Brendan Fraser Wins Best Actor Oscar: ‘Brenaissance’ is Complete
Fans rejoice when actor Brendan Fraser virtuously accepts his first Academy Award at the 2023 Oscars.
Star of Darren Aronofsky’s physiological drama The Whale, written by Samuel D. Hunter, the cinema colossus, was awarded Best Actor at the 6th Annual HCA Film Awards by President Nikki Fowler on February 24, 2023. But what crowned him king of the jungle was Fraser’s Oscar win just a short period after. Fraser’s return to the silver screen as the 600-lb juxtaposed optimistic melancholy English teacher attempting to re-establish a relationship with his teenage daughter, portrayed by Sadie Sink, was indomitable, winning him the Best Actor Oscar on Sunday, March 12
Fraser’s acceptance of the award provoked such a tremendous reaction amongst fans that they have now begun referring to the long-awaited advent as the consummation of the “Brenaissance.” Referring to the actor’s role as Charlie in The Whale along with other titles such as the “slapdash comedy” Brothers and the antihero Firefly in the dejectedly canceled Warner Bros Discovery film Batgirl.
“So, this is what the multiverse looks like!” began Fraser upon taking the stage to accept the renowned actor’s award. He later continued recounting his role of a lifetime achievement, uttering, “… It couldn’t be done without my cast. It’s been like a diving expedition on the bottom of the ocean and the air on the line to the surface is on a launch being watched over by some people in my life.” Fraser not only deservingly worked effortlessly on the forthcoming of his character in the film but put great effort into the physicality of the role, spending up to four hours each day to be fit with prosthetics weighing up to an excessive 300 pounds. Likewise, Fraser consulted with the Obesity Action Coalition while consulting with a dance instructor to coin Charlie’s body movement far before production.
Following Fraser’s gratifyingly emotionally charged speech, he pays tribute to his online fandom stating, “Thank you to all of my internet friends who’ve been so generous. I hope that I live up to this.” Winning Best Actor in a Leading Role category at the 95th Academy Awards, Fraser beat out other big-screen stars Austin Butler (Elvis), Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin), Paul Mescal (Aftersun), and Bill Nighy (Living).
Fraser continues the heart-felt allocution: “Charlie is so much more than just a gay man. He’s a father, he’s an educator, he’s a truth seeker…and that he fell hopelessly, inconveniently, in love with whomever, is immaterial.”
“That he found love, lost it, and then found it again – I think that that’s something that we can all take a page from and know that with perseverance… and if you put one foot in front of the other, like Charlie did, go to the light.” It is not the first account of an honorable quote extradited by the admirable Blockbuster. Lest forgotten when he humbly stated, “I believe you have a responsibility to comport yourself in a manner that gives an example to others. As a young man, I prayed for success. Now I pray just to be worthy of it,” and “You should do everything as if it’s the last time you might ever do it. Because, you know, it may be.” Fraser portrays the role of winning hearts off-screen just as notably.
Congratulations, OSCAR WINNER!#BrendanFraser #TheWhale #BestActor pic.twitter.com/YGOxbTZQFP
— Brendan Fraser Fans #Brenaissance #OscarWinner (@FansofBrendan) March 13, 2023
Fraser fans waited with effervescent faith as the Indianapolis-born actor’s cinema appearance laid dormant over the past decade. Social media shook with euphoria as the gravity of the tidal wave of The Whale star’s Oscar win caused happy-tear-soaked tissues across the nation. American independent entertainment company A24 launched the film at the 79th Venice International Film Festival in September and released it in North America on December 9, with Fraser receiving a six-minute standing ovation.
When questioned about where his role of Charlie stands amongst the timeline of his film career at the press conference before the film’s world premiere, Fraser gives a harrowing response: “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.” It is no wonder that fans have curated a name to capture the scope of Fraser’s artistic revival period—the “Brenaissance.”
TikTok brought a fresh new era of fans under the hashtag #BrendanFraser accumulating over 166 million views, which sparked back in August 2021, when cosplayer Lindley Key interviewed Fraser for the online convention “Galaxy Con Live.” Key gushed over Fraser’s significant role in the 1999 film The Mummy, stating, “He was just the perfect hero in that movie.” But it was Key’s vocal applause on behalf of the Fraser fandom that put the spotlight on TikTok: “Just know that the Internet is so behind you; we’re so supportive. There are so many people out there who love you, and we are rooting for you, and we can’t wait to see what you do next.” The ever-continually humbled award-winner actor swigs a glass of water, replying, “Shucks, Ma’am,” tipping his cowboy hat. Fans went berserk as Fraser redeemed his public-eye hiatus in under a minute.
Twitter account @FansofBrendan whose profile bio reads “Brendan Fraser Fans #Brenaissance #OscarWinner,” retweets the loving words of fan @rralhan: “This Picture is not just inspiring but makes us realize so much about our life…Brendan Fraser just made us believe that life will always give you a second chance, bad times will pass, and you will shine again… My Childhood Hero still giving me life lessons!”
This Picture is not just inspiring but makes us realize so much about our life…
— Rohan Ralhan (@rralhan) March 14, 2023
Brendan Fraser just made us believe that life will always give you a second chance, bad time will pass and you will shine again… My Childhood Hero still giving me life lessons! pic.twitter.com/oTX1xYio0G
Another fan, @alacrates, reflects on an uncanny similarity in the Brenaissance timeline, tweeting, “It’s strange that another close to perfect 90s movie is Blast From the Past (1999), which also centers on the idea of Brendan Fraser being resurrected from a previous era & being just what the current circumstance demands.”
It’s strange that another close to perfect 90s movie is Blast From the Past (1999) which also centres on the idea of Brendan Fraser being resurrected from a previous era & being just what the current circumstance demands pic.twitter.com/dmJXV9to1N
— Daniel (@alacrates) March 14, 2023
From an off-Broadway production in New York to its adaptation for A24, “The Whale” took ten years to cast the role of Charlie. Hong Chau was nominated as a supporting actress in the film. It is as though the cast were handmade for their roles in the award-winning feature film.
Fraser was not the only one thanking Director Aronofsky for “throwing” him a “creative lifeline” as fans congratulated him around all corners of cyberspace in what is now known as the “Brenaissance” era.
