Brendan Fraser dedicates his comeback into the spotlight to none other than Dwayne Johnson. He even called him a “godfather” of sorts. Fraser credited Johnson’s public show of support after The Whale’s Venice moment as a meaningful boost to the film’s profile and to Fraser himself. The two were present for a conversation at Variety’s Actors on Actors interview.
Brendan Fraser expresses his gratitude towards Dwayne Johnson for supporting him
Brendan Fraser is thankful to Dwayne Johnson are how he even owes “a debt of gratitude” to him. It was after The Whale received a long-standing ovation at Venice. Fraser expressed that the moment felt unreal for him. It was because he had never been to the festival before and did not know the full ritual of such a reaction.
He said, “I owe you a debt of gratitude because when I took The Whale with [director Darren Aronofsky] and the crew to Venice, and they applauded for a very long time and stayed on their feet — I’d never been there before. I didn’t know the whole ritual of it.” (via Variety)
Dwayne Johnson, after hearing the words, claimed that he was almost in tears when he saw Brendan Fraser’s performance in the movie.
Continuing, Fraser added, “I know! And you put your shoulder into that by showing your support through Twitter. Dwayne, you’re a godfather of sorts of the success of that project. Thank you for that.”
Johnson had publicly supported the film via Twitter, and Fraser is grateful for it. Even when the film received a huge standing ovation at the festival, The Rock had posted about it on his account. He wrote, “Man, this makes me so happy to see this beautiful ovation for Brendan.”
Continuing, he added, “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. #TheWhale ??”
Replying to Brenden Fraser, Dwayne Johnson noted that he was truly happy for his friend. It even made him feel inspired in some ways.
