Brendan Fraser

Actor says lead role of Charlie in Darren Aronofsky's The Whale is 'most heroic man I have ever played'

“I looked different in those [George of the Jungle] days. A couple of years ago I caught a trailer from a low-budget Brazilian movie, I saw Brendan in it and a lightbulb went off.” In that process he’s on his journey of salvation.” “Out of this I was getting these amazing, gorgeous things. I even felt a sense of vertigo at the end of the day when all the appliances were removed, as you’d feel stepping off a boat on to the dock here in Venice.” Aronofsky said he felt “deeply moved” when he first watched Hunter’s play in New York.

Brendan Fraser attends "The Whale" & "Filming Italy Best Movie Achievement Award" red carpet at the 79th Venice International Film Festival on September 4 in ...

[According to Variety, ](https://variety.com/2022/film/news/brendan-fraser-the-whale-weight-prosthetics-venice-1235359484/) "The Mummy" star is being touted as a serious Oscars contender with his portrayal in the drama. [his performance in "The Whale," ](https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/27/entertainment/brendan-fraser-the-whale/index.html)

Prosthetic or no, it's hard to imagine anyone else in the lead role of Darren Aronofsky's new film, which premiered at the 2022 Venice Film Festival.

Well, yes, but in the old, original meaning of the word: He evokes sympathy and sadness, not ridicule or contempt. He could and should go to the hospital, but he refuses, citing a lack of health insurance. The food isn’t so much food as it is a metaphor for all the hurt and pain he’s absorbed. Once everything finally collides in The Whale, something shattering and beautiful and honest emerges. But here’s the thing: The film is built around the idea of revulsion, and extreme consumption. When he talks to people, his eyes are wide and inquisitive, and there’s a half-smile on his face. The whole thing is a metaphor, and as such it’s pitched a few degrees off from reality. The buzz around the movie grew and grew that night and the following day, so that by the time I saw The Whale at its actual premiere in the Sala Grande, the place seemed ready to explode. [Samuel Hunter’s play](https://www.vulture.com/2012/11/theater-review-the-whale.html), it’s the story of Charlie, a 600 lb. He always seemed like a sweet guy who was just happy to be there, but he never seemed like a joke. And explode it did, as soon as the end credits started rolling. They all seemed surprised to have found themselves so devastated by the movie, and in particular by Brendan Fraser’s performance.

Brendan Fraser got emotional and cried as audiences at the Venice Film Festival gave a six-minute standing ovation after the premiere of 'The Whale.'

[posted on social media](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ljsBMfF104M) shows a teary Fraser reluctantly getting up as the audience, on its feet, claps and cheers for his performance. The film is based on Samuel D. Berk apologized but admitted no wrongdoing. Fraser rose to prominence in the 1990s as an action and comedy heartthrob in lighthearted films like 1992’s “Encino Man,” 1997’s “George of the Jungle” and 1999’s “The Mummy.” [drama](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2022-07-27/brendan-fraser-the-whale-transformation-a24-darren-aronofsky) from A24, in which Fraser donned prosthetics and makeup to play a 600-pound recluse who uses a wheelchair. The actor Brendan Fraser got emotional as audiences at the Venice Film Festival gave a six-minute standing ovation on Sunday after seeing the world premiere of his upcoming film “The Whale,” according to

If the Sunday night world premiere of “The Whale” at the Venice Film Festival is any indication, Brendan Fraser's return to Hollywood will be met with ...

“The Whale” marks another buzzy Venice premiere for Aronofsky, who has a rich history with the prestigious festival. “Black Swan” was one of the big hits of the 2010 Venice Film Festival — and won Mila Kunis an emerging actor prize — while “mother!” was all anyone could talk about at the 2017 fest. “The Whale” stars Fraser as a man living with severe obesity who struggles to reconnect with his 17-year-old daughter, played by “Stranger Things” breakout Sadie Sink. To play the lead character in the film, Fraser wore a prosthetic suit that added anywhere from 50 to 300 pounds given the scene. Fraser hugged Aronofsky several during the ovation. Among those spotted inside the Sala Grande Theatre were Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Nick Kroll and Hillary Clinton staffer Huma Abedin, who was seated a few rows behind Fraser and shed as many tears as he did.