Brendan Fraser Wins Best Actor at the 2023 Oscars

It’s official: Brendan Fraser has won the coveted Best Actor award at the 2023 Oscars for his role in “The Whale”.

He beat out Austin Butler (“Elvis”), Bill Nighy (“Living”), Paul Mescal (“Aftersun”), and Colin Farrell (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) for the win.

In his emotional acceptance speech, Fraser said: “So this is what the multi-verse is like. My goodness. I thank the Academy for this honour and for our studio H24 for making such a bold film. I’m grateful to Darren [Aronofsky], for throwing me a creative lifeline and hauling me aboard the good ship ‘The Whale’. It was written by Samuel D Hunter who is our lighthouse. Gentlemen, you laid your whale-sized hearts bare, so that we could see into your souls like no-one else could do. It is my honour to be named alongside you in this.

“I want to tell you that only whales can swim at the depth of the talent of Hong Chau. I started in this business 30 years ago, and things didn’t come easily to me. There was a facility that I didn’t appreciate at the time. Until it stopped. And I just want to say thank you for this acknowledgment because it couldn’t be done without my cast. It’s been like I’ve been on 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.

“Thank you again. Each one and all. I’m so grateful to you. Goodnight.”

This is Brendan Fraser’s first Oscars win, although he’s scored several Best Actor nominations for his role in “The Whale”.

The movie scored a total of three Oscar nominations, with “The Whale” also winning Best Makeup and Hairstyling. Hong Chau was also nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Liz.

After rising to fame in movies like “The Mummy” and “George of the Jungle”, Fraser took a step back from the spotlight in the early 2000s. His turn in “The Whale” has been hailed as his comeback, although he never really left. He’s consistently been working in film and television, notably as James Fletcher Chase in “Trust”, a cowboy hat-wearing fixer tasked with finding the heir to the Getty Oil company in the ’70s.

Last year, the award went to Will Smith for his role as Richard Williams in “King Richard”. Smith was also embroiled in controversy at the 2022 Oscars for slapping host Chris Rock on stage. In response, the Academy hired a crisis team for this year’s ceremony.

Catch up on all of our 2023 Oscars coverage here.

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