Brendan Fraser sobs as The Whale gets 6-min standing ovation at Venice Film Festival, Dwayne Johnson praises him. Watch

Brendan Fraser, best known for The Mummy films, is making a comeback to films with Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale. The film, which was screened at the ongoing Venice Film Festival recently, sees Brendan play a disabled man who weighs 600 pounds (over 270 kg). Videos from the screening in Venice show the film received an overwhelming response with a long standing ovation that moved the actor to tears. Also read: Brendan Fraser’s in India to shoot a movie with Ronit Roy

The Whale is about a middle-aged man named Charlie, who tries to reconnect with his 17-year-old daughter. As per the film’s synopsis, “the two grew apart after Charlie abandoned his family for his gay lover, who later died. Charlie then went on to binge eat out of pain and guilt.” The film was screened at the 79th Venice International Film Festival on Sunday, September 4.

Videos shared by fans from the screening show Brendan acknowledge the loud applause from the crowd and get a bit emotional. Twice, he tries to move out of his seat to exit but the ovation continues. At one point, he breaks down, hugging the director Darren Aronofsky and sobbing.

Dwayne Johnson, who began his film career in The Mummy Returns, which starred Brendan, appreciated the actor as well. Sharing a video from the screening, Dwayne tweeted, “Man this makes me so happy to see this beautiful ovation for Brendan. He supported me coming into his Mummy Returns franchise for my first ever role, which kicked off my Hollywood career. Rooting for all your success brother and congrats to my bud Darren Aronofsky.”

The Whale also stars Sadie Sink, Hong Chau, Samantha Morton, and Ty Simpkins. It will release in theatres in the US on December 9. A release date for India has not been announced yet.