Brendan Fraser is back in the limelight, and Hollywood is a better place for it. 

For his comeback performance in Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale, The Mummy icon has been earning lengthy standing ovations, melting hearts with his emotional reactions to the applauses.

While promoting his new film at the Toronto International Film Festival, Fraser fired a sly jibe at the recent Batgirl debacle. The actor was asked for his thoughts on the demise of the DC Comics project, which would have seen him play the Batman villain Firefly.

“Well, stop talking about it ’cause Gunnar Wiedenfels does not want people thinking about this. That’s what I read,” Fraser said, referencing WB Discovery’s chief financial officer who accused the media of making more of the Batgirl situation than was necessary.

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After that jibe, Fraser detailed his disappointment about fans not getting to see Leslie Grace in the title role. “The fans really wanted to see this film made. Leslie Grace is a dynamo,” he told Variety. “The movie was shot and conceived for a smaller screen. In this age that we’ve come out of now between streaming service versus theatrical release, it wound up being the canary in the coal mine. What did we learn from this? Work with trusted filmmakers, like Darren (Aronofsky).”

While at the Toronto International Film Festival, Fraser was given the Tribute Award for his performance in The Whale, and gave a touching and hilarious speech while accepting the award.

“Wow, this is new for me because normally I am the guy at the podium who hands these things out,” he said. “I think that the last time I waited to hear my name called out loud to receive an award was in grade 4 and it was from the peewee bowling league.”

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Check out the trailer for The Whale:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKU4Q0rwP-k

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