Brendan Fraser will be honored at this year’s Santa Barbara International Film Festival for his decades of contribution to American cinema. Entering the 38th annual festival, he is the 2023 winner of its American Riviera Award.
Fraser will attend the event on February 14, 2023 to discuss her lead role in Darren Aronofsky’s “The Whale,” which premiered in North America at the Toronto Film Festival earlier this month and is welcoming her back. to the first prizes. In Toronto, Fraser received the TIFF Tribute Award for Performance for his portrayal of a severely obese man trying to come to terms with his estranged teenage daughter (played by Sadie Sink of “Stranger Things”). Aronofsky’s film is based on the acclaimed play by Samuel D. Hunter and will be released by A24 in December.
Fraser began his career in the 1990s, appearing in such films as “School Ties,” “With Honors,” “Gods and Monsters” and the “Mummy” trilogy, which propelled him to a new level of fame.
In a statement, the Santa Barbara Film Festival highlighted the actor’s ability to make a “seamless” transition from independent films to blockbusters. In addition to “The Whale,” he will also appear in the upcoming “Brothers,” with Glenn Close, Josh Brolin and Peter Dinklage, and Martin Scorsese’s western “Killers of the Flower Moon,” with Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro.
“I am so excited that we will be celebrating Brandon Fraser at SBIFF,” the organization’s executive director, Roger Durling, said in a statement. “Here is an artist who brought us so much joy over the years, he gave us so many amazing film memories, and now with the best performance of his career! We are delighted to honor him!”
The American Riviera Award recognizes actors “who have made a significant contribution to American cinema,” according to the festival. Among the many previous winners are Kristen Stewart, Delroy Lindo, Viggo Mortensen, Jeff Bridges, Michael Keaton, Patricia Arquette, Robert Redford, Annette Bening, Sandra Bullock and Forest Whitaker.
The 38th Santa Barbara International Film Festival will take place February 8-18, 2023 at venues across the city. Movies and programming will be announced in January.
