• The 2023 Critics’ Choice Awards’ best actor award went to Brendan Fraser.
• Fraser thanked the Critics Choice Association at the beginning of his emotional winning speech.
• Fraser’s commitment to The Whale, in which he plays a 600-lb.

Brendan Fraser 54-year-old Whale actor prevailed over Bill Nighy (Living), Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin), Austin Butler (Elvis), Tom Cruise (Top Gun: Maverick), Colin Farrell (Top Gun: Maverick), Paul Mescal (Aftersun), and Colin Farrell.

Fraser thanked the Critics Choice Association at the beginning of his emotional winning speech before making a jest “There are only five critics in America; the others are asleep, according to Herman Melville. Even though I am not sure what it means, I am grateful you got up for me. Furry Vengeance took place where were you? “mentioning his 2010 comedy with Brooke Shields and Ken Jeong as co-stars.

The Whale is a movie “about love,” he continued, adding, “It is about redemption. It is about finding the light in a dark place, and I feel incredibly lucky to have worked with such a talented group of people, including playwright/screenwriter Samuel D. Hunter, Hong Chau, Sadie Sink, Ty Simpkins, and others.

And Darren Aronofsky, you found me and, like all the best filmmakers, you just showed me where to walk to bring me where I wanted to be, Fraser added. “And Darren Aronofsky, I was in the wilderness — and I probably should have left a trail of breadcrumbs.”

“If you — like Charlie, who I played in this movie — in any way, suffer with obesity, or you just feel like you are in a dark sea, ” he said as he sobbed.

Fraser’s commitment to The Whale, in which he plays a 600-lb. man who reckons with the limits of his reclusive life over a period of five days, has earned him multiple award nods, including a Golden Globe nomination.

On Jan. 5, Fraser — who makes a triumphant return to the big screen with The Whale — received the Spotlight Award at the Palm Springs International Film Awards. He has also enjoyed multiple-minute standing ovations at film festivals.

“It’s been gratifying, it’s been eye-opening,” the actor told  at the latter event of the praise he has received for his performance. “It has made me have a sense of accomplishment by way of seeing how this story is changing people’s hearts and minds.”

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