Production company A24 shared a first look at Fraser in his comeback role on Twitter Tuesday.
Brendan Fraser is heading back to the big screen in Darren Aronofsky's The Whale. On Tuesday, production company, A24, shared a first look at Fraser, who made a remarkable physical transformation to become a 600-pound man in the film.
Starring alongside Stranger Things' Sadie Sink, Fraser plays a reclusive writing instructor who is struggling to reconnect with his teenage daughter.
Also starring Hong Chau, Samantha Morton and Ty Simpkins, The Whale is set to debut at the 2022 Venice Film Festival later this year.
In an interview with Unilad last year, Fraser teased what fans can expect from the film, calling it "something you haven't seen before."
"That's really all I can tell you," Fraser told the outlet. "The wardrobe and costume was extensive, seamless, cumbersome."
"This is certainly far removed from anything I've ever done but not to be coy -- I do know it's going to make a lasting impression," he added.
Fraser's role in the Aronofsky-directed drama will mark The Mummy actor's first leading role since 2013's Breakout, though he did have a role in last year's No Sudden Move, as well as recent TV parts on shows like Doom Patrol, The Affair and Trust. Fraser is also set to play the villain in the upcoming Batgirl movie and has a part in Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon, which co-stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro.
Fraser's return to the big screen has been an emotional one. During a virtual meet-and-greet with a fan on TikTok last year, the 53-year-old actor found himself a bit overwhelmed by the support for his comeback.
"I think I might be sick," Fraser joked in the video recorded in Oklahoma, where he was set to shoot the Scorsese-directed project. "A little anxious. I mean, it's going to be fun..."
That's when the fan jumped in, telling Fraser, "You've got this. Just know that the internet is so behind you!"
"We're so supportive," she added. "There are so many people out there who love you, and we're rooting for you, and we can't wait to see what you do next."
Fraser started to choke up, tipping his hat and telling the fan, "Shucks, ma'am."
@littlelottiecosplay “Shucks, ma’am!” 🥰🥰🥰 Adding to the Brendan love from earlier today. #brendanfraser #themummy #mummytok #rickoconnell ♬ A-O-K - Tai Verdes
Back in 2018, Fraser opened up about the reason why he backed away from Hollywood. In a profile for GQ, the actor alleged that he was groped by Philip Berk, former president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, at a luncheon in 2003.
Fraser claimed that the alleged incident -- which Berk has denied -- took place at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles, just when he was about to shake hands with Berk and say goodbye. Fraser alleged that at that moment, Berk's left hand "reaches around, grabs my a** cheek, and one of his fingers touches me in the taint. And he starts moving it around."
"I felt ill," he said. "I felt like a little kid. I felt like there was a ball in my throat. I thought I was going to cry."
Fraser didn't want to go public with the allegations at the time, he said, in fear of "humiliation" and that his story would become his "narrative." He also claimed that after 2003, he was rarely invited to the Golden Globes, a statement Berk denied.
"[It] made me retreat. It made me feel reclusive," Fraser said. "I don’t know if this curried disfavor with the group, with the HFPA. But the silence was deafening."
"I was blaming myself and I was miserable," he added. "Because I was saying, 'This is nothing; this guy reached around and he copped a feel.' That summer wore on -- and I can't remember what I went on to work on next."
Hear more in the video below.
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