The film marks the actor's first major role since 2013.
Brendan Fraser couldn't be happier about the response surrounding his role in The Whale.
ET's Denny Directo spoke to Fraser at the 2023 Palm Springs International Film Awards Thursday where he's receiving the Spotlight Award, for his triumphant return to the big screen in Darren Aronofsky's upcoming drama.
"I'm so happy people are seeing it -- people are responding in a way that's meaningful," Fraser said. "It's touching a lot of people, it's good."
Fraser makes a dramatic physical transformation in the film, portraying a 600-pound reclusive writing teacher named Charlie, whose health is in life-threatening decline. The emotional film marks his first major role since 2013.
As for the award show buzz around The Whale and his epic performance, Fraser said he's excited.
"I think if I wasn't paying attention or felt a little bit of butterflies, I wouldn't have a pulse," he quipped. "It's exciting."
One of the most exciting reactions, however, has to be from the director of the 1992 film, School Ties, in which Fraser starred alongside Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.
"There are plenty of friends of mine from school, from college days -- friends and colleagues who I've worked with in years past," Fraser said of who has reached out to him regarding the role. "I just heard from the director of School Ties, Bob Mandel. 'Hey Bob.'"
"That was really great. He's pulling for me. It's just exciting," he added.
While Fraser has had a decades-long career in Hollywood, when it comes to his return to film, the 54-year-old actor said he's just getting started.
Back in December, Fraser told ET how his Hollywood comeback in The Whale was inspired by fatherhood. He said he connected with the story of fatherhood, and how that made the making of the film that much more meaningful. Fraser shares three sons -- Griffin, 20, Holden, 18, and Leland, 16 -- with his ex-wife, Afton Smith.
"I have kids now, and that really warrants how I make decisions, what I’m going to do -- and, whatever it is that I’m doing, how I feel about what I’m doing," he shared. "Somehow stakes get raised to such a point that something that may seem garden variety or normal takes on much more gravity."
"I spent the first, I don't know, 25 years of my career or so making films that I generated all the hope and aspiration and joy from what I believed to be coming from a character or a screenplay, and then some alchemy happens when you have kids and suddenly everything clicks," the actor added. "It somehow raises the stakes and somehow, for me at least, increases the authenticity of what we do."
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