Felicity Jones and Adrien Brody had instant connection on set of The Brutalist

Felicity Jones formed an instant connection with Adrien Brody on the set of The Brutalist.

The Golden Globe-winning film follows Hungarian architect László Tóth, a Holocaust survivor, who emigrates to America after the war in search of a better life and is later joined by his wife, Erzsébet.

Jones, who portrays his wife, explained to People that she and Brody didn’t have time to rehearse before filming but luckily hit it off right away.

“We didn’t have a lot of rehearsal for this film, so when we came to set, it was the first time that we’d done the scenes together. So we didn’t – I didn’t – really know what to expect,” she recalled.

“But I think with Adrien – he’s just so good – and he’s so honest in his performances that he kind of makes everyone better around him. And we were lucky; we had a vibe, we kinda had a connection. We just went for it. You know, we just wanted to make it feel as believable as possible.”

The Theory of Everything star admitted that she “didn’t have a clue” how Brady Corbet’s three-and-a-half hour epic would be received until the standing ovation after its premiere at the Venice Film Festival in September.

“You know, we sensed that it was different, and it was ambitious. But then, in Venice, we really saw how it connected to audiences. And that it really has so many universal themes in it,” she added.

The Brutalist won the Silver Lion for Best Director at Venice and has since gone on to win a bunch of other prizes, including Best Director, Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama and Best Motion Picture – Drama at the Golden Globes earlier this month.