Brendan Fraser shed tears of joy yesterday during the premiere of his new movie, The Whale.
The Mummy star made a rare public appearance for the screening of the movie, which marks his first leading role in almost a decade.
According to Variety, audiences at the festival gave the actor a "six-minute standing ovation" when his name appeared in the credits, prompting the 53-year-old to get visibly emotional as he beamed with pride.
Fraser underwent a dramatic physical transformation in order to portray the movie's 600lb protagonist, Charlie, in the moving psychological drama.
Directed by Darren Aronofsky, The Whale follows Fraser's reclusive character as he struggles to reconnect with his teenage daughter (played by Stranger Things star Sadie Sink).
The hotly anticipated movie was shown for the first time yesterday and was so well received that Fraser couldn't leave the theater afterward.
Variety reporter Ramin Setoodeh tweeted a clip of the star during his standing ovation, in which he can be seen fighting back tears.
Watch Brendan Fraser's tears of joy here:"The standing ovation for #TheWhale was so enthusiastic, Brendan Fraser tried to leave the theater but the crowd’s applause made him stay," Setoodeh wrote alongside the footage, which shows an emotional Fraser thanking the audience and taking a bow.
In a recent Vanity Fair interview, Fraser discussed his appearance in the new psychological drama - telling the magazine he "wanted to know what he was capable of".
"I want to learn from the people I'm working with at this point in my career. I've had such variety, a lot of high highs and low lows, so what I'm keen for, in the second half of my time doing this, is to feel like I'm contributing to the craft and I'm learning from it. This is a prime opportunity. I wanted to disappear into it. My hope was that I would become unrecognizable," he said.
He went on to tell the outlet that he may never take on another role of this magnitude. "This may be the first and last time I ever do this again, so I gave it everything I've got. And I did. That's all I got," he said.
The Whale is scheduled to hit theatres on December 9, 2022.
