drien Brody, you know who that is, the guy that won the Oscar for his performance in The Pianist; the same guy that got to roll around naked with Keira Knightley in The Jacket. Oh yeah, he was also the crazy one in M. Night Shyamalan's The Village last year. Know who I am talking about yet?

If not, let me just describe him as one of Hollywood's best actors right now, and in Peter Jackson's King Kong he takes on the role of Jack Driscoll, but this Jack is not the Jack we all know from the 1933 version. Driscoll in this version is given more depth and his character is far more closely related to that of Kongas the two are thrust into environments neither of them are used to. Driscoll is ultimately thrust into a situation where he stands between Kong and Ann. Kong's affection for Ann is turned into jealousy when he sees Jack and her together. This film centers around this ideal and while Jack and Kong couldn't be anymore different physically they are tied together through Miss Darrow, but there is far more to Driscoll's character than that and we haven't even gotten to the changes yet.

Instead of being the ship's first mate Jack is now the screenwriter for Carl Denham's new feature. "My character is the one character that changed the most," Brody said. "I had some apprehension about it because when that's the case you had better be right. The change better be right because everybody knows about those changes and I think it's very brave to create a kind of reluctant hero, leading man that's not the typical kind of overtly muscular guy. It's a guy, who is just like Kong. Pulled out of his own element and forced to go fight for the things that he loves."

Like Brody I am convinced the changes were good changes, and Brody tells us why he believes so, "The love story ends up being more truthful because of the connection of the screenwriter would definitely be falling for the beautiful lead actress he is writing for and she already admired his work. The original, it lacked authenticity in that respect. He was a ship's first mate and the next minute he's like, 'Ann I think I love you,' and then he was in love with her. Where did that happen? That's what I wanted to avoid, that is what I voiced to Peter. There was only a limited amount of time to make that work because everybody wants to go get Kong and see Skull Island and get that part of the action started."

Getting the action started indeed and Brody was at the center of it as Jackson's new Kong has plenty of it and, like Driscoll, Brody is not shy of jumping in where he is needed. One scene in particular has Driscoll racing around 1930s New York trying to help save the city from Kong's wrath.

"It was exciting obviously to get to play a guy who tries to save the city and try to get Kong out of the city and I grew up driving, racing cars in Queens and stuff, so they were going to shoot that as a green screen sequence and I convinced Pete to let me drive it."

Brody continues, "I showed up one day and he didn't tell me he was going to let me do it and there was a car there, a taxi cab with like six cameras mounted on it. They gave me the keys and said we're going to shoot this and go for it, and this is the route, and I walked it with the stunt man and they let me drive it. It was so fucking exciting. I would come back and the stuntmen were cheering and Pete would come out and was like, 'Okay now this time you really push it!' I was like, 'Alright.' I almost killed a guy. It was on the sidewalk and the door flew open… It was like an action sequence out of like some movie that I wouldn't be in. The door flew open on one of these shots, I bust an e-brake slide, like 90 degree turn and the door shuts and I keep driving and it's all on camera, it's amazing."

Considering Brody's talent and resume it is no secret that he is a name several directors would like in their movie. Even though it was King Kong, you have to wonder slightly how Peter Jackson was able to nab him for this film without a script before Brody signed.

"It's tricky," Brody said. "I knew they had my best interest at heart and they have a good track record. I like them, I genuinely like Peter and Fran and Philippa and I love the story. It was a no brainer really. There was a script by the time we began shooting, but things were changing and we'd be able to contribute and work things out. So it was a different process, but it wasn't negative, you have to figure things out along the way."

That said, would he do it again since this experience was a successful one?

"Not based on past experiences, it depends on the role and it depends on how well the filmmaker conveys what is needed from me. Even if it is largely improvisational, if it is a character that I really want to explore and I can go research it and nail it and I really want to be that for a few months or more I'm game. If it is some kind of experimental thing that's interesting."

Brody continued, "It's good to read a script and be moved by the script. Truth, Justice, the film I did in the interim is a beautifully written script and I jumped at that."

Speaking of other films Adrien also has, as he just mentioned, Truth, Justice and the American Way coming out next year, in which Brody stars opposite Ben Affleck and Diane Lane as a 1950s private detective investigating the mysterious death of "Superman" star George Reeves, but on top of that is the recently announced feature Manolete in which Brody will star as a bullfighter alongside Penélope Cruz.

Brody tells us, "It looks like I'm going to do Manolete, which I am going to be in Spain and I'm going to go train with some bullfighters. That's the only thing that I know that I should be doing.

"I don't really like to talk about anything until they're done. I was supposed to be the lead in Thin Red Line, and that was done and I didn't know that until I saw it. So let's not talk about things until I see it. Glad I saw [King Kong] yesterday," he says with a big smile on his face.

King Kong opens everywhere on December 14, 2005.