Brendan Fraser wins Best Actor at the Oscars 2023

Brendan Fraser has won the Oscar for Best Actor at the 2023 Academy Awards.

The actor won for his performance in Darren Aronofsky's The Whale where he played Charlie, a reclusive English tutor suffering from severe health issues. His performance has won Fraser a lot of acclaim over the awards season so far, picking up wins at the Critics' Choice Movie Awards and the Screen Actors Guild Awards. Fraser has been on something of a comeback with the new movie, which marked a major return to Hollywood years on from his roles in The Mummy and George of the Jungle. Next up for the actor, he's teaming up with Martin Scorsese for Killers of the Flower Moon.

Fraser was up against Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin), Paul Mescal (Aftersun), Bill Nighy (Living), and Austin Butler (Elvis) for the award.

The actor thanked co-star Hong Chau in his speech, and acknowledged the cast and crew as well as his family as well as tearfully addressing the hardships he's faced in Hollywood.

Directed by Darren Aronofsky, The Whale follows Charlie (Fraser), a recluse living with severe obesity, who attempts to reconnect with his daughter Ellie (Sadie Sink) after having left his family for a man who later died.

Last year's Best Actor winner was Will Smith for King Richard. However, after the actor slapped host Chris Rock on stage at the event last year, he was given a 10-year ban from the event.

For more on the Oscars, follow Total Film on Twitter, where we'll be live-tweeting all the wins. We've also rounded up where you can stream all of this year's nominees.