Adrien Brody and Halle Berry recreate their Oscars kiss at last night’s event

Last night’s Oscars went off without a hitch. No real controversies plagued the 2025 Academy Awards, thanks in part to the “tight ship” that host Conan O’Brien ran. However, for movie fans, there were still plenty of surprises. Anora came out as a big winner, and even though it did have a lot of hype around it, the competition it faced was no picnic. One of the biggest wins of the night went to Adrian Brody as he won his second Best Actor award for his performance in The Brutalist. Twenty-two years ago, Brody would win the award for The Pianist, and as he took to the stage, he gave presenter Halle Berry an unprompted, passionate kiss that attracted some controversy.

Fast-forward to last night. Brody took to the stage again to accept his award. No Halle Berry this time, but Brody gives a lengthy, emotional speech (even denying the band playing him off at one point). However, Variety reports that Berry would still get her smooch as she caught up with Brody during an interview with Access Hollywood prior to the ceremony. As Brody conversed with Access Hollywood‘s Mario Lopez, Berry walked up to Brody and paid him back for blindsiding her back in 2003.

@accesshollywood HALLE BERRY KISSED ADRIEN BRODY AT THE #OSCARS !!! THIS IS NOT A DRILL 🚨 #AWARDSEASON ♬ original sound – Access Hollywood

Berry joked with Variety, “That was one hell of a night for him, and for me as well. To be a part of his moment… tonight I had to pay him back. I’ve seen him out at parties, but this is the first time since that night that I’ve seen him on the red carpet somewhere. He’s nominated this year. He deserved that.” The night would only get better for Brody as he was announced as the winner of his category and his speech reflected a lot of self-growth and immense gratitude that he was able to bounce back from some career lows to partake in a film like The Brutalist.

Brody’s initial kiss with Berry at the 2003 Academy Awards is especially controversial nowadays after a bevy of sexual abuse cases in Hollywood have been exposed and people are more sensitive to certain behaviors. The Brutalist star is not lost on the iffiness of his past actions as he told Variety fairly recently, “We live in a very conscious time, which is a wonderful thing. And nothing that I ever do or have done or would’ve done is ever done with the intention of making anyone feel bad.”