Last March, Adrien Brody took the stage of the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles to claim the best-actor Oscar for his performance in The Brutalist. A year later, the actor will make his Broadway debut in Lindsey Ferrentino’s The Fear of 13—with Tessa Thompson, hotly tipped this awards season for her turn in Nia DaCosta’s Hedda, starring opposite him. Previews of the production, directed by David Cromer (Good Night, and Good Luck; this season’s Bug), begin at the James Earl Jones Theatre on March 19, 2026, with an opening night set for April 15.
Based on David Sington’s 2015 documentary of the same name, The Fear of 13 tells the story of Nick Yarris (Brody), a man who spent more than 20 years on death row for crimes he maintained that he did not commit. (Thompson will play Jackie, a prison volunteer with whom Nick forms a profound—and lasting—connection.) The show had its world premiere at London’s 250-seat Donmar Warehouse in the fall of 2024, a staging directed by Justin Martin (Prima Facie) that also starred Brody, who earned an Olivier nomination for his lead turn.
When Sarah Crompton profiled Brody for Vogue’s Winter 2025 issue, he described how the play, his first in decades, had completely embedded itself in his brain. “I’m not really sleeping,” he said. “I wake up with dialogue from the play constantly in my thoughts.” Yet he’d also seen firsthand how gratifying the production was for Yarris—now an author—who often came to see it. “He shared with me how I have personally lifted away so much pain and suffering by helping to tell his story.” (The Fear of 13 will be presented in partnership with the Innocence Project, a non-profit that has exonerated more than 250 wrongfully convicted inmates using scientific data.)
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