How Brendan Fraser’s Kids Surprised Him After His Oscar Nom (Exclusive)

Brendan Fraser is still soaking up all the success of his movie “The Whale,” earning an Oscar nod and taking home the Best Actor prize Saturday at AARP’s annual Movies for Grownups Awards.

“Extra’s” Melvin Robert caught up with Brendan at the AARP event, where he opened up about the accolades.

Melvin asked, “What went through your mind when you got the news?”

Brendan said, “Astonishment and surprise, because my kids surprised me with cake and balloons. The sneaked into the house, they had a plan. That and the feeling that sharing that moment with my loved ones is now a core memory of mine.”

Fraser gets emotional about the project and explained why.

“I think it’s a fulfillment of an aspiration that I would have never even thought to dare to have allowed, let alone to myself, until I came into my 50s and I looked at my life, who I am, what I know about love from my kids and it gives it a context now,” he said. “I love my job — it is the best one in the world, it also has proven to be something that I can do to help reach others in a way that’s meaningful that has gratitude, that has taught me some humility, that’s why.”

Having said his character Charlie is all of us, Brendan explained, “He is, he is your friend… He is that person who will always love who you are… He’ll take any situation that seems dire or negative and see a positive side of things. I think he is someone who we feel we can identify with because he is the same as we are. We all want the same things, to be regarded with civility, with kindness, and he is a man who has learned how to overcome his problems when he finds himself in a dark place and knows to go to the light and give back to those he loves.”