Following its widely acclaimed festival premieres, The Whale trailer has arrived, offering the first proper look at Brendan Fraser’s comeback role. Fraser stars in the psychological drama as Charlie, a 600-pound middle-aged English teacher who attempts to reconnect with his teenage daughter after leaving her and her mother for his gay lover, whose death led to his unhealthy weight gain. Alongside Fraser, the cast for the film includes Stranger Things‘ Sadie Sink, Hong Chau, Samantha Morton, and Ty Simpkins.
With just a month remaining until its theatrical release, A24 has revealed the first The Whale trailer. The video offers a deeper look at Brendan Fraser’s comeback role, paired with reviews praising his performance in Darren Aronofsky’s psychological drama. Check out the trailer below:
The Whale Is Just The Beginning Of The Brendan Fraser Renaissance
Fraser’s initial departure from the film industry has become, for many fans of the actor, a moving story of redemption over the past six years. The Mummy star has previously spoken about how the biggest reason for his acting hiatus stemmed from a combination of his sexual assault allegation against the former president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, his divorce, and his mother’s death sending him on a depressive spiral. Fraser would begin taking on roles again with Showtime’s The Affair before moving on to Danny Boyle’s Trust miniseries, in which he scored rave reviews, and later in Steven Soderbergh’s No Sudden Move.
Though his role as Cliff Steele in HBO Max’s Doom Patrol was once hailed as a major step forward for him, The Whale quickly began making headlines as Fraser’s big comeback movie role when he first signed on to star in Aronofsky’s film. While some have been divided over the use of prosthetics to depict his overweight character, his dedication to the role has already been well-received, with the film’s Venice International Film Festival receiving a six-minute standing ovation, which in turn resulted in a tear-filled response from Fraser that quickly went viral. With everyone from The Mummy Returns‘ Dwayne Johnson to Texas Rising‘s Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Batgirl co-director Adil El Arbi subsequently expressing their excitement for Fraser’s standing ovation, it does seem likely that The Whale will be just the beginning of his proper comeback, especially as he is set to follow it up with Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon.
Will Brendan Fraser Win Best Actor For The Whale?
The biggest point of curiosity for many now becomes whether Brendan Fraser will bring home the Oscar for Best Actor for his performance in The Whale. Despite the division over the use of a fat suit for the film, Fraser’s performance has received consistent praise across its various festival screenings, generating a lot of Oscar buzz for the back-on-the-rise actor, which would not only be his first nomination at the ceremony, but also his first win, should he overcome his fellow predicted nominees, The Banshees of Inisherin‘s Colin Farrell, Elvis‘ Austin Butler, Living‘s Bill Nighy and The Son‘s Hugh Jackman. Luckily, audiences won’t have to wait long to decide for themselves as The Whale is set to hit theaters on December 9.
Key Release Date
The Whale
Release Date:2022-12-09
