Los Angeles, Jan 16 (IANS): Hollywood star Brendan Fraser, who won best actor for 'The Whale' at the 2023 Critics Choice Awards, thanked the Critics Choice Association.

He joked: "It was Herman Melville who once wrote that there are only five critics in America - the rest are asleep. I don't know what it means, either, but I'm glad you woke up for me. Where were you for Furry Vengeance?!", calling out his 2010 comedy co-starring Brooke Shields and Ken Jeong, reports People magazine.

He went on to describe 'The Whale' as a film "about love," adding that "It's about redemption. It's about finding the light in a dark place, and I'm so lucky to have worked with an ensemble that is incredible," including Hong Chau, Sadie Sink, Ty Simpkins and playwright/screenwriter Samuel D. Hunter.

"And Darren Aronofsky, I was in the wilderness - and I probably should've left a trail of breadcrumbs - but you found me, and like all the best directors, you merely just showed me where to go to get me where I needed to be," Fraser said, quoted by People.

He concluded, through tears: "If you - like Charlie, who I played in this movie - in any way, struggle with obesity, or you just feel like you're in a dark sea, I want you to know that if you, too, can have the strength to just get to your feet and go to the light, good things will happen."

Fraser's commitment to 'The Whale', in which he plays a 600-lb. man, who reckons with the limits of his reclusive life over a period of five days, has earned him multiple award nods, including a Golden Globe nomination.