Brendan Fraser gives a cheeky smile while arriving at JFK airport in New York City on Tuesday afternoon (September 6).
22.08.2022 - 19:57 / deadline.com
Brendan Fraser will be honored with a TIFF Tribute Award for Performance at the 2022 Toronto Film Festival’s eponymous gala fundraiser, which is set for an in-person return at Fairmont Royal York Hotel on Sunday, September 11. The award comes in recognition of Fraser’s work on Darren Aronofsky’s anticipated drama The Whale, which makes its North American premiere in Toronto after bowing in Venice.
The TIFF Tribute Award recognizing Fraser is one of two acting awards to be handed out at this year’s gala, with the other going to the ensemble of Michael Grandage’s romantic drama, My Policeman, for Amazon. Past recipients of TIFF’s acting prize include Jessica Chastain and Benedict Cumberbatch in 2021; Kate Winslet and Sir Anthony Hopkins in 2020; and Meryl Streep and Joaquin Phoenix in 2019.
The Whale tells the story of Charlie (Fraser), a reclusive English teacher living with severe obesity who attempts to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter for one last chance at redemption. The A24 film based on the acclaimed play by Samuel D. Hunter also stars Sadie Sink, Hong Chau, Ty Simpkins and Samantha Morton. Elevation Pictures will serve as its Canadian distributor.
“Brendan Fraser gives a performance of staggering depth, power, and nuance in The Whale,” said TIFF CEO, Cameron Bailey “This former Torontonian has been an action star, a screen comic, and a romantic lead. We’re thrilled to welcome him home as the actor behind one of the finest performances of the year.”
An award-winning actor with a career spanning more than 30 years, Fraser is known for his portrayal of Rick O’Connell in The Mummy trilogy, and for films like Journey to the Center of the Earth, Crash, Bedazzled, George of the Jungle, Glory Daze, Airheads,
Brendan Fraser gives a cheeky smile while arriving at JFK airport in New York City on Tuesday afternoon (September 6).
Protect Brendan Fraser at all costs!
Dwayne Johnson is sharing his support of Brendan Fraser, following the premiere of Brendan‘s latest movie, The Whale, during the 2022 Venice Film Festival over the weekend.
Brendan Fraser on Twitter, following the first screening of his new film The Whale. The psychological drama from Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky premiered at the Venice Film Festival on Sunday (4 September).
The Whale at the Venice International Film Festival.The new film from Darren Aronofsky sees the actor play a reclusive English teacher who lives with life-threatening obesity.Since the film premiered over the weekend, footage has emerged of the audience giving Fraser a standing ovation, which reportedly lasted for six minutes. The star can also be seen to be tearful during the clip.The standing ovation for #TheWhale was so enthusiastic, Brendan Fraser tried to leave the theater but the crowd’s applause made him stay.
In a triumphant world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale received a seven-minute standing ovation inside the Sala Grande this evening. Star Brendan Fraser was visibly moved as he was embraced by his director while extended applause rang throughout the auditorium.
Brendan Fraser’s return to Hollywood at the 79th Venice Film Festival was met with many tears.
#Venezia79 six-minute standing ovation for #TheWhale,” tweeted Ramin Setoodeh, Variety’s co-editor-in-chief, noting that the actor tried to leave the theater but the audience’s applause made him stay.After reaching a career high starring in “The Mummy” franchise and “George of the Jungle,” in many ways, some consider “The Whale” Fraser’s comeback moment that could quite possibly earn him an Oscar. The standing ovation for #TheWhale was so enthusiastic, Brendan Fraser tried to leave the theater but the crowd’s applause made him stay.
The Whale” at the Venice Film Festival is any indication, Brendan Fraser’s return to Hollywood will be met with plenty of cheers — and even more tears. When the credits rolled on the Darren Aronofsky drama, in which Fraser plays a 600-pound gay man confined to a wheelchair, the actor was overcome with emotion.Fraser sobbed throughout the six-minute standing ovation for the film, which will likely put him at the forefront of this year’s best actor Oscars race.Among those spotted inside the Sala Grande Theatre were Pheoebe 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. Many others inside the theater also broke out a handkerchief during the film’s heartbreaking final scenes.
Venice Film Festival began in the Italian city on 31 August, attracting the great and the good from the film world. As the world’s longest-running film festival, it regularly attracts the crème de la crème of the industry, the most anticipated new movies, as well as some exceptional red carpet looks. This year will see the premiere of the long-awaited Don’t Worry Darling, starring Florence Pugh, Harry Styles and Gemma Chan, and directed by Olivia Wilde.
Who would have thought that, of all the top-shelf auteurs in Venice’s big comeback year, the most constrained would be Darren Aronofsky? His new competition film The Whale opens with that very intent — the screen is cropped to 1:33 — which turns out to be most appropriate for a small and intimate movie about a very big man.
Brendan Fraser has played plenty of big-screen heroes, ranging from “George of the Jungle” to Rick O’Connell in “The Mummy” movies, yet he believes his latest role — a severely obese man in “The Whale” — may be the most heroic character he’s ever played.
By Crispian BalmerVENICE (Reuters) - U. S. actor Brendan Fraser, returning to the big screen as a leading man after a nine-year absence, said on Sunday playing the obese hero of "The Whale" was the biggest challenge of his career.
Manori Ravindran International Editor Brendan Fraser, the star of the Venice-premiering movie “The Whale,” says he needed to “learn how to move in a new way” in order to play his character Charlie, who weighs 600 lbs. Fraser takes on his most substantial role in a number of years with Darren Aronofsky’s latest, in which Charlie is slowly eating himself to death while struggling with congestive heart failure. An English teacher who holds online courses (with the camera off), Charlie eats to escape the pain of losing the love of his life, his former night-school student Alan, with whom he began a relationship after leaving his wife and then eight-year-old daughter, Ellie (Sadie Sink). Over the course of a week, he tries to reconnect with Ellie.
Brendan Fraser says the role of dangerously obese teacher Charlie in the upcoming The Whale is “the biggest challenge” of his career.
Darren Aronofsky returns to the Venice Film Festival this year with his first movie since 2017’s “mother!,” “The Whale.” There’s plenty to celebrate about the upcoming film. It’s the first film by Aronofsky in five years, A24‘s introduction to the Lido, and the return of Brendan Fraser as a leading man.
Brendan Fraser says transforming into a 600-pound man in "The Whale" took a major toll on him. Fraser, 53, plays Charlie, a reclusive English teacher nearing the end of his life. About a month into filming, the movie’s director, Darren Aronofsky, said that the actor was "all pedal and no gas." "I was feeling poorly — it would’ve been a failure," Fraser said in an interview with Vanity Fair.