Hollywood has been buzzing about Brendan Fraser‘s comeback role. He has stayed mostly out of the spotlight in recent years but recently returned in a new movie called The Whale. After the film premiered at the Venice International Film Festival, Brendan received a standing ovation for his portrayal of a 600-lb. man named Charlie who tries to reconnect with his daughter Ellie, played by Sadie Sink.
Brendan got emotional during the standing ovation and has shared why this role was so difficult yet meaningful for him. He said, “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, and that’s what I wanted. By far and away, I think that Charlie is the most heroic man I’ve ever played because his superpower is to see the good in others and bring that out in them. And in that process, he’s on his journey of salvation.”
Watch the trailer for ‘The Whale’
He continued, “I think it’s poetic that the trauma he carries is manifest in the physical weight of his body. I needed to learn to absolutely move in a new way. I developed muscles I did not know that I had. I even felt a sense of vertigo, when at the end of the day all the appliances were removed, just as you would feel stepping off the boat onto the dock here in Venice — that undulating feeling.”
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Brendan concluded, “I say this because he gave me an appreciation for those whose bodies are similar, because I learned that you need to be an incredibly strong person physically and mentally to inhabit that physical being. And I think that is Charlie, also.”
Now, the film’s trailer is finally available for everyone to watch. It is based on the adaptation of a 2012 stage play and is reportedly a very powerful film. Watch the trailer below and go see the movie when it premieres in theaters on Dec. 9.
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