Brendan Fraser Was Moved To Tears In Venice For All The Right Reasons

Though drama in Venice has been major – and the saga around Don’t Worry Darling continues – there have also been moments of extreme light. Case in point? Brendan Fraser’s beyond adorable reaction to the overwhelming reception of The Whale. Hailed as his comeback movie, the Tarzan actor plays a 600-pound man as he reckons with the limits of his reclusive life, alongside Stranger Things actor Sadie Sink, who plays his daughter.

Following the world premiere, which took place on Sept. 4 at the Venice Film Festival, Fraser was visibly moved to tears when spectators gave him a six-minute long standing ovation. Per Variety, the role will likely “put him at the forefront of this year’s best actor Oscars race”. (A sentiment echoed by the BBC’s Nicholas Barber who called Fraser’s performance as “captivating”.)

Fraser wasn’t alone in shedding tears, too. Among those in attendance at the Darren Aronofsky premiere were Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Nick Kroll, and Hillary Clinton staffer Huma Abedin. Per Metro, Fraser was spotted hugging Aronofsky several times during the ovation and at one point even tried to leave the theatre, but stayed longer to take a bow and “soak up the congratulations”.

The role required Fraser to spend 6 hours each day in prosthetics and makeup. “The torso piece was almost like a strait jacket with sleeves that went on, airbrushed by hand, to look identical as would human skin, right down to the hand-punched hair,” Fraser told journalists at the Venice press conference, “I developed muscles I did not know I had… It gave me appreciation for those whose bodies are similar.”

Aranofsky’s film marks his first starring role in nearly a decade, and is miles away from the early films that made him a household name; George Of The Jungle, The Mummy, and Dudley Do-Right, for instance. Speaking to GQ in 2018, Fraser explained how his job had become too taxing, and ultimately led to him needing to take time out, reflecting on the toll action-packed sequences took on his body. So far, critics agree that The Whale is one hell of a come back. The Brenaissance is here.