[imagesource: A24]

The Whale actor Brendan Fraser bagged the Best Actor award at the Critics’ Choice Awards on Sunday.

Upon winning, Fraser gave an emotional and heartfelt acceptance speech, which simply cannot be missed.

The tears are going to come, whether you’re PMSing, feeling Mercury’s retrograde, or simply moved by the actor’s intensity.

Fraser reflected on his career-best performance, which was already gathering Oscar buzz way before being released in theatres, noting all those that made the film about “love,” “redemption” and “finding the light in a dark place” possible.

Per HuffPost, he opened his speech with a reference to a Herman Melville line on critics in America and remarked that he’s glad critics “woke up” for him.

He also gave a fervourous thank you to The Whale director Darren Aronofsky for showing him where he “needed to be”.

Watch his powerful address below:

Brendan Fraser’s acceptance speech for The Whale at the #CriticsChoiceAwards pic.twitter.com/jxQsEfQfKo

— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) January 16, 2023

Later on, Fraser told reporters that the Best Actor award meant “more than [he knows] how to say with words”, adding that “We all approached this piece as if it were the first and last time we would ever have a chance to do this kind of work ever again, each day, and I think that this movie can help do a lot of good.”

The gratitude and awe are mutual, Fraser.

Watch the trailer for The Whale, which is out in theatres already:

Fraser was nominated for a Golden Globe award but boycotted the ceremony for its lack of inclusion and diversity.

All in all, he’s a true mensch.

[source:huffpost]