BRENDAN FRASER:I had a brief stint working with Danny Boyle on an FX piece calledTrustin the interim.
I’ve kept myself busy.
I’ve never been that far away, is the short answer.
Brendan Fraser in ‘The Whale.A24
WasIaway, or was everyone away from me?
I’ll give you the answer: It doesn’t matter.
You’re allowed to take risks in art.
Brendan Fraser makes an emotional comeback in ‘The Whale’.A24
A challenge is good.
It was dependent on him finding an actor.
That was several different characters who went through prosthetic makeup.
AMPAS
There was no need to lay underneath goop poured on your face this time we could cyberscan.
I love the care and consideration in your portrayal of this character as a human.
This is one man’s story.
A24
It’s not representative of everyone who lives with a body such as Charlie’s.
So yes, I think it matters just as much now as it did formerly.
That didn’t exist in the design of Charlie.
(L to R): Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, Michelle Yeoh, and James Hong in ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’.A24
That’s what made him infinitely humanizing to me.
That’s what made Charlie make me feel empathy and affinity for… You previously starred together inEncino Man,his last American movie before a36-year break from acting.
Have you run into him at all, and how do you feel about the recognition he’s received?
Star Gabriel LaBelle and director Steven Spielberg on the set of ‘The Fabelmans’.Merie Weismiller Wallace/Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment
Some agent told him that no one would understand [the name] or whatever.
We don’t get to do that anymore.
He is who he is.
Cate Blanchett in ‘TÁR’.Focus Features
We gave it everything we had.
We’re both like, “We’re still here, man!
We’re still here.”
Kerry Condon in ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’.Jonathan Hession/Searchlight Pictures
Have you heard from anyone else wishing you well?
I’ve heard from people I’ve gone to college with, who you wouldn’t know.
It’s nice to hear from Matthew Mungle, who put me in transformation makeup first for the filmBedazzled.
Colin Farrell with Jenny the Donkey in ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’.Photo by Jonathan Hession. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures
We’ve come a long way from when that was created to the way this was created.
We’re obsessed withThe Mummyfranchise,Bedazzled,George of the Jungle, so many of your blockbuster movies.
Were there ever any serious talks for sequels to any of those projects that never happened?
There were discussions to do another one?
I’m always making diverse choices, and, hopefully, that keeps me and an audience interested.
Now thatThe Whaleis a success, has anybody reached out to restartThe Mummy?
Not, like,officially, no, but I know the fans have.
I needed to have some gratitude.
We have to get you andMichelle Yeoh together againfor anotherMummy.
That sounds like fun.
I’m always looking for a job, if anyone’s got the right conceit.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
Two young boys teens but only barely race through a field of flowers, untrammeled.
They smile in exhilaration, the pink and yellow blossoms suffusing the frame.
But the filmmaker is quick to dig into the subtext.
(Watch the scene in our exclusive clip below.)
Among many things, I wantedCloseto be about masculinity.
And so, these flowers in many ways represent this sort of tenderness, this fragility.
So why do we not represent that reality?"
He calls it conditioning.
Still, he welcomes the kind of self-examination his movie is bound to trigger.
“I’m also conditioned to look in that way,” he admits.
“We immediately wonder about their sexualities.
It’s something I’ve confronted in myself.”
His first feature will enjoy the kind of exposure that few debuting voices can claim.
There is that dividing line.Close, to its great credit, sits right on it.
Here’s where I feel like things stand at this point.
But EEAAO’s surprising over-performance (song!
indicates broad support across the Academy’s branches.
So now to me, it looks like the presumptive winner.
Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, TAR
God blessAndrea Riseboroughfor adding some genuine excitement to this category.
I’m so glad she’s in here, but I don’t think she can win.
Check out Joey Nolfi’s predictions here.
But its most compelling performance may belong to 40-year-old Irish actress Kerry Condon.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: You’ve worked with McDonagh before on several of his plays.
What are the differences between acting in his plays versus acting in his films?
There was never “look left into the camera.”
I never was aware of the camera.
In plays, you do have to think about the timing of the lines.
So in this, it was so weird for me.
So I said, “Well then, what happens if they miss the line?”
And he was like, “Then they’re just gonna have to watch the movie twice!”
Many of your scenes are with Colin Farrell.
You two have worked together before did that help build this sibling relationship?
And then we got a lot of rehearsal time too.
It was just so funny.
And I remember him going, “Oh, thank God, I made her laugh!
I feel like I’m doing it right.
That’s the first time you’ve laughed at something I’ve done!”
So yeah, it was just a fun dynamic.
How has it felt to all be on that journey together?
It’s so amazing, especially that it was their first nominations too.
In the lead-up, I couldn’t even say “Oscar.”
I was just like, “Don’t jinx it!
Don’t even talk about it!”
It’s such a big deal for everyone in Ireland.
Everyone’s so proud of the movie.
So it’s just a really positive time for everybody in Ireland, especially after COVID.
Speaking of Ireland, what was it like filming on location?
Interestingly enough, there were two islands we shot on.
The first island was Inishmore, and that was where we shot all the stuff in the house.
That was the very beginning of the shoot.
There was a gorgeous beach.
The nature was just so healing and beautiful.
Then we went to the second island.
The second island was a little bigger, and also the weather started to change a little bit.
It starts to close in on you a little bit.
So the two islands played out exactly the way the script does, funnily enough.
Siobhan does get away from the island, and makes it to the Irish mainland.
How do you feel about where her story ends?
I like to think that she has a romance at some point in her life.
I mean, I hope so.
I think she probably writes him, but I don’t think they probably ever see each other again.
Maybe other people ask, “Who’s that weird fella?”
And that’s the way his life goes, stuck in his stubbornness and hurt.
And then by the end he’s become this darker, violent person.
it’s possible for you to really alter somebody’s character with your bollocks.
Nowadays people are ghosting each other left, right, and center.
No one gives two f—s about how they’re treating people anymore.
Now it’s getting a further boost with all the award nominations.
Why do you think the movie is resonating with people?
I feel like it’s dealing with a universal topic.
People in China can understand the feeling of breaking up with somebody the same as people in Ireland can.
It’s the kind of thing that we all deal with.
