-Come on! That's a movie star. [ Cheers and applause ]
That is a movie star! You're a stud.
Thank you for coming back.
And thank you -- I don't know if you saw.
There was a sketch earlier that looked --
a character that looked like you, Goat-Leg Greg.
-Who was that guy?
-I don't know, but he's a good actor.
I love him.
Was there ever a bizarre role that you ever said yes to?
You were like -- -Yeah, that one.
[ Laughter ]
-I want to start by saying,
you've had an incredible, incredible year.
It's got to be probably an incredible few years.
You're waiting for all this stuff to come out.
-Yeah. -What does it feel like?
You're winning all these awards. You just won the SAG Award.
You're nominated for -- [ Cheers and applause ]
You're nominated for an Academy Award.
[ Cheers and applause ]
We're all -- We all love you here.
Has it been a whirlwind? or what does it feel like?
-Yes. It's been humbling, to tell you the truth.
-Really? -A lot happens all at once.
And I've been really happy to get to know
all of the other nominees in the category.
We have a profound respect for each other
that we've been through, like, this gauntlet
in the last -- I don't know --
six, eight weeks, whatever it's been.
-I mean, one of your first breakout roles was
in "Encino Man."
Hold your applau-- [ Cheers and applause ]
Hold your applause.
They clap before I could make the joke.
But Ke Huy Quan was in "Encino Man."
I didn't even remember this scene.
And now you're both nominated for Academy Awards.
Did you get to -- [ Cheers and applause ]
Isn't that cool? -It was so great.
-Isn't that cool?
-We saw each other at an actors' round table,
where we, you know, met everybody at first.
And it's like, "Ke, you're here
and I'm here and we're still...here."
You know? He was like, "Yes, we are!
We're still here." -"We're still here!" Yes!
You are definitely still here. How exciting -- How fun is that?
I watched the SAG Awards, and you had a very nice moment
where you talked about what it felt like to get your
Screen Actors Guild card, to get your card.
-Yes. -It's a big deal.
-It's huge. It's like being made.
You know, you -- It's -- "Willy Wonka" is for beginners.
-Yes. You want to walk around and just show it
to everyone like, "I'm in the Screen Actors Guild!
I'm an actor!" -You're in the club, you know?
-Yes!
-And it's an infinite world of possibilities.
Now all you've got to do is just go out there and find a job.
-Yeah. Well, that's a different thing.
That's a different thing.
But your first role was one of my favorite movies,
"Dogfight" with River Phoenix.
Here you are in -- -That's me as Sailor Number 1.
-Sailor Number 1 was -- Not a bad movie to be in.
-Number-one sailor. -You're the number-one sailor.
Do you remember your line? -I do.
This was a film with River Phoenix.
-I love it.
He's one of my all-time favorites, River.
-He was a sweet guy. -Do you remember your line?
-I do remember it, yeah.
-Would you perform it for us tonight?
-As you wish. I will. [ Cheers and applause ]
You ready? -Quest, can I get a drumroll?
-To, like... [ Drumroll ]
-Wow. -You ready?
-Yes.
Which camera here? -I didn't write it.
-Yeah, here we go.
-How'd you like to eat my [bleep]
-There you go.
[ Cheers and applause ] ♪♪
-I got my card. -SAG card. SAG card.
Wow!
That is so good. Thank you. -You're welcome for that.
-I also saw you reunite with Adam Sandler.
I think that was one of my other favorite movies
that you were in, "Airheads."
-Thank you. [ Cheers and applause ]
-And you and "Sandman" -- lookit.
Here's you and Adam Sandler there.
-Steve Buscemi. -Steve -- That's right.
And you got to sit down with Adam for some round-table thing,
and he was talking.
And what did he say to you?
-He told me that he got me the job.
-I did not know that.
-Yeah, I didn't know that either.
And I later learned that that's a bunch of malarkey.
[ Laughter ]
-Here's why we love Sandler.
So, the whole time he's talking --
-He punked me.
It's a 25-year joke he pulled on me.
-I can't believe it.
-And then Michael Lehmann went and tweeted out,
"Uh, no, we hired Brendan before we had --"
-Yeah, he actually -- -Oh, you found it.
-Yeah, I have the tweet right here.
Sandler didn't say he fought for Brendan.
"My recollection, we cast Brendan before Sandler."
That's correct. But good on Adam.
Good on Sandman.
Why not play around and have fun?
-He got me. -He got you good.
-He got me.
-Can we -- Let's talk about "The Whale," okay?
It's directed by Darren Aronofsky,
brilliant director.
Oh, my gosh. Brooklyn boy, by the way.
And he came on the show and he said, "It was just --
I had the script.
We had the idea.
I just couldn't find the role --
who can play the role of Charlie."
And then you -- He saw you in something.
And he goes, "Oh, my gosh.
Brendan Fraser -- that's who should play --"
And did he call you up and go, "Hey, I wrote this for you,
you got the gig," or --
-I didn't know I had the job. I knew I had a meeting with him.
And I was a little bit intimidated,
'cause, you know, he's Darren Aronofsky.
And I really admire his films a great deal.
And he told me it was about a man who's been living alone,
he's been harming himself by overeating,
and he has regrets because he wants to
reunite with his estranged daughter,
and he has very little time left.
And it's a very specific cast -- I mean, role to cast
because of the -- because of -- as how he presents.
And so it meant that we had to work with, as he explained,
a lot of prosthetic makeup to create the character.
-Who's the mastermind behind that?
-Adrien Morot.
-Adrien Morot -- give everything to.
-And then he went on and he did "M3GAN,"
just so you know who he is.
-Wow! Really? Is that right? -Yeah. That's his.
-He -- The effects, the special effects --
-Cool, right?
If it wasn't a seamless, then you wouldn't have a movie,
you know, because we wouldn't believe it.
And you have to, because that character
is automatically going to be me, you know,
reintroduced, in a way, and everyone's probably
at first gonna see it and go,
"Oh, is that George of the Jungle?"
You know, like, and it is in a way.
But after like five minutes, you get to know the character,
you just accept who he is,
and you go on this journey of redemption.
-How long did that take for you to get --
-Four hours to get in and about an hour to get out of it.
But we had a great -- Don't pity me, really.
-No, I -- No, no.
No, but I've just got to think about it myself.
You get there and you get to set.
You've got to show up early, four hours.
Then you have to act.
-Yeah, but Adrian got there an hour before
and he had to leave an hour afterwards, too.
-Oh, my gosh. But you crushed it, buddy.
Even just looking at your face, I can't even tell you --
It was just so, like -- I wanted to -- It was just heartbreaking.
-It feels like he's a guy that you know, I think.
That's what I felt like when I read it.
-That's a guy that you know and you're rooting for him.
-You care for him.
-You want him to figure it out and change,
and you go like, "I'm going through some stuff."
And you go, "Yeah, it's fixable.
I want to fix this person or help you in any way possible."
-The good news is that the Obesity Action Coalition
is an advocacy group that we worked with,
and since the film came out, the number of people
who have reached out to them to ask for help has gone way up.
-Yes! Come on. [ Cheers and applause ]
I can't even say it happened to a greater guy.
You're a good man. Congratulations.
-Thanks, Jimmy. -Brendan Fraser.
I want to show a clip.
Here's Brendan Fraser in "The Whale."
Take a look.
-Do you feel lightheaded, Charlie? Look at me.
-She's trying to help him.
-Who?
-Ellie.
She was trying to help him.
She just wanted to send him home.
Do you ever get the feeling that people
are incapable of not caring?
People are amazing.
-Hong Chau. [ Cheers and applause ]
-Hong Chau. Great. -Also nominated.
-Oh, yeah. Brendan Fraser, everyone.
"The Whale" is in theaters and on demand now.
Congratulations.