Actor Brendan Fraser, known for his roles in The Mummy franchise and George Of The Jungle, has recently made a comeback with his BAFTA-nominated performance in The Whale.

Directed by Darren Aronofsky, the film features Fraser as a morbidly obese literature teacher who is slowly destroying himself with food while trying to make amends with his estranged daughter.

Since the film premiered at the Venice Film Festival last year, Fraser has received praise for his performance, including a Best Actor award at the Critics Choice Awards and Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominations.

Fraser spoke to NME about his return to the limelight after a decade-long hiatus from major movies.

“It’s new for me. So I’m learning on the fly. But I’m also taking the advice of people I’ve talked to who’ve been nominees and winners,” he said.

However, despite his success, Fraser admits he still has moments of self-doubt.

“I can’t get rid of the feeling that someone’s gonna walk in the room and tell me that I’m a fraud, or that I have impostor syndrome,” he said.

Fraser’s career suffered setbacks due to injuries sustained during the filming of 2008’s The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor and his divorce from former actress Afton Smith.

After 2010’s Extraordinary Measures, he found himself with few major film roles and instead turned to television, with parts in The Affair and Danny Boyle-directed true crime series Trust.

However, it was Steven Soderbergh who gave him his big break with a role in 2021’s No Sudden Move before Aronofsky cast him in The Whale.

Adapted by Samuel D. Hunter from his own play, The Whale was always going to be a challenging role for Fraser.

The character of Charlie is a compulsive eater confined to his apartment, barely able to move, and is slowly dying from his unhealthy habits.

Fraser had to spend six hours a day in makeup and wear heavy prosthetics for the role, which presented challenges for him both physically and emotionally.

“Just imagine: to bring up the emotions he has to do, bring up the length of dialogue he has to do, while all this crap is glued to your body, and you’re just covered in every way possible. It was an incredible mental feat to be able to perform emotively with that much equipment on him,” said Aronofsky.

Fraser credits his upbringing, which saw him living in multiple cities in the U.S., Canada, and Europe, for giving him “tolerance” and “the ability to be comfortable in my skin wherever I am.”

He saw a production of West End musical Oliver! during a stay in London and became entranced with acting, eventually heading to Hollywood in his early twenties.

Although he is best known for his comedic roles, he has previously demonstrated his dramatic chops in films like 1998’s Gods And Monsters and 2002’s The Quiet American.

Despite his recent success, Fraser remains modest about his career.

“The promise is exciting,” he said.

He will next appear in Martin Scorsese’s forthcoming period drama Killers Of The Flower Moon alongside Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio. However, he still feels the pressure to prove himself as an actor.

“I can’t get rid of the feeling that someone’s gonna walk in the room and tell me that I’m a fraud,” he said.

Fraser’s Hollywood career has had its ups and downs, including the shelving of Batgirl, in which he played the villainous Firefly, reportedly for tax write-off reasons.

However, he has bounced back and recently filmed Brothers, a comedy with Josh Brolin, Peter Dinklage, and Glenn Close.