"If you just stay in there and you put one foot in front of the other, you get to where you need to go. Have courage," he said motivating fellow actors.
Brendan Fraser has made a triumphant comeback to the big screen, and all the awards are lining up to show him just how triumphant. Adding to the praise and accolades he's already received for The Whale, the actor bagged best performance by a male actor in a leading part at the 29th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday, per PEOPLE. But he credited his achievement to his children and their "supermom," ex-wife Afton Smith.
"Without the love of my children, Griffin, Holden, and Leland; and their supermom, Afton; and my badass agent, Joanne Colonna; and the clarion call that is my girl, Jeanne, I wouldn't be able to do any of this," he said, emotionally, per POPSUGAR.
When Fraser accepted his statuette on stage, the love he has for his depiction of Charlie in The Whale was quite apparent. His voice broke as he spoke, saying, “I’m smiling, I’m breathing, that’s half the job.”
Fraser, 54, then gave out some advice to younger actors, saying, "I never would have believed I would have been offered the role of my life in this character, Charlie in The Whale, he's someone who is on a raft of regrets but he's in a sea of hope."
"I just want you to know, for real, all the actors out there who have gone through that, who are going through that, I know how you feel," he added. "But believe me, if you just stay in there and you put one foot in front of the other, you get to where you need to go. Have courage," he motivated those that will come after him.
Fraser has received numerous nominations for his work in The Whale, in which he portrays a 600-lb. man who confronts the limits of his reclusive existence over five days. He has also won the Critics Choice Award and been nominated for a Golden Globe, and shares that all this praise has been "eye-opening" for him.
brendan fraser sharing advices ian mckellen gave to him to get through his sag award acceptance speech pic.twitter.com/tojC6KEIgf
— sammy fabelman (@awbckett) February 27, 2023
"It's been gratifying, it's been eye-opening," the actor told PEOPLE exclusively. "It has made me have a sense of accomplishment by way of seeing how this story is changing people's hearts and minds," he shared. "That's gratifying, to say at least, and that kind of opportunity does not come along in this circus show of show business that we all play along with sometimes. But when it does, and it's material that's handled with care and the project comports itself in a way that's interesting and important, I feel very fortunate and lucky to be a part of it," Fraser concluded.
References:
https://www.popsugar.co.uk/entertainment/brendan-fraser-wins-sag-awards-2023-video-49099839
Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Kevin Winter
