As predicted, Brendan Fraser took home the Best Leading Actor Oscar for his performance in The whale by Darren Aronofsky. The actor caused a lot of emotion with his speech when he raised the statuette since he was away from the cinema for more than a decade for various reasons.
Fraser, hitherto known for his endearing role as Rick O’Connell in The Mummy, came into the Oscars as frontrunner for his poignant portrayal of Charlie, a morbidly obese college professor who is confined to his home and, in his deathbed tries to regain his relationship with his daughter; and with a SAG and Critics’ Choice under his arm.
In the shortlist he faced great colleagues with very good performances, such as Austin Butler for his role in ElvisColin Farrell por The Banshees of InisherinPaul Mescal by After sun and Bill Nighy for Living. However, not only his talent but the great transformation that he had to undergo to carry out his character was what led him to obtain maximum recognition.
How was Brendan Freaser’s speech after consecrating himself as Best Actor for “The Whale”
Climbing up to receive the statuette at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, Fraser moved everyone present with his speech.
“So this is what the multiverse looks like. I thank The Academy for this honor. I’m grateful to Darren Aronofsky for dragging me down to do The Whale,” Brendan began.
“It is an honor to be named with you in this category,” he said, referring to his colleagues with whom he competed in the shortlist.
“I started in this business 30 years ago and things were not easy for me. There was something I didn’t appreciate until it stopped. I just want to say thank you for this recognition because it would not have been possible without the rest of the cast. It has been as if I had been diving to the bottom of the ocean and the air of my breath on the surface had been watched by some people in my life like my children, Holden, Leland and Griffin, my manager, and my best partner, Jeanie. Thanks again, to each and everyone. I am very grateful, ”she closed.
Why Brendan Fraser self-exiled himself from Hollywood
Brendan Fraser disappeared from the world of movies for a decade and a half. In those years he had to go through an expensive and painful divorce, he faced some health problems as a result of injuries he suffered during filming of action scenes and he was encouraged to publicly denounce Philip Berk (former head of the Golden Globes) for sexually assaulting him when he was young.