More than 6 minutes of applause and ovations. This was the reception that the latest film by actor Brendan Fraser had at the Venice Film Festival.
All this is thanks to his performance in The Whale, the latest film by director Darren Aronofsky, in which he transforms into a morbidly obese man and which premiered at that event in the Italian city last September.
"I'm just trying to hold on today. Thank you for this wonderful reception, I hope this film makes the same deep impression it did on me," the American actor said visibly moved at the film's presentation.
Since then, their performance in this film has earned Fraser the most important film awards, culminating in the Oscar for best leading actor that he won this Sunday in Los Angeles.
Fraser's return isn't just emotional and significant because of this. Also because it means a return after a long and painful absence.
Fraser, 53, was one of the most popular actors in the 90s, with roles in "George of the Jungle" or the "The Mummy" trilogy.
But from that golden age are part of his marks of abandonment and pain.
Precisely because of the stunts he did playing that clumsy Tarzan, he began to suffer serious injuries. Fraser refused to use doubles for scenes and, in the end, this landed him in the hospital and put his career on hold.
In 2007 came another painful chapter. He divorced his wife, Afton Smith.
Now Fraser, with the inevitable changes that his age entails, at 53 years old, walks the red carpet of one of the most important film festivals on the planet.
A father looking for his daughter
In his return to the cameras, he plays Charlie, a 250-kilo English teacher.
For the role, Fraser has had to work hard to achieve the look of his character, thanks also to the prosthesis of a 300-pound belly.
The Whale is based on the play of the same name by Samuel D. Hunter and tells the story of Charlie, an English teacher who, after the death of his boyfriend, begins to gobble up junk food in an attempt to numb his pain.
Aronofsky read a review of the theatrical version ten years ago in the press, the story moved him "deeply" and for this reason he proposed to its author to make it into a movie, achieving his approval, although the pandemic delayed the project.
He chose Fraser after seeing him by chance in the trailer of a low-budget Brazilian film and in 2020 they began shooting a plot that takes place in a single location - the house - and has only five characters.
"I had to learn to move in a new way, I developed muscles I didn't know I had and I felt vertigo at the end of the day when the prosthesis was removed because of an undulating sensation like when you get off a gondola in Venice," recalled the actor.
Despite the theme, The Whale has an optimistic vision.
"Charlie is by far the most heroic man I've ever played," said Fraser. "His superpower from him is to see the good in others and bring that out of them."
Aronofsky, who reinvigorated Mickey Rourke's career with "The Wrestler" in 2008, said this was "the most important message to spread to the world."
"Everyone leans towards cynicism and darkness and losing hope, which is exactly what we don't need right now. We have to lean into [the idea that] underneath it all, we really care about each other." said the director of the film.
