Darren Aronofsky: Last News

Editors note: Deadline’s Read the Screenplay series debuts and celebrates the scripts of films that will factor in this year’s movie awards races.

Brendan Fraser was overwhelmed on Thursday when he was honored with the Spotlight Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival.The 54-year-old star received the acting honor for his acclaimed turn as a 600-pound man struggling to reconnect with his estranged daughter in Darren Aronofsky's film The Whale.'It's been gratifying, it's been eye-opening,' Fraser said of the acclaim his latest role has brought him, according to People.'It has made me have a sense of accomplishment by way of seeing how this story is changing people's hearts and minds.' Overwhelming: Brendan Fraser said it had been so 'gratifying' to be honored for his role in The Whale after receiving the Spotlight Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival on Wednesday, according to PeopleThe Mummy star leads the whale as a reclusive English professor who has been consumed by binge eating to assuage his grief at the loss of his lover. But even as he continues his self-destructive behaviors, he yearns to reunite with his teenaged daughter (Stranger Things' Sadie Sink) before it is too late.  Fraser noted home important the role was to him, especially considering the paucity of juicy parts like it. '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,' he continued.

Brendan Fraser and partner Afton Smith were snapped Thursday on the red carpet at the Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Gala, where the actor was honored for his performance in The Whale.Fraser, 54, walked the red carpet at the Palm Springs Convention Center in a dark blue coat over a white top with a bow tie with navy blue slacks and black shoes. He sported a close cropped hairdo and wore black-rimmed eyeglasses.Smith, 55, donned a shoulderless black dress with navy blue embellishments with a layer of tulle, and strapless black sandal heels.

Brendan Fraser shared his response to the critical acclaim he's received for his work in The Whale during a visit on Wednesday on Late Night With Seth Meyers.Seth, 49, asked Brendan, 54, if he's had a moment in his career where he thought he made it.'Nope,' Brendan replied. 'I don't.

One of the most talked-about films this awards season is Darren Aronofsky’s “The Whale.” While there is a lot of discussion about how the film portrays someone who is overweight, with many critics thinking the filmmaker dropped the ball on such an important part of the story, there also have been quite a few critics who think actor Brendan Fraser deserves an Oscar nomination for his performance.

Brendan Fraser will receive the Spotlight Award, Actor at the Palm Springs Film Festival’s awards ceremony, taking place in person at the Palm Springs Convention Center on January 5. The award comes in recognition of the actor’s performance in the critically acclaimed A24 drama The Whale from filmmaker Darren Aronofsky.

A24’s release of Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale had a strong holdover its second weekend out, grossing $168.5k on the same six screens in NYC and LA where it opened its first frame to the biggest per theater average of the year – beating the distributor’s March release of Everything Everywhere All At Once.

A beautiful love story. Natalie Portman and her husband, Benjamin Millepied, met on the set of her film Black Swan in 2009.

Darren Aronofsky‘s latest film, “The Whale,” hit theaters last weekend, so now audiences get a glimpse at Brandon Fraser‘s buzzy lead performance (read The Playlist’s review of the film here). But what does Aronofsky have next on the horizon? EW reports (via The AV Club) that it may be a musical; and not just any musical, but one of his 2010 smash hit “Black Swan” with Natalie Portman.

Darren Aronofsky is getting a lot of buzz for his latest film The Whale and is now looking to create a musical based on Black Swan.

Viewers got a closer look into Brendan Fraser's heartbreaking portrayal of an English professor struggling with both a broken family and life-threatening morbid obesity with the release of the latest trailer for The Whale on Wednesday.The more in-depth trailer delves further into the 600lb English professor Charlie (Fraser) and his relationship with his estranged teenage daughter (played by Stranger Things star Sadie Sink).It also shares a bit of Charlie's dynamic with his caretaker, a nurse named Liz (Hong Chau) who urges him to focus on his health.The trailer arrives as The Whale — directed by Darren Aronofsky and adapted by Samuel D. Hunter from his play of the same name — is already getting plenty of buzz in limited release before a planned wide expansion on December 21.  Hearbreaking: Viewers got a closer look into Brendan Fraser's heartbreaking portrayal of an English professor struggling with a broken family and life-threatening morbid obesity with the release of the latest trailer for The Whale on WednesdayThe trailer's opening highlights how Charlie is still staying engaged with work, even as he appears to rarely leave his home due to his size.He lectures a university English class virtually, but he keeps his camera turned off, making him a mystery of sorts to his students.

To say that A24 has deployed an interesting marketing strategy for “The Whale” is an understatement. After a rapturous debut at the Venice Film Festival, where critics were falling over themselves to give the Oscar to Brendan Fraser right then and there, there were months without any new marketing materials for the film.

Hong Chau stole the show as a fierce one-legged Vietnamese activist in Alexander Payne’s 2017 star-packed social satire Downsizing. Now, in Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale, she’s doing it again: this time she plays Liz, a no-nonsense caregiver who helps reclusive 600-pound English professor Charlie (Brendan Fraser) manage his failing health while he struggles to reconnect with his estranged and thoroughly unlikable teenage daughter (Sadie Sink). As the story unfolds, the unexpected reasons for Liz’s dedication to Charlie are gradually revealed, and Chau’s scene-stealing performance — subtle and heartbreaking — balances the pain of Liz’s loss with a poignant frustration at her own impotence.

The Whale director Darren Aronofsky has hit back at criticism over Brendan Fraser wearing a prosthetic 'fat suit' to play an obese man in the critically-acclaimed film.The film sees Fraser play a 600-pound gay man confined to a wheelchair and hoping to reconnect with his estranged daughter - with The Mummy actor donning the 300 pound 'fat suit' filled with airsoft pellets, dried beans, and marbles for his scenes.After reviews accused the film of lacking 'empathy' due to the 'frightful' physical portrayal of Fraser's character Charlie,  Aronofsky lauded the make-up and prosthetics on his team for lending a 'realism' to the scenes.Saying the criticism 'made no sense' to him, he told Yahoo Entertainment: 'Actors have been using make-up since the beginning of acting—that’s one of their tools.  Response: The Whale director Darren Aronofsky has hit back at criticism over Brendan Fraser wearing a prosthetic 'fat suit' to play an obese man in the critically-acclaimed film'And the lengths we went to portray the realism of the makeup has never been done before. One of my first calls after casting Brendan was to my makeup artist,'I asked him, "Can we do something that’s realistic?"  Because if it’s going to look like a joke, then we shouldn’t do it.' He added that he wanted to change the perception of obese people on screen who are 'generally written as bad guys or as punch lines' - to create a 'fully worked-out character.'Aronofsky also told The Los Angeles Times’ The Envelope podcast about his work with  the Obesity Action Coalition (OAC), saying: 'They really feel this is going to open up people’s eyes.

After a hugely positive reception when the film premiered at the Venice Film Festival, it seemed as if Brendan Fraser was going to run away with all of the Best Acting awards thanks to his performance in “The Whale.” However, with the film being seen by a wider audience since its debut in theaters, there are folks who are upset with Darren Aronofsky’s film and its portrayal of a fat person.  Continue reading Darren Aronofsky Says ‘The Whale’ Fat Suit Controversy “Makes No Sense To Me” at The Playlist.

Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale from A24 swam to the biggest limited opening of the year in NY and LA this weekend, beating the per screen record set by in late spring by the indie distributor’s Everything, Everywhere All At Once.

From its triumphant world premiere (with seven-minute standing ovation) at the Venice Film Festival, A24 opens Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale in theaters this weekend amid a whirl of Oscar buzz around star Brendan Fraser. The former action star carries the psychological drama as Charlie, a reclusive and severely obese English teacher trying to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter.

Brendan Fraser discussed transforming into a 600 pound man for The Whale in a conversation with Adam Sandler as part of Variety's Actors on Actors.The actor, 54, who stars in the Darren Aronofsky film, revealed the 300 pound 'fat suit' he wore for the movie was filled with airsoft pellets, dried beans, and marbles. Describing his complex costume, Fraser said careful attention was given to the suit to ensure it obeyed 'the laws of physics and gravity.' 'Maybe dried beans, marbles': Brendan Fraser discussed his transformation into playing a man living with obesity in a conversation with Adam Sandler as part of Variety's Actors on Actors'Those were sleeves that came to the shoulder,' he told Sandler. 'There was a five-point harness that had me strapped in.

In the midst of Brendan Fraser’s comeback — his 2022 movie, The Whale, received much critical acclaim — the Mummy star walked the red carpet with two of his three sons.

EXCLUSIVE: David Corenswet (The has been tapped as the male lead in hourlong pilot The Answers, FX’s adaptation of Catherine Lacey’s novel, from Sorry for Your Loss creator Kit Steinkellner, Dopesick creator Danny Strong, Requiem for a Dream director Darren Aronofsky and 20th Television.

Brendan Fraser looked dapper Monday night when he arrived at the 32nd Annual Gotham Awards with his beautiful partner Jeanne Moore.The beloved 53-year-old star looked like a leading man once again as he walked the red carpet with his beaming girlfriend.The actor attended as a nominee in the category of Outstanding Lead Performance, racking up more awards recognition for his tour de force in Darren Aronofsky's The Whale.