Brendan Fraser On ‘The Whale’

Brendan Fraser, the Hollywood leading man who largely disappeared from the big screen in recent years, landed on the Lido in Venice Sunday to discuss what’s already being tipped as a potential career comeback project, Darren Aronofsky‘s A24 film The Whale. 

A vivid chamber piece about a reclusive 600-pound man struggling to find redemption, the film has received an enthusiastic response at its first Venice press screenings this weekend.

During the press conference ahead of the movie’s world premiere Sunday night, Fraser was asked where The Whale fits in with the various phases of his long career and the many characters he has inhabited over the years — beginning with early physical comedy roles like Encino Man (1992) and George of the Jungle (1997), extending to The Mummy franchise (1999-2008) and more dramatic turns in titles like Gods and Monsters (1998) and The Quiet American (2002).

“I looked different in those days,” Fraser said. “My journey to where I am now has been to explore as many characters as I can. And this [film] presented the biggest challenge to me, and that’s what I wanted. By far and away, I think that Charlie is the most heroic man I’ve ever played. Because his superpower is to see the good in others and bring that out in them. And in that process, he’s on his journey of salvation.”…