Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale premiered at the Venice Film Festival over the weekend, and actor Brendan Fraser was visibly moved by the reception the film received.
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Following the film’s premiere, the cast and crew were treated to a standing ovation that lasted six minutes. A bystander in the theater captured footage of Fraser, who stars in the film, becoming visibly emotional, eventually standing up and thanking the crowd as he cried.
Brendan Fraser is back — and he sobbed during the #Venezia79 six-minute standing ovation for #TheWhale. pic.twitter.com/y4l10ZFWQa
— Ramin Setoodeh (@RaminSetoodeh) September 4, 2022
For Fraser, The Whale marks the first film in a comeback of sorts for the fan-favorite actor. After starring in the hit franchise The Mummy in the early 2000s, Fraser’s career declined. In 2018, the actor attributed this to a combination of things, including his alleged sexual assault at the hands of the then-president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, his subsequent divorce, and the loss of his mother, all of which sent the actor into a depression.
However, Fraser’s career has seen an upswing as of late, with the actor now also set to star in the upcoming Martin Scorsese film Killers of the Flower Moon, as well as portraying Robotman in the popular television series Doom Patrol.
Alongside Fraser, The Whale is also set to star Sadie Sink (Stranger Things, Fear Street), Hong Chau (Inherent Vice, Watchmen), Samantha Morton (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, The Walking Dead), Ty Simpkins (Insidious), and Sathya Sridharan.
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Based on Samuel D. Hunter’s 2012 play of the same name, The Whale is set on the outskirts of Mormon Country, Idaho, and follows the story of a six-hundred-pound recluse as he hides away in his apartment eating himself to death. “Desperate to reconnect with his long-estranged daughter, he reaches out to her, only to find a viciously sharp-tongued and wildly unhappy teen,” reads the synopsis for the film.