Brendan Fraser has been nominated for an Academy Award for The Whale, his first leading performance in a major picture in 12 years.
His nomination for best actor culminates a decade-long comeback for a former Hollywood starring man who was acknowledged as being “in the woods.”
The Whale has prompted studios and fans to reconsider the talents of the Mummy and George of the Jungle actor.
Brendan Fraser portrays a lonely, morbidly obese English professor who desires reconciliation with his estranged daughter.
In January, the 54-year-old US-Canadian actor stated to BBC News that he believes the film will “eliminate prejudice against persons who live with obesity.”
Speaking about his role, he stated that he felt compelled “to be the voice of those who live as Charlie lives” and “to portray him with dignity and respect in a way that we’ve never seen this character portrayed on television before.”
“We frequently forget that these are human beings with thoughts and emotions, hearts, and families,” he told Lizo Mzimba, a BBC entertainment correspondent.
The metamorphosis of Fraser on-screen was the consequence of hefty prosthetics, which he confessed was “challenging” physically and emotionally.
Nonetheless, the “fat suit,” Fraser’s casting as a gay character, and the film’s depiction of Charlie all sparked criticism in certain circles.
Daniel Franzese, star of Mean Girls, questioned why Fraser was picked. “He is a gentleman. In September, he told People, “It’s fantastic.”
“Why then? Why don a fat costume to portray a 400-pound homosexual? “Who is more knowledgeable about being an obese gay man than an obese gay man?”
Roxane Gay, an American author, and pundit stated in the New York Times that the film was “emotionally shattering” but that the use of a fat suit was “abhorrent” and that the film’s treatment of Charlie’s obesity was exploitative and at times cruel.
She asserted that it was “unmistakable” that director Darren Aronofsky and screenwriter Samuel D. Hunter “thought obesity the ultimate human failing, something to be avoided at all costs.”
“Ready to begin afresh”
In 1997, Fraser rose to prominence as George of the Jungle, then from 1999 through 2008, he starred as Rick O’Connell in the blockbuster Mummy action trilogy.
He has played fantasy parts in Bedazzled and Journey to the Center of the Earth.
His film employment, however, stalled in the late 2000s due to years of stunt-related injuries that required surgery on his spine, knee, and vocal cords.
In addition, following the dissolution of his marriage, he engaged in a child support payment legal fight and accused a prominent Hollywood personality of sexual assault.
In 2018, he claimed that in 2003, Philip Berk, the head of the Golden Globes’ organizing organization, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), had touched his derriere. The HFPA said that Mr. Berk “inappropriately touched” Mr. Fraser, but that it “was meant as a joke and not as a sexual advance.”
According to Fraser, the experience “made me withdraw” and “feel reclusive.”
When the leading roles dried up, he struggled. Fraser noted,
“Your sense of worth stems from the work that you do or from your ability to be requested or welcomed to do it.”
“I realized I needed to take care of some physical issues, like as my chips, hips, and joints, which I’d acquired while filming those early films, and I’m now prepared to begin anew.”
Since The Whale’s September world debut, the star’s performance has been hailed as one of the most impressive of the year and possibly the greatest of his career.
In their review, the Telegraph described the film as “a thing of beauty and strength.” According to BBC Culture, the “captivating” Fraser “deserves an Oscar.”
Fraser’s “disappointing return to movies” was given two stars by The Guardian, which referred to it as “a hectoring invitation to cry.”
Brendan Fraser has also received nominations for the Screen Actors Guild Awards and the Critics’ Choice Awards for best actor.
“I was in the wilderness,” Fraser stated during his emotional acceptance speech for the Critics’ Choice Award. “I probably ought to have left a breadcrumb trail. Nevertheless, you discovered me,” he added to Aronofsky.
In response to a standing ovation from the audience, a tearful Fraser continued: “If you, like the character I portrayed in this film, Charlie, struggle with obesity or just feel like you’re in a sea of darkness, I want you to know that if you have the strength to just stand up and walk toward the light, good things will happen.
He stated,
“My film, The Whale, is about love.” “The theme is redemption. It is about finding light in the darkness.”
Notwithstanding the difficulty of the past decade, he has relished riding the award season wave.
When questioned by TV talk show host Graham Norton if he liked this period being referred to as his “Renaissance,” Fraser responded, “You can call me whatever you want, as long as you’re calling me.”
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