Jack Nicholson cordially invited Adrien Brody to boycott the 2003 Oscars over the Iraq War
Brody, who used the opportunity to kiss Halle Berry and win an Oscar, declined

At the tender age of 29, Adrien Brody became the youngest Best Actor winner in Academy Awards history. He capped off his win at the 2003 Oscars by stumbling to the stage in a haze of victory and planting a big fat kiss on Halle Berry. Brody’s acceptance would live on in montage after montage about the magic and excitement of the Oscars.
But this moment of Oscar glory almost didn’t happen. In a recent interview with The Sunday Times (via Yahoo), Brody revealed that, before the ceremony, Jack Nicholson, nominated for About Schmidt, summoned his fellow nominees to his house to plan a protest. Nicholson wanted to boycott the Awards over the U.S. invasion of Iraq, which began five days before the ceremony. Brody refused to take part.
“I said, ‘I don’t know about you guys, but I’m going,’” Brody told The Sunday Times. “I said, ‘I kind of have to show up. My parents are coming. This doesn’t come around too often. I know you guys are all winners. You can sit it out. But I can’t.’”
Brody, who would win the statue for Roman Polanski’s Holocaust drama The Pianist, made his parents happy that night. And he had stiff competition, including Daniel Day-Lewis (Gangs Of New York), Michael Caine (The Quiet American), Nicolas Cage (Adaptation), and Nicholson. All of the other nominees, as Brody pointed out, had already won. Also, as Brody also pointed out, it would be his only win and nomination to date.