Brendan Fraser’s Triumphant Comeback: How Playing a 600-Pound Gay Man in ‘The Whale’ Resurrected His Career
variety.comBrendan Fraser fought armies of the undead in “The Mummy.” He swung from vines in “George of the Jungle.” He traveled around the world with Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck in “Looney Toons: Back in Action.” He made a pact with Elizabeth Hurley as the Devil in “Bedazzled.” He partied with Pauly Shore as a reanimated Neanderthal in “Encino Man.” He even took a shower with Matt Damon in “School Ties.” And while those movies brought him fame, fortune and respect in Hollywood, rocketing Fraser to the top of the A-list in the 1990s and early aughts, they didn’t usually scream “Oscar-worthy.” He was always invited to the party, of course, but as a presenter, not a nominee. “I give really good podium,” Fraser says. “I’m great at handing out awards.
It’s easy. The pressure is off. You’re up on the stage, staring out at all these people biting their fingernails as you say nice things, and then you present a trophy.” He waits a beat, sounding like a character in a Brendan Fraser movie. “But now,” Fraser adds with prophetic gusto reminiscent of a camp villain, “the tables have turned!” If the Oscar pundits are right, Fraser won’t just be in the auditorium when the best actor prize is handed out on March 12.
He’s the early favorite to actually win the damn trophy, thanks to his wrenching performance in “The Whale.” Fraser’s unlikely comeback story is the kind of resurrection Hollywood relishes.
With the help of prosthetics, he’s playing Charlie, a 600-pound gay man who is making a last-ditch effort to repair his relationship with his estranged daughter as his health deteriorates.
