“The Brutalist” director Brady Corbet made '0 dollars' off Oscar-nominated film, lived off paycheck from 3 years ago

Critical acclaim and Oscar buzz do not guarantee a livable wage — just ask Brady Corbet.

The filmmaker behind awards darling The Brutalist got candid about his finances during his Monday appearance on  WTF With Marc Maron, sharing that he and his wife Mona Fastvold, (a writer-director in her own right and Corbet's frequent creative partner) didn't make any money off of the Oscar-nominated epic.

"I just directed three advertisements in Portugal, pre-production was in the U.K. It’s the first time that I had made any money, really, in years," he explained, adding, "Both my partner and I made zero dollars on the last two films we made."

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Corbet and Fastvold previously teamed up for 2018's Vox Lux, a bold drama starring Natalie Portman as a pop star who rises from the ashes of a national tragedy. Fastvold next directed the 2020 period romance The World to Come, and three episodes of the Tom Holland-starring series The Crowded Room, while also working with Corbet on The Brutalist, the epic tale of architect László Toth immigrating to America and building an empire. The endeavor took several years, delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, but led to the film's 2024 release.

In addition to winning four BAFTAs and three Golden Globes, The Brutalist is up for 10 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director for Corbet, and Best Original Screenplay for Corbet and Fastvold.

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When Maron asked Corbet to clarify his comment about payment, the director reaffirmed, "Yes. Actually, zero. We had to just sort of live off of a paycheck from three years ago."

The director added that he couldn't turn down the chance to squeeze the ad shoots in while continuing to promote the A24-distributed film: "An opportunity landed in my lap and I jumped at it," he said.

Made on a budget of $9.6 million, The Brutalist has so far earned $14.6 million in domestic markets, for a global gross of $31.1 million.

Corbet also pointed out that the couple are certainly not alone when it comes to the financial strain of being indie directors.

Related: Adrien Brody, Guy Pearce, and The Brutalist director break down controversial cave scene: 'We shot it multiple ways'

"I’ve spoken to many filmmakers — that have the films that are nominated this year — that can’t pay their rent," he shared. "I mean, that’s a real thing. You're not paid to be promoting a film and if you look at certain films that premiered in Cannes, that was almost a year ago. I mean, our film premiered in September, so I’ve been doing this for six months and had zero income because I don’t have any time to work. I can't even take a writing job at the moment."

Referring to the press circuit as a "six-month interrogation," he added, "It's seven days a week. It’s boundless. It’s constant travel, and you’re also working Saturdays and Sundays. I haven’t had a day off since the Christmas break, and that was also only four days."

Corbet and Fastvold have already wrapped production on their next project together, the historical drama Ann Lee, starring Amanda Seyfried, Thomasin McKenzie, Christopher Abbott, Lewis Pullman, and Tim Blake Nelson.

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