Because of his performance in The Whale, not only is the Brendan Fraser comeback train coming in full speed ahead, he's received his first Oscar nomination because of his performance. In light of the possibility that he wins the Best Actor award, Fraser delved into what that would be like for him.
In an interview, Fraser revealed his thoughts on winning an Academy Award for his performance as Charlie in The Whale, detailing how much the emotions would get to him. He also discussed whether he thinks he will win the coveted Oscar award.
In an interview with Howard Stern, Fraser admitted that he "absolutely" would like to win the Oscar for which he was nominated, and then delved into what it would be like to win the award, particularly what his speech would be like. "If I've thought about it, it's that I've wanted to make sure that I don't run out of time. I've been at a lectern one time to receive an award only once really and that was for the Critics Choice Awards three weeks ago. I was not expecting to hear my name called," Fraser said. "Everything that I had in mind and written on a piece of paper in my pocket went out of my head the moment that I stood up there. I had to really, in a good way, forget about the intellectual stuff, and speak from the heart." Fraser also made it clear that he doesn't know if he'll win the Oscar when Stern asked him if he did.
Though Fraser was an A-List movie star from the late-1990s to the early-2000s, he was never nominated for an Academy Award as an actor. Because he spent most of his career starring in either action movies or children's movies, Fraser hardly ever put up those kinds of performances that would have earned him consideration, but that's not to say he wasn't in some excellent films early on. However, it is evident that when given a role that would challenge his acting to be the best it can be, Fraser can show he is capable of putting on a masterclass performance as he did in The Whale.
Honestly, it's downright impossible not to be happy for Fraser for all the glowing reviews he's gotten since the release of The Whale. Fraser's career fell through the cracks around the start of the 2010s. Now, not only has he gotten his career back, but it feels as though his reputation as an actor is as good as it's ever been since this is his first Oscar nomination as an actor. Better yet, it was one that everyone saw coming and believed he deserved.
What made Fraser's portrayal of Charlie memorable was how brutal it was to watch. He was playing a man who was eating himself to death when the options were there for him to get better, making the audience feel sorry for him while also being repulsed by him. Yet despite all that and all the abuse he suffers from his estranged daughter, he still chooses to see the good in people. Stories like The Whale get people to question their own moral philosophy, and Fraser's performance made the movie as riveting as it was.
The Whale is now playing in theaters.
Source: The Howard Stern Show/YouTube