Brendan Fraser Breaks Down in Tears, ‘The Whale’ Receives Standing Ovation

Brendan Fraser was honored for his comeback by a six-minute long long standing ovation at Venice Film Festival.

The 53-year-old actor kept his best composure while walking the red carpet of the famed festival, only to break down in tears once inside the cinema as theatergoers gave the star a six-minute standing ovation for his performance in The Whale, according to Variety. Fraser hugged Aronofsky several during the ovation. He tried to leave the theater at one point, but the outpouring of clapping was so loud, that he stayed longer and took a bow. 

Brendan Fraser has made a comeback to his profession after getting over his personal struggles, through Darren Aronofsky's The Whale. The movie revolves around the story of a morbidly obese man, Charlie (Brendan Fraser), living out what might be his last days as his heart falters and his mind is lost to regret.

Fraser underwent a dramatic physical transformation to play the role. To play the lead character in the film, Fraser wore a prosthetic suit that added anywhere from 50 to 300 pounds given the scene. The actor spent as much as six hours in the makeup chair each day to fully transform into the character. In an interview ahead of the film’s Venice premiere, Fraser shared that his prosthetic suit was “cumbersome, not exactly comfortable,” adding, “The torso piece was almost like a strait jacket with sleeves that went on, airbrushed by hand, to look identical as would human skin, right down to the hand-punched hair.”

“I developed muscles I did not know I had,” Fraser told journalists at the Venice press conference about wearing the prosthetic suit. “I even felt a sense of vertigo at the end of the day when all the appliances were removed; it was like stepping off the dock onto a boat in Venice. That [sense of] undulating. It gave me appreciation for those whose bodies are similar. You need to be an incredibly strong person, mentally and physically, to inhabit that physical being.”

Fraser described his movie as "It's gonna be like something you haven't seen before, that's really all I can tell you. 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."

Fraser, who has largely stayed out of the spotlight after addressing physical ailments due to performing many of his own stunts on screen, was then also plagued by the mental repercussion of an alleged sexual assault incident that happened in 2003. 

The Whale does not have a theatrical date yet.