The Brenaissance is moving full steam ahead with the latest performance from Brendan Fraser garnering immense praise. In his newest movie, Darren Aronofsky's The Whale, Fraser stars as a morbidly obese man hoping to reconnect with his daughter (Sadie Sink) before it's too late. At the Venice Film Festival, Fraser was present for a screening of the film, and after the credits rolled, he was able to see first-hand just how much people love the movie. Reportedly, per Variety, there was a standing ovation for The Whale that lasted for six minutes. Footage of Fraser taking it all in was recorded and has since gone viral on Twitter. In the footage, Fraser is brought to tears, clearly stunned and appreciative of all of the love those in attendance were bestowing upon him along with the movie's fellow cast and crew. According to reports, Fraser had initially gone to leave after the screening but stayed behind once he saw and heard the raucous applause.
It's not limited to this particular audience when it comes to the positive reception to The Whale. Its early screenings have been overwhelmingly positive, generating a lot of chatter about Fraser entering the race for Best Actor at the Academy Awards. If that happens, it would be the first Oscar nomination for the veteran actor. Many would agree that he is more than deserving, as even fans who have yet to see The Whale are still thrilled to see Fraser generating so much praise and publicity with the film.
Brendan Fraser Just Might Be Nominated for an Oscar for The Whale
The Whale is based on the original play of the same name by Samuel D. Hunter, who wrote the screenplay for the feature film directed by Darren Aronofsky. Along with Brendan Fraser and Sadie Sink, the film stars Hong Chau, Samantha Morton, and Ty Simpkins. The movie follows a 600-pound man named Charlie (Fraser) who tries to reconnect with his daughter (Sink) years after abandoning his family for a new life with his gay lover, who has since died. Charlie's binge-eating has resulted in dramatically gaining weight and causing the middle-aged man major health problems.
“The saying that you can’t judge a book by its cover is a really big theme in this film," Aronofsky said at the festival. "You can’t judge any of these characters by their first impressions. The way that Charlie the English teacher is constantly pushing his students to find honesty and truth to get beyond the cover, I found very inspiring.”
The Whale will be released in theaters by A24 on Dec. 9, 2022.