The actor was visibly emotional as he was showered in praise for his performance in 'The Whale.'
Fans are getting a blast from the past: Brendan Fraser is back in the spotlight in a big way.
Judging by the actor's reception at the 2022 Venice Film Festival, Fraser's stardom has rocketed back to its '90s and early aughts levels. The star of Darren Aronofsky's The Whale was reportedly moved to tears during the film's standing ovation -- said to last a whopping six minutes -- after its premiere on Sunday.
In videos shared on social media, the 53-year-old performer was seen seated applauding his castmates before Aronofsky encouraged him to stand and accept the audience's praise. The actor was visibly moved by the audience's reaction.
"The standing ovation for #TheWhale was so enthusiastic, Brendan Fraser tried to leave the theater but the crowd’s applause made him stay. #Venezia79," Variety Editor-in-Chief Ramin Setoodeh tweeted along with a clip of Fraser taking a bow and kicking his foot as if to say, "Aw, shucks."
His Mummy Returns co-star, Dwayne Johnson, shared his well wishes for Fraser in response to footage of the standing ovation. "Man this makes me so happy to see this beautiful ovation for Brendan. He supported me coming into his Mummy Returns franchise for my first ever role, which kicked off my Hollywood career," Johnson tweeted. "Rooting for all your success brother and congrats to my bud Darren Aronofsky. #TheWhale."
The film, set for release on Dec. 9, marks Fraser's first leading role in nearly a decade as a 600-pound reclusive writing teacher whose health is in life-threatening decline.
"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 that I wanted," Fraser said during a press conference. "By far and away, I think that Charlie is the most heroic man I have ever played because his super power is to see the good in others and bring that out in him and, in that process, he's on his journey of salvation."
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