A teary-eyed Brendan Fraser was met with a standing ovation at the Montclair Film Festival screening of his new movie The Whale, which marks his triumphant return to Hollywood after a lengthy battle with depression.
The 53-year-old actor attempted to quietly enter the Wellmont Theater in New Jersey on Sunday, but the audience burst into applause when they realized he was taking his seat.
Fraser looked emotional during the standing ovation the audience gave him following the film just before he took the stage for an interview with Stephen Colbert.
It comes during the actor’s Hollywood comeback after grappling with depression following a claim of sexual assault and being in and out of hospital for health issues.
To end the standing ovation, Stephen Colbert joked ‘I’m afraid that’s all we have time for’ but the interview with a visibly emotional Fraser carried on.
Fraser’s film The Whale is set to hit theaters on December 9, and marks his first lead role in a movie since thriller Breakout in 2013.
A teary-eyed Brendan Fraser, 53, was met with a standing ovation at the Montclair Film Festival screening of his new movie The Whale as the actor continues his Hollywood comeback
The 53-year-old actor attempted to quietly enter the Wellmont Theater in New Jersey on Sunday, but the audience burst into applause when they realized he was taking his seat
Fraser looked emotional during the standing ovation the audience gave him following the film just before he took the stage for an interview with Stephen Colbert
Actor Dwayne Johnson called for his former The Mummy Returns co-star to bag an Oscar for his role in The Whale.
The Whale is a psychological drama which saw Fraser undergo a physical transformation, as he plays a 600-pound man confined to a wheelchair, a role for which he also had to wear prosthetics.
The official synopsis reads: ‘A reclusive English teacher suffering from severe obesity attempts to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter for one last chance at redemption.’
In a interview with MTV News, Johnson insisted he was ‘so happy’ for Fraser, adding: ‘I want him to go all the way, man, I wanna see him on that Oscar stage, and hold that sucker up, and deliver, I’m sure, what will be an amazing speech.’
Johnson, known to fans as The Rock, made his acting debut in the 2001 The Mummy sequel as the Scorpion King, alongside lead actor Fraser who portrayed adventurer.
The Whale is a psychological drama with Fraser (seen left at the premiere and right in the movie) who underwent a physical transformation and wore prosthetics to play a man ‘living with obesity’
Fraser’s film The Whale is set to hit theaters on December 9, and marks his first lead role in a movie since thriller Breakout in 2013
Earlier this month, Fraser broke down in tears when he received a five-minute standing ovation at the London screening of the movie.
The actor’s emotional display came amid a lengthy press tour for his new project, which marks his triumphant return to Hollywood after a lengthy battle with depression.
Fraser has said this was sparked after he was ‘sexually assaulted’ by the former president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Philip Berk, in 2003.
In footage shared on social media following the film’s Venice screening last month, Fraser fought back tears as he received another lengthy standing ovation.
And the poignancy of the touching moment did not go unnoticed by the actor’s friends and fans alike – with several taking to Twitter to share words of support.
Fraser shot to stardom when he was cast in children’s favorite film franchises George of the Jungle and The Mummy.
Brendan Fraser receives a five-minute standing ovation at a London screening of The Whale – the movie that marks his Hollywood comeback after a lengthy battle with depression
Acclaimed performance: The Whale, which will be released in cinemas in December, received its first premiere at the Venice Film Festival last month, and is quickly earning rave reviews. Pictured: Its premiere at the London Film Festival last week
Fraser first shot to fame as a Hollywood heartthrob starring in big-hit movies like George of the Jungle and The Mummy
His chiseled physique earned him a position as a Hollywood heartthrob as he thrashed around the sets performing stunts in high-action roles. But Fraser revealed in a later interview the toll the stunts had taken on his body.
He told GQ in 2018 that when he filmed the third installment in The Mummy franchise, he was being taped up and was icing injuries in between takes.
‘By the time I did the third Mummy picture in China [in 2008], I was put together with tape and ice… because they’re small and light and they can fit under your clothes. I was building an exoskeleton for myself daily,’ he recalled.
Eventually the injuries he received while performing his stunts required multiple surgeries.
He needed a lumbar laminectomy, a surgery that removes the back portion of a vertebra in the lower back, to create more room within the spinal canal.
However, it didn’t take and it had to be done again a year later. He had a partial knee replacement, more back surgery involving bolting various compressed spinal pads together and even surgery to repair his vocal cords.
Fraser said he was in and out of hospitals for almost seven years.
Actor Dwayne Johnson called for his former The Mummy Returns co-star (pictured) to bag an Oscar for his role in The Whale
Alongside his physical injuries, Fraser also revealed in a 2018 GQ interview that he believed he had been blacklisted from Hollywood after he claimed he had been sexually assaulted by the former president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Philip Berk, in 2003.
Fraser claimed he was leaving a luncheon hosted by the HFPA at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Hollywood when Berk shook his hand.
He said: ‘His left hand reaches around, grabs my a** cheek, and one of his fingers touches me in the taint. And he starts moving it around.’
The actor added: ‘I felt ill. I felt like a little kid. I felt like there was a ball in my throat. I thought I was going to cry.’
Fraser claimed he was able to remove Berk’s hand before running out of the hotel and going straight home. He told his then wife, actress Afton Smith, about the incident but never made it public.
Instead, his reps asked Berk for a written apology, which he provided, but did not admit any wrongdoing.
Speaking to GQ about the claims, Berk acknowledged he had written a letter of apology to Fraser but insisted he had not done anything wrong and dismissed Fraser’s account as ‘a total fabrication’.
Picture perfect: Brendan was proudly supported by his glamorous partner Jeanne Moore at the UK premiere of The Whale at the BFI London Film Festival last week
Dream team: Joining Brendan (centre) for the premiere was The Whale’s director Darren Aronofsky (left) and screenwriter Samuel D. Hunter (right)
After Fraser reported the claim to the HFPA he said he believed he may have been ‘blacklisted’ and was rarely invited back to the Golden Globe awards.
Fraser said the incident had caused him to ‘retreat’ as he spiraled into depression. He described feeling ‘not worthy’ as the decade wore on, leading him to take roles he was less proud of.
Meanwhile, his marriage was also falling apart. He divorced Afton in 2007 after nine years of marriage and three sons together, Griffin, Leland and Holden. As part of the settlement, he was ordered to pay $50,000 a month in spousal support.
However in 2013 he sought an amendment to the agreement asking to pay less, claiming he wasn’t earning the same enormous cheques he had received in the 1990s during his heyday and couldn’t afford the payments.
The Whale marks Brendan’s first Hollywood project in almost ten years and Brendan’s first lead role in a movie since straight-to-DVD thriller Breakout in 2013, leading many fans to believe this is his comeback.
The Whale is a psychological drama which saw Brendan undergo a physical transformation, as he plays a 600-pound gay man confined to a wheelchair, a role for which he also had to wear prosthetics.
Brendan’s comeback: How George of the Jungle star who fell out of the spotlight is tipped for Oscars glory
Brendan rose to fame in the 1990s after starring in George of the Jungle as a hunky Tarzan-like figure with a chiseled physique
After making his film debut as a sailor in 1991 film Dogfight alongside River Phoenix, Fraser’s big break came the following year in Encino Man.
He played the character of Link, a caveman who had been frozen for centuries and is thawed by two high school students who teach him about modern life.
Following the success of the film, he was cast in children’s favourite film franchises George of the Jungle and The Mummy.
His unbelievably chiseled physique earnt him a position as a Hollywood heartthrob as he thrashed around the sets performing stunts in high-action roles. But Fraser revealed in a later interview the toll the stunts had taken on his body.
He told GQ in 2018 that when he filmed the third installment in The Mummy franchise, he was being taped up and was icing injuries in between takes.
He said the physical toll of his roles made him feel like a workhorse from the Orwell novel Animal Farm.
After rising to fame through the action-packed films, Fraser described his buff physique as resembling ‘a walking steak’.
However, in the same interview the actor revealed he believed he had been blacklisted from Hollywood after he claimed he had been sexually assaulted by the former president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Philip Berk, in 2003.
He told his then wife, Afton Smith, about the incident but never made it public. Instead, his reps asked Berk for a written apology, which he provided, but did not admit any wrongdoing.
Speaking to GQ about the claims, Berk acknowledged he had written a letter of apology to Fraser but insisted he had not done anything wrong and dismissed Fraser’s account as ‘a total fabrication’.
In 1999 Fraser starred alongside Rachel Weisz in blockbuster The Mummy, which became a trilogy spanning almost a decade
After Fraser reported the claim to the HFPA he said he believed he may have been ‘blacklisted’ and was rarely invited back to the Golden Globe awards. Fraser said the incident had caused him to ‘retreat’ as he spiraled into depression.
He described feeling ‘not worthy’ as the decade wore on, leading him to take roles he was less proud of. Meanwhile, his marriage was also falling apart.
In 2016, his career picked up when he was cast in Showtime drama The Affair, starring Dominic West and Ruth Wilson.
While promoting the role in 2016, Fraser sat down for an interview with AOL – but his demeanour during the chat raised alarm with his fans.
As he stumbled over his words and appeared somewhat spaced out, people began to worry he was ‘depressed’. However Fraser later revealed his mother had passed away from cancer just four days before he filmed the interview.
He said he hadn’t done any press for a role in a long time and added he was ‘in mourning’ when the interview took place.
By 2018 Fraser’s career appeared to be back on track as he starred in FX series Trust alongside Hollywood heavyweights Donald Sutherland and Hilary Swank.
He plays James Fletcher Chase, a former CIA agent who was hired by billionaire J. Paul Getty in 1973 to find Getty’s kidnapped grandson.
After the series debuted, Vox reported it could be the beginning of the ‘Brendan Fraser renaissance’ – and as rumours swirl Fraser may be in line for several awards following his performance in The Whale, that prophecy may have come true.