Martin Scorsese recently said at a press conference (via LADbible) that Brendan Fraser is “perfect” in “Killers of the Flower Moon.” The actor, who won the Oscar this year for his performance in “The Whale,” has been panned by some viewers, claiming his over-the-top acting feels largely out of place in the film. Fraser has a brief supporting turn as W. S. Hamilton, the boisterous attorney for William Hale (Robert De Niro).
“We thought he’d be great for the lawyer and I admired his work over the years,” Scorsese said when asked about casting Fraser in the film. “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,” Scorsese added. “And he had that girth. He’s big in the frame at that time. He’s a wonderful actor and he was just great to work with.”
Fraser doesn’t enter “Flower Moon” until its third act, when Hale and Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) stand trial for the murder of many Osage members. Just as Ernest is about to testify, Hamilton rises out of his chair and interrupts the proceedings by yelling, “This man is my client!” Fraser’s line-reading has thrown viewers for a loop, so much so that Apple Original Films tweeted a passage from the book “Flower Moon” is based on in which an exclamation point is used in Hamilton’s dialogue.
“Note the exclamation point,” Apple informed its X/Twitter followers in an apparent attempt to let viewers know that Hamilton spoke with gusto in real life, thus making Fraser’s over-the-top portrayal all the more accurate to history.
“Flower Moon” is Fraser’s first theatrical release since winning the Oscar for “The Whale,” a performance that brought the actor back into the spotlight for the first time in years. He spoke to Howard Stern back in February about getting the chance to work with Scorsese.
“He’s a master cinema creator,” Fraser said. “He was a regular actor’s director. He moved furniture around himself. He likes to rehearse. He took suggestions and gave credit to the best idea, wherever it came from. He’s brilliant. He can solve multiple problems at the same time in an instant. There were four cameras, quadruple coverage, to shoot a court room scene that’s happening in real time like an opera.”
“Killers of the Flower Moon” is now playing in theaters from Apple and Paramount.