Brendan Fraser reduced to tears by beautiful Venice Film Festival moment | Films | Entertainment
Over the weekend, the Venice Film Festival has been showing the latest and greatest movies from Hollywood. Included in the list of pictures was The Whale, the new psychological drama from Darren Aronofsky, starring Fraser.
The film is the latest picture from the actor who is best known for The Mummy franchise, and it is his first movie since 2021’s No Sudden Move.
The Whale was screened on Sunday night in Venice and left the crowd overwhelmed with emotion.
After the film’s credits rolled, the cast and crew were applauded, but when the attention turned to Fraser, he received a six-minute standing ovation.
The actor looked as if he was stunned by the reception of his performance.
Before long, emotion took hold of the 53-year-old.
Scroll down to watch Brendan Fraser receive a standing ovation.
Aronofsky ushered him to the centre aisle of the cinema so he was in plain view for his fans.
He bent over in emotion and relief as the applause grew louder.
Before he knew it, he was wiping tears from his face, obviously shocked by the experience.
It’s no surprise that Fraser found himself in such a vulnerable state after the film’s ending considering the subject matter of The Whale.
READ MORE: Brendan Fraser unrecognisable as 600lb recluse in new film The Whale
Fraser went on: “Charlie’s physical mobility is limited to his home space, which is his couch. His story is told behind closed doors. He’s a light in a dark space. I think it’s poetic that the trauma he carries is manifest in the physical weight of his body.”
The star also explained how he had to adapt his acting to physically play a larger person.
“I needed to learn to absolutely move in a new way,” he explained. “I developed muscles I did not know I had. I even felt a sense of vertigo at the end of the day when all the appliances were removed, as you’d feel stepping off a boat on to the dock here in Venice.”
He was also very open about his own physical transformation over the past 20 years.
Fraser referenced the magnificent shape he was in for the 1997 movie George of the Jungle.
“I looked different in those days,” he confessed. “My journey to where I am now has been to explore as many characters as I can, and this presented the biggest challenge to me.
“By far I think that Charlie is the most heroic man I have ever played, because his superpower is to see the good in others, and bring that out in him. In that process he’s on his journey of salvation.” (sic)
The Whale hits cinemas in December.
