FILM #35
OF 39
95TH ACADEMY AWARDS | 2023 OSCARS CHALLENGE
“THE WHALE”
MARCH 2, 2023
STREAMING
DAY 38
OF 48
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Brendan Fraser
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Hong Chau
Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling
Makeup & Hairsyling by Adrien Morot, Judy Chin and Annemarie Bradley
This year’s awards season has a theme of honoring legacies. Once big-time actors and actresses are surfacing and getting rewarded for it. Brendan Fraser is one of those actors. Hugely popular in the nineties with “The Mummy” adventure franchise and comedies like “Encino Man,” “Blast from the Past,” and “George of the Jungle,” his career hit a bit of a dip after the 2000s. But Darren Aronofsky and “The Whale” brought him back.
Based on Samuel D. Hunter’s stage play, the story follows a morbidly obese recluse who refuses to go to the hospital. He spends his last days trying to reconnect with his estranged daughter. His deceased lover’s sister, Liz (Hong Chau), a nurse, checks on him. She advises him to get help while enabling his overeating by bringing him unhealthy food.
Fraser plays the emotional and physical parts well. You fully believe he’s this mammoth of a man. And, despite the prosthetics, his pathos pushes through. In all honesty, it would be easy to fall into the mindset of his daughter, played wonderfully by Sadie Sink, who approaches him with disgust. But as her character warms to him, you slowly start to care about this man too and are devastated that he won’t get help.
PREVIOUS NOMINATIONS
Brendan Fraser
| First-time nominee |
Hong Chau
| First-time nominee |
Adrien Morot
| 83rd Academy Awards (2010) | Best Makeup | “Barney’s Version” | Nominee |
Judy Chin
| First-time nominee |
Annemarie Bradley
| First-time nominee |
A reclusive, morbidly obese English teacher attempts to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter.
Directed by Darren Aronofsky
A24
December 21, 2022
117 minutes
ACCOLADES
BAFTA Awards — Best Leading Actor (Nominee)
BAFTA Awards — Best Supporting Actress (Nominee)
BAFTA Awards — Best Make Up & Hair (Nominee)
Screen Actors Guild Awards — Male Actor in a Leading Role [Winner]
Screen Actors Guild Awards — Female Actor in a Supporting Role (Nominee)
AACTA Intl Awards — Best Lead Actor (Nominee)
AARP Movies for Grownups Awards — Best Actor [Winner]
Alliance of Women Film Journalists Awards — Best Supporting Actress (Nominee)
Alliance of Women Film Journalists Awards — Best Actor (Nominee)
Austin Film Critics Ass. Awards — Best Actor (Nominee)
Black Film Critics Circle Awards — Best Actor [Winner]
Capri Hollywood Awards — Actor Award [Winner]
Chicago Film Critics Ass. Awards — Best Actor (Nominee)
Chicago Film Critics Ass. Awards — Best Supporting Actress (Nominee)
Chicago Indie Critics Awards — Best Makeup (Nominee)
Chicago Indie Critics Awards — Best Actor (Nominee)
Chicago Indie Critics Awards — Best Supporting Actress (Nominee)
CinEuphoria Awards — Best Actor/Intl Competition [Winner]
Columbus Film Critics Ass. Awards — Best Lead Performance (Nominee)
Critics Ass. of Central Florida Awards — Best Actor [Winner]
Critics Ass. of Central Florida Awards — Best Makeup and Hair Styling [Winner]
Critics Choice Awards — Best Actor [Winner]
Critics Choice Awards — Best Hair & Makeup [Winner]
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Ass. Awards — Best Actor (Nominee)
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Ass. Awards — Best Supporting Actress (Nominee)
Denver Film Critics Society Awards — Best Actor (Nominee)
Denver Film Critics Society Awards — Best Supporting Actress (Nominee)
DiscussingFilm Critics Awards — Best Actor [Winner]
DiscussingFilm Critics Awards — Best Supporting Actress (Nominee)
DiscussingFilm Critics Awards — Best Makeup and Hair Styling (Nominee)
Florida Film Critics Circle Awards — Best Actor (Nominee)
GALECA: Society of LGBTQ Ent. Critics Awards — Film Performance (Nominee)
GALECA: Society of LGBTQ Ent. Critics Awards — Supporting Film Performance (Nominee)
Georgia Film Critics Ass. Awards — Best Actor (Nominee)
Golden Globe Awards — Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama (Nominee)
Gotham Awards — Outstanding Supporting Performance (Nominee)
Gotham Awards — Outstanding Lead Performance (Nominee)
Greater Western NY Film Critics Ass. Awards — Best Actor (Nominee)
Hawaii Film Critics Society Awards — Best Actor [Winner]
Hawaii Film Critics Society Awards — Best Makeup (Nominee)
Hollywood Critics Ass. Awards — Best Actor [Winner]
Hollywood Critics Ass. Awards — Best Supporting Actress (Nominee)
Hollywood Critics Ass. Creative Arts Awards — Best Hair and Makeup [Winner]
Hollywood Makeup Artist/Hair Stylist Guild — Best Special Makeup Effects [Winner]
Houston Film Critics Society Awards — Best Actor (Nominee)
Indiana Film Journalists Ass. Awards — Best Lead Performance (Nominee)
Indiana Film Journalists Ass. Awards — Best Supporting Performance (Nominee)
Internet Film Critic Society Awards — Best Actor [Winner]
Iowa Film Critics Awards — Best Actor (Nominee)
Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards — Best Actor (Nominee)
Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards — Best Actor [Winner]
Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards — Best Supporting Actress (Nominee)
Latino Ent. Journalists Ass. Film Awards — Best Actor in a Leading Role (Nominee)
Latino Ent. Journalists Ass. Film Awards — Best Hair and Makeup (Nominee)
London Critics Circle Film Awards — Actor of the Year (Nominee)
London Critics Circle Film Awards — Supporting Actress of the Year (Nominee)
Minnesota Film Critics Alliance Awards — Best Actor (Nominee)
Music City Film Critics’ Ass. Awards — Best Actor [Winner]
Music City Film Critics’ Ass. Awards — Best Supporting Actress (Nominee)
Nevada Film Critics Society Awards — Best Actor [Winner]
New York Film Critics Online Awards — Best Supporting Actress [Winner]
North Carolina Film Critics Ass. Awards — Best Actor (Nominee)
North Dakota Film Society Awards — Best Actor [Winner]
North Dakota Film Society Awards — Best Makeup and Hairstyling [Winner]
North Dakota Film Society Awards — Best Supporting Actress (Nominee)
North Texas Film Critics Ass. Awards — Best Actor [Winner]
North Texas Film Critics Ass. Awards — Best Supporting Actress (Nominee)
Oklahoma Film Critics Circle Awards — Best Actor [Winner]
Oklahoma Film Critics Circle Awards — Best Supporting Actress (Nominee)
Online Ass. of Female Film Critics Awards — Best Male Lead (Nominee)
Online Ass. of Female Film Critics Awards — Best Supporting Female (Nominee)
Online Film Critics Society Awards — Best Actor (Nominee)
Philadelphia Film Critics Circle Awards — Best Actor [Winner]
Phoenix Critics Circle Awards — Best Actor [Winner]
Phoenix Critics Circle Awards — Best Supporting Actress (Nominee)
Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards — Best Actor in a Leading Role [Winner]
Portland Critics Ass. Awards — Best Actor in a Leading Role (Nominee)
Portland Critics Ass. Awards — Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Nominee)
San Diego Film Critics Society Awards — Best Actor (Nominee)
San Fran. Bay Area Film Critics Circle Awards — Best Actor (Nominee)
Satellite Awards — Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama [Winner]
Seattle Film Critics Society Awards — Best Actor (Nominee)
Southeastern Film Critics Ass. Awards — Best Actor (Nominee)
St. Louis Film Critics Ass. Awards — Best Actor [Winner]
Sunset Film Circle Awards — Best Actor (Nominee)
Sunset Film Circle Awards — Best Supporting Actress (Nominee)
Toronto Film Critics Ass. Awards — Best Actor (Nominee)
UK Film Critics Ass. Awards — Actor of the Year (Nominee)
Washington DC Area Film Critics Ass. Awards — Best Actor (Nominee)
Women Film Critics Circle Awards — Best Actor [Winner]
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
EXPERT PREDICTIONS
1. Brendan Fraser — “The Whale”
2. Austin Butler — “Elvis”
3. Colin Farrell — “The Banshees of Inisherin”
4. Bill Nighy — “Living”
5. Paul Mescal — “Aftersun”
PERSONAL PREDICTIONS
1. Austin Butler — “Elvis”
2. Colin Farrell — “The Banshees of Inisherin”
3. Brendan Fraser — “The Whale”
4. Paul Mescal — “Aftersun”
5. Bill Nighy — “Living”
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
EXPERT PREDICTIONS
1. Angela Bassett — “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”
2. Kerry Condon — “The Banshees of Inisherin”
3. Jamie Lee Curtis — “Everything Everywhere All at Once”
4. Stephanie Hsu — “Everything Everywhere All at Once”
5. Hong Chau — “The Whale”
PERSONAL PREDICTIONS
1. Angela Bassett — “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”
2. Stephanie Hsu — “Everything Everywhere All at Once”
3. Kerry Condon — “The Banshees of Inisherin”
4. Jamie Lee Curtis — “Everything Everywhere All at Once”
5. Hong Chau — “The Whale”
Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling
EXPERT PREDICTIONS
1. “The Whale”
2. “Elvis”
3. “The Batman”
4. “All Quiet on the Western Front”
5. “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”
PERSONAL PREDICTIONS
1. “Elvis”
2. “The Whale”
3. “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”
4. “The Batman”
5. “All Quiet on the Western Front”
