Brendan Fraser’s performance in “The Whale” drew yet another standing ovation.
During his second standing ovation, Fraser, 53, was moved to tears, this time at the London Film Festival. The film was played to an audience on Tuesday night, and the actor earned a five-minute standing ovation, according to reports.
The picture received a standing ovation at the London Film Festival, after his debut at the Venice Film Festival in early September. The audience gave the “Crash” star a six-minute standing ovation.
Fraser is back on the big screen for what many believe will be an Oscar contender as Charlie, a 600-pound homosexual man who believes his life is ending.
The part marks a significant return for Fraser’s career, as it is his first main role in almost a decade. This year, the “Mummy” actor will appear in Martin Scorsese’s next western film “Killers of the Flower Moon,” as well as “Behind the Curtain of Night,” alongside Dawn Olivieri and Marcia Cross.
Fraser has mostly avoided the limelight since dealing with bodily difficulties as a result of completing many of his own stunts on TV. The actor has previously spoken up about his battle with melancholy following an alleged sexual assault episode in 2003.
Fraser alleged in 2018 that he was sexually abused in 2003 by former Hollywood Foreign Press Association President Philip Berk. The actor also claimed that the event led to his career’s decline.
[I] became depressed,” he told GQ at the time. “I was blaming myself and I was miserable — because I was saying, ‘This is nothing; this guy reached around and he copped a feel.’ [Work] withered on the vine for me. In my mind, at least, something had been taken away from me.”
Berk refuted the allegations, but in his 2014 memoir, he claimed that he grabbed Fraser’s behind “in jest.”
Fraser expressed thanks for “the wonderful welcome” he has gotten since sharing his current work.
“I’m looking forward to how this film makes a deep impression on everyone as much as it has on me,” he said.
Fraser remembered wearing heavy prosthetics weighing up to 300 pounds to play Charlie, a reclusive figure based on Samuel D. Hunter’s 2012 off-Broadway production.
“I needed to learn to move in a new way,” Fraser said. “I developed muscles that I did not know that I had. I even felt a sense of vertigo at the end of the day when all the appliances were removed, just as you would feel stepping off the boat onto the dock here in Venice.”
Fraser remained humble when asked if he was enthused about the potential of his career.
“My crystal ball is broken,” Fraser said. “I don’t know if yours works, but meet me after the show, and we’ll take a peek together.”