Brendan Fraser blew critics, audiences, and The Academy away with his comeback performance in The Whale. Next stop on the Brenaissance train, he joined Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, which premiered on October 20th. Due to the mixed reactions Fraser’s gotten playing W.S. Hamilton, Martin Scorsese defends his actor’s “perfect” performance.
The Oscar winner didn’t enter Killers of the Flower Moon until the third act. When Ernest Burkhart and his uncle William King Hale were on trial for the murders of the Osage Nation, Hale’s lawyer, W.S. Hamilton, came in full force, saying, “This man is my client!” While not all viewers took Brendan Fraser’s acting well, Variety reported that a press conference through LADbible had Martin Scorsese defending Fraser’s “perfect” performance.
“We thought he’d be great for the lawyer, and I admired his work over the years,” said Scorsese. “He actually came in for I think a couple of weeks on the picture, particularly when it was in our later shoot. We had a really good time working together, particularly with Leo. Particularly in the scene where he says, ‘They’re putting a noose around your neck, he’s saving you dumb boy.’ Really for us, when we heard that… he brought the whole scene down on Leo. It was perfect.”
The George of the Jungle actor also had a real blast working with Martin Scorsese. When he spoke on The Howard Stern Show in February, Fraser called him a “master cinema creator” open to suggestions. The School Ties actor also felt how Scorsese shot the courtroom scene was impressive, using four cameras “like an opera.”
What Kind of Reactions Was Brendan Fraser Receiving for His Performance?
Brendan Fraser may have had about 10 minutes of screen time, but his Killers of the Flower Moon performance clearly had a mixed effect on viewers. According to CBR, audiences either found Fraser’s acting to be glowing or disappointing. One X post supported the Golden Globe nominee defending that with the limited screentime he had, he “decided to make the absolute most of it.”
Although, an opposing X post believed they saw “one of the worst acting performances i have seen in my life.” Another X user even compared Brendan Fraser’s acting to a Plankton meme from Spongebob Squarepants!
To further explain Brendan Fraser’s over-the-top performance in Killers of the Flower Moon, Apple Original Films’ X account tweeted to followers something to pay attention to in the source material. In a side-by-side photo of a passage from David Grann’s book, Apple tweeted, “Notice the exclamation point” to show W.S. Hamilton did speak with gumption and commandeered a courtroom.
It’s important to remember that the character of W.S. Hamilton in Killers of the Flower Moon was William King Hale’s lawyer. He needed to prove the respected businessman was the best person that could have come to the Osage Nation. If that means giving a theatrical courtroom show, so be it. After all, it worked getting the attention of both the characters in the movie and the audience watching.
