Watch: Brendan Fraser Brought to Tears During Standing Ovation for The Whale

Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale is expected to come to theaters this December, but the movie just premiered at the Venice International Film Festival.

The audience apparently loved the movie, and the film’s star Brendan Fraser got a 6-minute standing ovation when the film ended. Here’s a clip of him getting tear-eyed during the premiere:

The standing ovation for #TheWhale was so enthusiastic, Brendan Fraser tried to leave the theater but the crowd’s applause made him stay. #Venezia79 pic.twitter.com/ZZ0vbFX7Rl

— Ramin Setoodeh (@RaminSetoodeh) September 4, 2022

Though Fraser was one of the biggest stars of the early 2000s, some behind-the-scenes drama had led him to being held back from the spotlight. Now with The Whale, Aronofsky was said to be looking for an actor to ‘reintroduce,’ and here we got Fraser.

We don’t really have a look at Fraser’s performance yet, but the film has him in a practical fat suit, portraying a severely obese English teacher. Talking to Vanity Fair, Fraser did explain when he got the role, “I wanted to disappear into it. My hope was that I would become unrecognizable… I wanted to know what I was capable of.”

Hopefully we’ll know exactly what he means soon enough. With a wide release set for December, I’m guessing we could have some kind of preview come October. After this positive reception at the VFF, I’m sure that the marketing team will already have some kind of angle when they start promoting the wider release of the film.

Here’s the synopsis for The Whale:

A reclusive English teacher (Fraser) living with severe obesity attempts to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter (Sadie Sink) for one last chance at redemption.

The Whale is set to come to theaters on Dec. 9.