best seller. As he attempts to ignore the success of another, he reunites with his family, where tragedy and chaos begin to consume them.
Brody’s character,Wiley, is a stand-in for the exploitative nature of cinema and popular culture in general,as he’s the movie producer who wants to adapt the novel the protagonist, Monk (Jeffrey Wright), wrote as a satire. Like many of the white characters in the movie, Wiley fails to see the contempt and subversion within the book and cares little for its social impact as long as the screen adaptation makes money.
Wiley is an ancillary part ofAmerican Fiction, which makes it less notable in Brody’s filmography, but overall,American Fictionis one of the best-received and most nuanced works that Brody has been a part of.
Wiley is an ancillary part ofAmerican Fiction, which makes it less notable in Brody’s filmography, but overall,American Fictionis one of the best-received and most nuanced works that Brody has been a part of. Ultimately,American Fictionis Wright’s movie, as the seminal actor is the center of the storyand lights up every corner of the film. Brody works well with Wright and is elevated as a performer in the scenes they share, even if Wiley is a disgusting character.
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Ready or Not
In Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett’s 2019 black comedy Ready Or Not, newlywed bride Grace Le Domas participates in a violent game of hide-and-seek with her fiancé’s family, who attempt to kill her during her wedding night as part of a long-standing ritual. The film stars Samara Weaving as Grace, Mark O’Brien as Grace’s husband Alex, Adam Brody as Alex’s brother Daniel, Andie MacDowell as their mother Becky, and Henry Czerny, Melanie Scrofano, Kristian Bruun, and Elyse Levesque as other members of the murderous family.
The thrilling action-horror flickReady or Notsees Brody tackle a new type of character, even though it wasn’t his first foray into the horror genre.Ready or Notfollows Grace, played by Samara Weaving, as she is forced into a deadly gameof hide-and-seek with her new husband’s family after finding out they’ve made a deal with a demon. Throughout the night, Grace encounters different members of the family, including Daniel (Brody), her husband’s brother.
Daniel is one of the most complex characters inReady or Not, as he’s complicit in the violence and terror his family inflicts but knows that he should work to change it.It’s Daniel, not Grace’s husband Alex (Mark O’Brien), who does the most to help Grace escapeand prevent the family from taking another life. He’s a tragic and imperfect character and one of the more interesting individuals that Brody has played. Additionally, he’s not a love interest, which is against type for Brody.
Ready or Not (2019)
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Gilmore Girls
In the fictional town of Star’s Hollow, single mother Lorelai Gilmore raises her high-achieving teenage daughter Rory. Mother and daughter rely on each other throughout their own life changes, romantic entanglements, and friendships.
While the debate surroundingRory’s boyfriends onGilmore Girlsis often the biggest on the show, Dave is an underrated love interest. Introduced in season 3 as a musician interested in Lane joining his band,Dave was a great boyfriend to Lane, a character who deserved better inGilmore Girls.Dave went to extreme lengths to gain Lane’s mother’s approval and was compatible with her because of their shared love of music.
. Brody ended up leavingGilmore Girlsafter season 3 because he joined the cast ofThe O.C., but he was never forgotten.
Dave might be one of Brody’s best characters, but his short stint onGilmore Girlsmakes it impossible to classify him as the very best of his filmography. Brody ended up leavingGilmore Girlsafter season 3 because he joined the cast ofThe O.C., but he was never forgotten. Most of the boyfriends onGilmore Girlsleft a lot to be desired, including Lane’s ultimate love interest, Zack (Todd Lowe), butDave was willing to compromise for Lane and easily blended into the show, delivering the quippy dialogue of the series with ease.
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Jennifer’s Body
Directed by Karyn Kusama and written by Diablo Cody, Jennifer’s Body is a horror-comedy film starring Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried. When a newly possessed high school cheerleader (Fox) turns into a succubus specializing in seducing and killing her male classmates, her best friend (Seyfried) is the only thing that stands in the way of her sultry killing spree.
Brody is almost unrecognizable as Nikolai, the demon-summoning band memberwho targets Jennifer (Megan Fox) and is the film’s true villain. The role was the opposite of Brody’s earlier work, as Nikolai was evil and used his charm for evil, making the usual swoon-worthy Brody seem like a true antagonist. Though he only makes a few appearances in the film, his actions are the driving force of the plot, and Brody is unforgettably evil in every scene.
In the years sinceJennifer’s Bodywas released, it’s been completely reevaluated and is now remembered not only as a cult classic but a piece of feminist horror well ahead of its time. One of the issues withJennifer’s Bodywas that audiences and critics were expecting the film to be closer to an exploitation film rather than a subversion of the genre. However,returning toJennifer’s Bodytoday highlights great performances from Brody, Fox, and Amanda Seyfried.
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The O.C.
When troubled teen Ryan (Benjamin McKenzie) is taken in by his public defender (Peter Gallagher), he suddenly finds himself on the right side of the tracks. The O.C. follows as Ryan tries his best to fit into the affluent California community while navigating the relentless drama of teen life, but his new home of Newport Beach is a town filled to the brim with secrets and scandal.
The O.C.is ateen drama TV show with one of the most influential soundtracks, and Seth Cohen was a character who was defined by his taste in music. Seth was one of the best heartthrobs of the early 2000s because, though he had his weak moments, he redefined the “nerd” archetype on TV, andhis romance with Summer (Rachel Bilson) quickly became a fan-favorite relationship on the show.Love stories were a big part ofThe O.C., but Seth’s brotherly dynamic with Ryan (Ben McKenzie) was also touching.
The O.C.was also fairly progressive and boundary-pushing as far as the teen drama genre went.
Though there were soap opera-esque moments onThe O.C.and plenty of melodrama that was a little over-the-top, this is part of whyThe O.C.is looked back on so fondly.The O.C.was also fairly progressive and boundary-pushing as far as the teen drama genre went. It can be difficult for an actor to be so closely linked to a role they had long ago, butSeth Cohen is so beloved that it makes it easy to extend that affection to the actor himself.
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Netflix’s 93% RT Rom-Com Show Confirms The Adam Brody Comeback I’ve Been Waiting 17 Years For
Netflix’s new romantic comedy, Nobody Wants This, proves that it’s more than time for Adam Brody to make his way back to the rom-com genre.
Nobody Wants This
A loud, agnostic sex podcaster and a newly single rabbi unexpectedly fall in love, forcing them to navigate the complexities of their clashing beliefs, families, and careers. Their relationship faces constant tension as they balance their personal lives with societal pressures, leading to a series of humorous and heartfelt challenges.
Even though it’s easy to viewNobody Wants Thisas a crossover withVeronica Mars, Brody isn’t just reprising his role of Seth Cohen as an adult. Noah, the Rabbi who Brody plays in Netflix’s new romantic comedy series, is still a little nerdy. However, he comes by it honestly and hasall the depth and maturity that audiences never see Seth embody because he’s still a teenager.If anything, the self-confidence and emotional availability of Noah serve to make him the most evolved and desirable character in Brody’s oeuvre.
However, the charm and desirability of Noah isn’t the only reason to watchNobody Wants This. The series has skyrocketed in popularity because of the chemistry between Brody and Kristen Bell, who plays the other protagonist, Joanne. Bell and Brody’s shared history of being in popular early 2000s teen shows and understanding of what makes a relationship work onscreen has been the key toNobody Wants This.Adam Brodyis sure to remain in the cultural conversation if the series progresses.
