Best Animated Film Andrew Stanton 2009 Nominee Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music Thomas Newman score! He praised his fellow nominees for their whale-sized hearts and said that only whales can swim at the depth of the talent of Hong Chau., This story has been shared 9,482 times. A large part of the movies first hour is devoted to observing Charlies daily habitshe needs a grabber stick to pick up objects off the floor! LOS ANGELES, March 12 (Reuters) - Brendan Fraser won his first Academy Award on Sunday for his performance as a 600-pound (270-kg) gay man trying to reconnect with his estranged daughter in. Reached by EW over the phone, Condon, now an Oscar nominee for Best Supporting Actress, reflected on her years-long working relationship with writer-director Martin McDonagh and why a movie about loneliness and spite has resonated so much in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Who do you got? Have you heard from anyone else wishing you well? Mean Girls star Daniel Franzese questioned why Fraser was chosen. If so, he will join Joaquin Phoenix in a rare pantheon that should perhaps become an Oscar category all its own: best performance in a terrible movie. Bob Fosse had a tough act to follow when he accepted his best director Oscar for 'Cabaret' in 1973. Believes 'Dolittle' and 'The Shaggy Dog' Are The "Most Important" Movies He's Made in Last 25 Years but Not for the Reasons You Think. Best supporting actor: Ke Huy Quan, "Everything Everywhere All at Once. It's not representative of everyone who lives with a body such as Charlie's. By Tori B. Powell, Mike Hayes, Matt Meyer and Sen Federico O'Murch, CNN. The Mummy and George of the Jungle star has never been nominated for an Academy Award, although he won a Screen Actors Guild ensemble award for his performance in 2005's Crash. That model was taken into a computer, Charlie's body could be created with absolute control [down to] the placement of pores and moles. Midway through the speech, his co-stars told the audience that they wanted to sing him "Happy Birthday," and they did. While the last decade may have been difficult, he has enjoyed riding the award season wave. Brendan Fraser wins best actor for 'The Whale' at Oscars 2023 - Los He also thanked her for her sacrifices and paid tribute to his status as a former refugee. Brendan Fraser: The Whale star emotional as he collects Critics - BBC The result left him barely able to walk in his character's cramped home. But I also think it deals with other issues that people might've felt during COVID questions like, What am I doing with my life? We don't get to do that anymore. We're still here.". manage all your newsletter subscriptions here, I Saw the Grim Child-Trafficking Movie Thats Filling Theaters. Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world's media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers. What are the differences between acting in his plays versus acting in his films? Both things could be said for the sight of Brendan Fraser hoisting his first Oscar Sunday night for The Whale and also one more: Boy, its nice to see a genuinely good person get a win. Okay. A challenge is good. So that also helped with the brother-sister dynamic: Because of the schedule, me and Colin did all our scenes together in the first three weeks. Full Circle Episode Guide: How Many Episodes in Steven Soderberghs New Series on Max? The actor has been the darling of the awards season as the comeback story of the year, moving many to tears with each of his wins. The Whales makeup team was up against artists from The Batman, All Quiet On the Western Front, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and Elvis. Fascinating. This is one man's story. The streamer has been campaigning heavily ever since. The film was adapted from Samuel Hunter's 2012 play of the same name. That sounds like fun. I'm always looking for a job, if anyone's got the right conceit. He also paid tribute to his wife, Echo, whom he said "month after month, year after year for 20 years told me that one day my time will come. When at last the mystery was solved . It's like I've been on a diving expedition," Fraser says during his acceptance speech, thanking his sons for their support as well as director Darren Aronofsky for "throwing me a creative lifeline. When the major roles dried up, he found it tough. They have an Oscar to the fat suit team. And hes beloved by his fans: A couple of years ago, a viral TikTok captured Fraser getting emotional about hearing how people have his back. So on this, I remember thinking, "I know this is a stupid question, but we're not supposed to pause right?" The drama is a stark, dour examination of regret and addiction, wrapped into the script written by Samuel D. Hunter, who . And so, these flowers in many ways represent this sort of tenderness, this fragility. The second island was a little bigger, and also the weather started to change a little bit. Fraser has long been an actor whose imposing physical presence contrasts with an air of gentle guilelessness. The joy of a comeback story: Brendan Fraser bounces back from trauma. It starts to close in on you a little bit. VideoThe surprising truth behind the 'walking' statues of Easter Island, Jane Birkin: Artist and style icon's life in pictures, How world-record mania has gripped Nigeria. I know that to be true, given that this film wasdirected by Darren Aronofsky, a world-class filmmaker who constantly challenges the human condition and never leaves easy answers for us to ponder. Fraser thanked The Whale director Darren Aronofsky for "throwing me a creative lifeline", Brendan Fraser found fame as George of the Jungle in 1997, Brendan Fraser starred alongside Rachel Weisz in The Mummy in 1999, Fraser delivered an emotional acceptance speech at the Critics Choice Awards, The surprising truth behind the 'walking' statues of Easter Island. 20 years of Wrong Turn: How a movie about murderous cannibals became an unkillable franchise. But also, I'm very close to my own brother, and Colin has a sister he's very close to, so there were many similarities. Above all, there is Charlies only apparent friend, Liz (Hong Chau), who shows up almost daily with a combination of tough love and helpless enablement: Even as she begs him to start taking care of himself, shes unwrapping the meatball sub she picked up for him on the way over. Star Brendan Fraser gives a buried-under-makeup performance as areclusive, obese teacher in the film. Thanks for signing up! The Sea Beast. Still, he welcomes the kind of self-examination his movie is bound to trigger. March 12, 2023 8:35pm. 13 March The Oscars Reuters Fraser thanked The Whale director Darren Aronofsky for "throwing me a creative lifeline" By Paul Glynn & Ian Youngs Entertainment reporter Brendan Fraser has scooped. The audience sang along and some even had tears in their eyes. One member of that quartet is the original 1961 version of West Side Story, which won . Is The Whale, at its core, an exercise in fatphobia? "Your sense of value comes from the work that you're doing or if you're able even to be asked or invited to come and do it," explained Fraser. Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, Hollywood Critics Association Creative Arts Awards, Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama, Society of Composers and Lyricists Awards, Outstanding Original Score for an Independent Film, Actor of the Year (for an exemplary body of work), Music City Film Critics' Association Awards, Critics Association of Central Florida Awards, San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle, Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role, Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role, Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures, Hollywood Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Guild Awards, Best Special Makeup Effects - Feature-Length Motion Picture, GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, Outstanding Achievement in Casting - Studio or Independent Feature - Drama, Best Director - International Competition, Best Screenplay - International Competition, Latino Entertainment Journalists Association Film Awards, Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Cinema for Peace Dove for The Most Valuable Film of the Year, 10th INTERFILM Award for Promoting Interreligious Dialogue, Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Awards, Southeastern Film Critics Association Awards, Online Association of Female Film Critics, Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards, Best Screenplay Adapted from Other Material, Greater Western New York Film Critics Association Awards. The film was not without controversy, as one of its most-discussed features was the fat suit Fraser wears to portray a 600-pound character. When you know something's going to get a laugh, there's a timing aspect to it you can't come in too quick with your next line. In plays, you do have to think about the timing of the lines. Oh my god. BBC Culture declared that the "captivating" Fraser "deserves an Oscar". Turning Red. When Will The Live Action 'Little Mermaid' Be Streaming on Disney+? The film drew criticism from some reviewers who said its depiction of Charlie relied on tropes of depressed, obese people. And holding his Screen Actors Guild trophy, Fraser told struggling thespians that "I know how you feel. The Whale Sucks, But It's Brendan Fraser's Best Awards Shot Fraser stars as a morbidly obese teacher in the film . Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Dakota Fred Hurt: 'Gold Rush' and 'Gold Rush: White Water' Star Was 80. Am I just going to go along like this, paying bills and going to jobs and then I'm just going to die? Close, to its great credit, sits right on it. Extraction 2's Chris Hemsworth on his family, future, and fiery action sequel. And it might just be because it [was] an athletic actor inside a silhouette of a costume that was filled with cotton padding, and there's a disconnect. All contents | Updated Sep 13, 2022 Brendan Fraser's win at the Toronto International Film Festival made the actor emotional. Some of the key figures in front of and behind the camera explained how it happened. The HFPA found that Mr Berk "inappropriately touched" Fraser, but that it "was intended to be taken as a joke and not as a sexual advance". James Martin was not just celebrating his Oscar win, but his birthday as well. "I needed to learn to absolutely move in a new way. Group, a Graham Holdings Company. We're both like, "We're still here, man! It's so amazing, especially that it was their first nominations too. The Whale's Brendan Fraser and more in EW's The Awardist | EW.com 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. "To all of you out there, please keep your dreams alive.". Fraser has said the incident "made me retreat" and "feel reclusive". He took on further dramatic roles in Gods and Monsters, The Quiet American and Crash, as well as fantasy roles in Bedazzled and Journey to the Center of the Earth. And they're like, "Oh, he used to have friends, but they had this weird falling out, and nobody really talks to him." 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved, All A24 Movies Ranked: From 'A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III' to 'Past Lives', Alan Arkin, In Memoriam: The (Possibly) Last Great American Character Actor, Angela Bassett Set To Receive An Honorary Oscar For Lifetime Achievement After 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' Snub, Stream It Or Skip It: 'How Do You Measure a Year?' Who says nice guys cant finish first? That's what made him infinitely humanizing to me. Do you consider this a comeback? Oscars 2023: The full list of winners | CBC News Sometimes you root for an actors performance to take home the Academy Award. He needed to make a decision about whether to just not exist or to lean into what he knew he cared about: books, literature, teaching, and being an educator and drawing out truth and honesty from people as a way to their redemption. It's a universal feeling to be dumped or to need to dump somebody, be it a friendship or a relationship. You can manage your newsletter subscriptions Speaking of Ireland, what was it like filming on location? I've kept myself busy. BRENDAN FRASER:I had a brief stint working with Danny Boyle on an FX piece calledTrustin the interim. There were difficulties off-screen as well: In a 2018 GQ interview, Fraser claimed he was groped by the then-head of the Hollywood Press Association in 2003, and said the incident affected him emotionally as well as his career. Austin Butler is young, he has many years to have a chance at it again. Brendan Fraser plays a reclusive English teacher suffering from compulsive eating disorder who attempts to reconnect with estranged teenage daughter. Siobhn does get away from the island, and makes it to the Irish mainland. Directed by Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan), the film casts Brendan in the central role of Charlie, a reclusive and severely obese teacher who is attempting to reconnect with his estranged daughter.. The controversy around 'The Whale' Oscar win for best makeup and See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. Some of his most memorable early roles, includingThe Mummy,Encino Man,andGods and Monsters, have played on this combination of qualities. "Navalny" won the Academy Award for best documentary feature. The Academy doesnt always get it right but definitely did with Fraser, celebrating the performance, the career and the man. He has the best narrative of the Best Actor nominees. 2023 BBC. "It's about redemption. So now to me, it looks like the presumptive winner. Butler gives an outstanding performance in "Elvis," and. We talked about why we're so close to them and what it is about our siblings that connects us to them. ", US author and commentator Roxane Gay wrote in the New York Times that the film was "emotionally devastating" - but called the use of a fat suit "abhorrent" and said: "How this film deals with Charlie's fatness is egregious: exploitative and at times cruel.". We're obsessed withThe Mummyfranchise,Bedazzled,George of the Jungle, so many of your blockbuster movies. Is 'Theater Camp' Streaming on Netflix or Amazon Prime Video? I feel like it's dealing with a universal topic. Navalny, a Kremlin critic and activist, was sentenced to nine years in prison on fraud charges that he said were politically motivated. And I remember him going, "Oh, thank God, I made her laugh! Brendan Fraser continues awards season dominance with another win for. Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the worlds largest multimedia news provider, reaching billions of people worldwide every day. Brendan Fraser wins first Oscar for 'The Whale,' completes comeback You previously starred together inEncino Man,his last American movie before a36-year break from acting. Two young boys teens but only barely race through a field of flowers, untrammeled. We went to the house a little bit earlier than everybody else to just be in the space and rehearse scenes together.