Brendan Fraser celebrated for comeback role in ‘The Whale’

VENICE, Italy (AP) — Brendan Fraser is having a moment at the Venice International Film Festival. The once ubiquitous movie star of “The Mummy” franchise and “George of the Jungle” had, in the last decade, had backed away from the spotlight. But Fraser is charting what could be a major comeback starting with his transformative role in Darren Aronofsky’s “The Whale,” which has its world premiere Sunday night at the festival. In the film, Fraser plays Charlie, a reclusive English teacher with a kind soul who weighs 600 pounds. It already has pundits predicting Oscar nominations, but Fraser said he is just “trying to stay in today.”