Fraser was already touted as an Oscar contender
when Darren Aronofsky’s psychological thriller premiered at last
summer’s Venice Film Festival. The film was adapted from Samuel
Hunter's 2012 play of the same name.
"I’m grateful to Darren Aronofsky for throwing me a creative
lifeline and hauling me aboard the good ship, 'The Whale," said
Fraser in accepting the Oscar.
The role marked his return to the big screen as a leading man
after a nine-year absence from major roles. Once the star of big
releases like “George of the Jungle” and the action-packed
“Mummy” trilogy, Fraser had largely retreated from the limelight
in part due to injuries sustained from doing stunts.
The 54-year-old actor took on a new set of physical challenges
for “The Whale.” He wore a heavy bodysuit, prosthetics and
makeup, which could take up to six hours to apply, to embody the
story's obese hero, Charlie. The result left him barely able to
walk in his character's cramped home.
"I needed to learn to absolutely move in a new way. I developed
muscles I did not know I had," the American-Canadian actor told
reporters in Venice in September, saying that it was the most
challenging part of his career.
The film drew criticism from some reviewers who said its
depiction of Charlie relied on tropes of depressed, obese
people. Some spoke out against its use of prosthetics rather
than casting an obese actor.
"The hope is we can change hearts and minds about how we relate
to one another or don't relate to one another, how we may
dismiss one another, by simply by virtue of how we appear to one
another," Fraser said in an interview in December.
(Reporting by Dawn Chmielewski; writing by Ben Kellerman;
editing by Jonathan Oatis)
(Photo: Brendan Fraser wins the Oscar for Best Actor for "The
Whale" during the Oscars show at the 95th Academy Awards in
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S., March 12, 2023.
REUTERS/Carlos Barria)
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