Brendan Fraser gives emotional speech as he wins award for ‘The Whale’
Brendan Fraser has given a heartfelt acceptance speech at the Toronto Film Festival after receiving a Tribute Award for his performance in Darren Aronofsky’s new film The Whale. The actor plays a reclusive English teacher suffering from severe obesity. Looking for redemption, he attempts to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter – played by Sadie Sink.
Fraser is best known for his role in The Mummy Franchise. He fell out of the limelight in the 2000s and has been fairly reclusive since. His return to the big screen saw him receive a standing ovation at the Toronto Film Festivals tribute gala, where he was presented with an award by Aronofsky.
Accepting the award, Fraser said: “This is new for me. Normally I’m the guy at the podium who hands these things out. I got pretty good at it. I think that the last time that I waited to hear my name called aloud to receive an award was in grade four and it was from the Peewee Bowling League.”
Thanking Aronofsky and writer Samuel D. Hunter for their work, Fraser continued: “Art is about taking a risk and you should know that they took a chance on me and I will be forever grateful to them.” He then added: “It’s the audience that gives cinema life. So I must thank you for keeping me in the job that I love, because it’s nice work if you can get it.”
Earlier in September, Fraser received a six-minute standing ovation for his performance in The Whale at the Venice International Film Festival. Unsurprisingly, he’s being tipped as a frontrunner at this year’s Oscars.
The Whale stars Brendan Fraser, Sadie Sink (Stranger Things), Hong Chau (Downsizing), Samantha Morton (The Walking Dead) and Ty Simpkins (Avengers: Endgame) It is set to arrive in cinemas on December 9th, 2022.
You can watch Fraser’s full speech below.
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