The magical world of Adrien Brody

With a bit of magic all his own, Academy Award-winner Adrien Brody has taken on two compelling new roles. He portrays an Iranian Jew in the upcoming feature film, “Septembers of Shiraz” and takes on the legendary magician Harry Houdini in a new mini-series on the History Channel. Both debut next month.

For his 2003 role as a Nazi-tormented musician in Roman Polanski’s “The Pianist,” Brody became the only actor to win an Oscar for Best Actor under age 30. (Richard Dreyfuss won at age 30 in 1978 for “The Goodbye Girl.”)

The son of Hungarian-born photographer Sylvia Plachy, Brody accompanied his mother on professional assignments for the Village Voice and was a frequent subject of her photography. His father, Elliot, taught history before his retirement.

Both sides of his family were impacted by the Holocaust, although his mother did not know of her Jewish ancestry growing up.

In the forthcoming History channel miniseries “Houdini,” airing September 1 and 2, the acclaimed actor revisits a childhood dream.

The artist who once billed himself as “The Amazing Adrien” told Deadline.com, “I was more than a fan… Not only did I have a fascination with magic, but I had aspirations of becoming a magician when I was a boy.”

The process of portraying the magician and performing as one on stage revealed many parallels to the Queens native whose New York accent is palpable in the mini-series.

“You understand the workings of a trick and you make it your own, you develop a patter and you tell that story uniquely, and that’s what makes a great show and a great magician,” said Brody.

In “Houdini,” a period piece with beautiful sets and costumes, Brody performs opposite Kristen Connolly and was involved in shooting many physically demanding scenes. Breaking an unspoken magician’s code, the History Channel discloses secret methods used for his escapes because they are readily available online.

Odd factoid: This is Brody’s second portrayal under the moniker, Harry Houdini. In “Oxygen,” an obscure 1999 thriller, he played a kidnapper by the same name.

His upcoming film about the Iranian revolution, “Shiraz,” was recently accepted to next month’s Toronto International Film Festival, running September 10 – 20, which screens more than 300 films from around the world.

“It’s a beautiful film that I feel grateful to have participated in,” Brody said. His character is a member of a Jewish family portrayed in the 2007 book of the same name by Iranian-born author Dalia Sofer.

“It’s about the struggles of the people in Iran who were taken in and abducted by the Revolutionary Guard during the fall of the Shah and the regime change there,” Brody said.

It’s an interesting choice for Brody, who has made a career of interesting choices.

“I can’t wait for the tide. I have to swim,” the actor told The New York Times.