View gallery
Brendan Fraser, 54, delivered an emotional and inspiring speech when he won the Critics’ Choice Award for Best Actor on January 15. Brendan accepted the award onstage for his performance as an obese and depressed man in The Whale, and started his speech off by talking up the Darren Aronofsky feature. “This movie, The Whale — It’s about love. It’s about redemption. It’s about finding the light in a dark place,” he said.
Brendan Fraser deserves all the good things that are happening for him and more. Dear sweet man pic.twitter.com/qiuKqXHdVz
— Meech (@MediumSizeMeech) January 16, 2023
After giving shoutouts to his talented co-stars Hong Chau and Sadie Sink, Brendan thanked Darren, 53, for casting him in the film and reviving his movie career after years away from the spotlight. “I was in the wilderness — and I probably should’ve left a trail of breadcrumbs — but you found me, and like all the best directors, you merely just showed me where to go to get me where I needed to be,” Brendan said.
The Mummy star then held back tears as he concluded his speech with a heartfelt message to everyone. “If you — like Charlie, who I played in this movie — in any way, struggle with obesity, or you just feel like you’re in a dark sea, I want you to know that if you, too, can have the strength to just get to your feet and go to the light, good things will happen,” he said. Brendan’s girlfriend, Jeanne Moore, stood up and clapped with the rest of the audience at the end of Brendan’s speech.
Brendan has received critical acclaim for his performance in The Whale. He plays Charlie, a 600-pound English teacher who is looking to reconnect with his 17-year-old estranged daughter, played by Sadie Sink. Brendan earned a Golden Globe nomination and is currently a frontrunner to win the Academy Award at the Oscars in the spring. He took home the Critics’ Choice over Tom Cruise, Austin Butler, Colin Farrell, Paul Mescal, and Bill Nighy.
Darren Aronofsky previously revealed why he chose Brendan to star in The Whale, which is being considered Brendan’s big Hollywood comeback. “A couple years ago, I caught a trailer from a Brazilian movie, a low-budget [movie], and I saw Brendan in the trailer and a lightbulb went off. I hadn’t seen ‘Gods and Monsters’ or ‘George of the Jungle.’ Seeing him in there, it just clicked,” Darren told Variety in September 2022. “I asked Brendan to come meet me…it just kept clicking,” he said.
Click to Subscribe to Get Our Free HollywoodLife Daily Newsletter to get the hottest celeb news.
