NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� In a darkened hotel room in New York's Soho neighborhood, Brendan Fraser kindly greets a reporter with an open plastic bag in his hand. 鈥淲ould you like a gummy bear?鈥�
Fraser, the 54-year-old actor, is in many ways an extremely familiar face to encounter. Here is the once ubiquitous 鈥�90s presence and action star of 鈥淭he Mummy鈥� and 鈥淕eorge of the Jungle,鈥� whose warm, earnest disposition has made him beloved, still, many years later.
But Fraser, little seen on the big screen for much of the last decade, is also not quite as you might remember him. His voice is softer. He鈥檚 more sensitive, almost intensely so. He seems to bear some bruises from an up-and-down life. If Fraser seems both as he was once was but also someone markedly different, that鈥檚 appropriate. In Darren Aronofsky鈥檚 he gives a performance unlike any he's given before. And it may well win him an Academy Award.
Fraser's performance been hailed as his comeback 鈥� a word, he says, that 鈥渄oesn鈥檛 hurt my feelings.鈥� But it鈥檚 not the one he鈥檇 choose.
鈥淚f anything, this is a reintroduction more than a comeback,鈥� Fraser says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an opportunity to reintroduce myself to an industry, who I do not believe forgot me as is being perpetrated. I鈥檝e just never been that far away.鈥�
Fraser is very close at hand, indeed, in 鈥淭he Whale." In the adaptation of Samuel D. Hunter鈥檚 play, which A24 releases in theaters Friday, Fraser is in virtually every scene. He plays a reclusive, obese English teacher named Charlie whose overeating stems from past trauma. As health woes shrink the time he has left, the 600-pound Charlie struggles to reacquaint himself to his estranged daughter (Sadie Sink).
Fraser鈥檚 performance, , has two Oscar-friendly traits going it for: A comeback narrative and a physical metamorphosis. For the role, Fraser wore a massive body suit and prosthetics crafted by makeup artist Adrian Morot that required hours in makeup each morning.
But regardless of all the role鈥檚 transformation trappings, Fraser鈥檚 performance resides in his sad, soulful eyes and compassionate interactions with the characters that come in and out of his home. (Hong Chau plays a friend and nurse.) It adds up to Fraser鈥檚 most empathetic performance, one that has returned him to the spotlight after years making quickly forgotten films like 鈥淗air Brained鈥� (2013) and the straight-to-DVD 鈥淏reakout鈥� (2013). On stages now from London to Toronto, standing ovations have trailed Fraser 鈥� a leading man reborn 鈥� wherever he goes.
For Fraser, who spent much of his previous heyday in Hollywood swinging on vines and racing through pyramids, playing Charlie in 鈥淭he Whale鈥� has a cosmic symmetry. He could identify with him, Fraser says, 鈥渋n ways that might surprise you.鈥� When he was in his late 20s trying to be as fit as he could be for 鈥淕eorge of the Jungle,鈥� Fraser encountered his own body-image issues.
鈥淎ll I knew is that I never felt like it was enough. I questioned myself. I felt scrutinized, judged, objectified, often humiliated,鈥� Fraser says. 鈥淚t did play with my head. It did play with my confidence.鈥�
Some ought to have gone to someone who was authentically heavy. But Fraser, who collaborated with the Obesity Action Coalition in building the performance, says he intimately understands a different kind of appearance-based judgment.
鈥淭he term was 鈥榟imbo,鈥欌�� he says. 鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 sure if I appreciated it or not. I know that鈥檚 bimbo, which is a derogatory term, except it鈥檚 a dude. It just left me with a feeling of profound insecurity. What do I have to do to please you?鈥�
鈥淚t didn鈥檛 matter, really, because life took over. I did other things. I now arrive at a place where I see the flip side of the coin.鈥�
After seeing the play 10 years ago at Playwrights Horizon, Aronofsky, the director of 鈥淧i,鈥� 鈥淩equiem for a Dream鈥� and 鈥淏lack Swan,鈥� spent years contemplating different actors who could play the protagonist of 鈥淭he Whale鈥� without any success. Then he had Fraser come in and read for the part.
鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 like I went into this with a calculation: Oh, a forgotten American-Canadian treasure,鈥� says Aronofsky. 鈥淗e was the right guy for the right role at the right time. If anything, I was wondering would people think it was a silly choice or something. There wasn鈥檛 any cool factor that I could see.鈥�
Aronofsky instead depended on his gut and an old axiom: 鈥淥nce a movie star, always a movie star.鈥� Plus, Fraser was hungry. He wanted the part desperately and was ready to put in all the work, all the time in the make-up chair. Still, Aronofsky would later marvel, watching a clip reel of Fraser at an awards ceremony, at the juxtaposition of 鈥淭he Whale鈥� with movies like 鈥淓ncino Man,鈥� 鈥淏edazzled鈥� and 鈥淎irheads.鈥�
鈥淗e plays this kind of very present, truthful, innocent goofus kind of guy,鈥� says Aronofsky. 鈥淭hen you intercut it with 鈥楾he Whale.鈥� It was kind of jaw-dropping to me that this was one human being. There鈥檚 a gap in between of a lot of years.鈥�
Fraser never stopped working, but his movie star days mostly dried up in the years after his 2008 films 鈥淭he Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor鈥� and the 3D 鈥淛ourney to the Center of the Earth.鈥� Around that time, he and his wife, Afton Smith, with whom he has three sons, divorced.
鈥淚 took some personal time. It was important,鈥� says Fraser. 鈥淢ostly connecting with my life as a father. It gave me an appreciation for my capacity to love. What I learned informs the latter half of my professional life now.鈥�
鈥淣ow I know my purpose. Take everything I鈥檝e learned. Own it. And, if possible, let if fuel the work that comes before me,鈥� adds Fraser. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a nice idea, but what work will come before me?鈥�
At a Beverly Hills, California, luncheon in 2003, Fraser was groped by Hollywood Foreign Press Association member Philip Berk, . (Berk disputed Fraser鈥檚 account.) The experience, Fraser told GQ, made him feel like 鈥渟omething had been taken away from me鈥� and 鈥渕ade me retreat.鈥�
Last month, , whether he鈥檚 nominated or not. 鈥淢y mother didn鈥檛 raise a hypocrite,鈥� Fraser said. Still, the nature of awards campaigns will likely keep Fraser in the public eye through the Oscars in March. Is he at all trepidatious about being back in the spotlight?
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 going to be for the rest of my career,鈥� Fraser replies. 鈥淣o. I have an obligation to do this. I feel duty bound to, as politely as a I can, to use that casual prejudice to describe this character, to remind them that there鈥檚 a better way of doing that. Obesity is the last domain of accepted, casual bigotry that we still abide.鈥�
During shooting on a sound stage in Newburgh, New York, Chau was often impressed by how Fraser worked steadily with a hundred pounds of cumbersome prosthetics on him and crew members buzzing around him before every take.
鈥淚 just thought Brendan was such an angel and so gracious in the way he managed that and compartmentalized all that was going on around him,鈥� says Chau. 鈥淚 naturally felt like taking care of him on set. Making sure his water bottle was someplace close by. Holding his hand and making sure he got up off the couch OK.鈥�
Little about the film, or Fraser's journey with it, was inevitable. His first meeting with Aronofsky was in February 2020. The pandemic nearly led to the production's cancellation.
鈥淚 gave it everything I had every day," he says. "We lived under existential threat of COVID. An actor鈥檚 job is to approach everything like it鈥檚 the first time. I did but also as if it might be the last time.鈥�
Instead, Fraser's performance opened an entire new chapter for him as an actor. He recently shot a supporting role in Martin Scorsese鈥檚 upcoming 鈥淜illers of the Flower Moon.鈥� Pondering what comes next, though, will have to wait until another day. When the time for the interview is through, Fraser stands up and graciously pulls a bag out of his pocket.
鈥淕ummy bear for the road?鈥� Fraser asks. 鈥淚 recommend pineapple.鈥�
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Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP
Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
