Critics Choice Awards: Brendan Fraser breaks down while accepting Best Actor for The Whale

Brendan Fraser accepts the Best Actor award for The Whale at the 28th Annual Critics Choice Awards. Photo / Getty Images

Famously modest star Brendan Fraser broke down in tears while receiving the Best Actor accolade at the Critics’ Choice Awards today.

The actor, 54, won the award for his first role in almost a decade in The Whale, which has been garnering Oscar buzz since its release.

Fraser’s speech began light, before turning into an emotional dedication to director of The Whale, Darren Aronofsky, whom he thanked for guiding him to success.

Brendan Fraser’s acceptance speech after winning Best Actor 😭🖤 #CriticsChoiceAwards pic.twitter.com/iQgFe4FnjS

— Natalie ❁ (@livelyackles) January 16, 2023

Tearing up, he told the audience: “I was in the wilderness and I probably should have left a trail of breadcrumbs. But you found me and like all the best directors you showed me where I had to go to get to where I needed to be.”

As his industry peers appeared visibly moved by his words, he continued: “If you are a guy like Charlie who I play in this movie and in any way struggle with obesity or you feel like you’re in a dark sea, then I want you to know that you too can have the strength to just get to your feet and go to the light.”

His voice quavering with emotion, he concluded: “Good things will happen.”

Fraser’s awards season run comes after an intense premiere of the film last year.

In September, at the Venice Film Festival, the star was similarly overcome with emotion as he received an “eight-minute standing ovation” when his name appeared in the credits, The Independent reported.

The Mummy actor underwent a dramatic physical transformation and donned prosthetics to portray a 270kg man in Darren Aronofsky’s psychological drama.

Brendan Fraser in a scene from The Whale. Photo / AP

Aronofsky’s film is adapted from a play by Samuel D Hunter that focuses on the life of a man living with obesity. Named Charlie, he seeks to reunite with his estranged teenage daughter, played by Stranger Things star Sadie Sink, after abandoning his wife and child for a gay lover. Charlie becomes morbidly obese after developing a compulsive eating disorder to deal with his lover’s death.

It marks Fraser’s first lead role in a movie since straight-to-DVD thriller Breakout in 2013, with fans primed for his major Hollywood comeback for many months since he went viral in a rare interview on TikTok in 2021.

@the_sexy_cat_lady

#duet with @littlelottiecosplay ❤️❤️ This interview was back in August of 2021. I guess it's safe to say the internet absolutely adores. Brandan Fraser ❤️#brendanfrasertiktok #brenaissanceman #brenaissance #ceoofrandom #ceoofrandomposts

♬ A-O-K - Tai Verdes