LOS ANGELES (AP) — Brendan Fraser won the Best Actor Oscar for “The Whale,” a transformative role that reignited a stellar career.

“I started in this business 30 years ago and things weren’t easy for me,” an emotional Fraser said. “I just want to say thank you for this recognition.”

Fraser, like the other four nominees in the Best Actor category, was nominated for the first time, something that hadn’t happened since 1935. Other nominees were Austin Butler for ‘Elvis’, Colin Farrell for ‘The Banshees of Inisherin”. “Island Spirits”), Paul Mescal for “Aftersun” and Bill Nighy for “Living”.

In the film, Fraser plays Charlie, a reclusive, gay, 600-pound English-language college professor looking to reconnect with his teenage daughter.

Fraser said that early in his career he would not have had the life experience or heartache to authentically play a character living with life-threatening sadness, pain, and obesity.

Fraser’s performance earned him standing ovations at the Venice and Toronto Film Festivals, and the accolades continued to mount throughout the fall and winter. In addition to receiving the best reviews of her career, she won a SAG Award from the Screen Actors Guild for her performance. Throughout all of these galas, she gave emotional acceptance speeches, unafraid to cry at times.

His story is one of a big comeback and that’s something Hollywood loves.

The 54-year-old Canadian-American actor rose to fame in the early 1990s with comedy “Encino Man” and drama “School Ties.” He also starred in the ‘George of the Jungle’ and ‘The Mummy’ trilogy, in which he shared the credits with Michelle Yeoh, who won the Best Actress Oscar on Sunday. He had dramatic roles in ‘Gods and Monsters’, ‘The Quiet American’ and ‘Crash,’ which won the Best Picture Oscar in 2006.

But he was also in failed projects.

And Fraser almost disappeared. He spent several years off the big screen dealing with a series of personal issues relating to his divorce, the death of his mother, health issues and as the victim of alleged sexual misconduct at the hands of the Foreign President. Hollywood Press Association, which awards the Golden Globes. As a result, Fraser boycotted the Globes this year.

Fraser began to regain momentum in her career with a series of cable television shows before appearing in director Steven Soderbergh’s “No Sudden Move” two years ago.