Though he’s currently being buoyed by positive reviews for his role in Darren Aronofsky‘s The Whale, Brendan Fraser explains he was disappointed by Warner Bros. Discovery shelving Batgirl.
Fraser was to play the heavy Firefly in the film, which, as reported, was pulled by the studio and won’t likely ever see the light of day.
In a sit-down with Black Swan director Aronofsky at the Toronto International Film Festival, Fraser told Variety of the aborted project, “The fans really wanted to see this film made,” calling lead Leslie Grace, who played Batgirl/Barbara Gordon, “a dynamo.”
Initially bound for HBO Max, Batgirl appears to be partially a casualty of the current entertainment landscape, the actor said. “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.”
He added, “What did we learn from this? Work with trusted filmmakers, like Darren.”
Fraser was asked about the Oscar buzz surrounding The Whale, in which he plays a morbidly obese father trying to make amends; the trade notes he did so by quoting Moby Dick:
“I know not all that may be coming, but be it what it will, I’ll go to it laughing.”
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