Actor Brendan Fraser arrived at the New York City premiere The whale early Tuesday, November 29. Accompanied by his girlfriend Jeanne Moore and two of his sons behind him, Fraser hit the carpet for the film which marked his big return to Hollywood. After years out of the public eye, the star of the Darren Aronofsky-directed film has proven he belongs in the spotlight and is one of the top conversational contenders for the Best Actor Oscars. .

Despite a recent slew of press that heralded Fraser’s return, the actor himself was endlessly relaxed Tuesday night at Lincoln Center, where he joined Aronofsky, costars Sadie Sink (who looked jaw-dropping in a tube dress Classic black Chanel with tulle, her fiery hair trailing behind her as she took pictures on the walk and rehearsal) and Ty Simpkins, with a real who’s-who of the acting community, for the event. Stars like Charles Melton, who put his arm around girlfriend Chase Sui Wonders’ shoulder as they walked off the mat, Michael Gandolfini, AJLTis Sarita Choudhury, Succession Favorite Fisher Stevens, Eigth year actor Elsie Fisher, Danny Strong and many more showed up. Most donned low-key looks and avoided the carpet, preferring to curl up in their seats for the showing in peace.

Fraser, Sink, Simpkins and Aronofsky worked the press line instead – they’re seasoned veterans for all the obvious reasons, but also because they’ve toured The whale around the world since its premiere at the Venice Film Festival in September.

The story of Fraser’s return, of course, dominated the headlines, along with many theories about how he channeled his real-life experiences – especially those that caused him to walk away from it all. ‘Hollywood – to play the 600-pound recluse, Charlie. So did the actor take it all in and strangle it into his character, who cut himself off from the world except for a friend who comes to his house every day for him bring food?

“Yes,” Fraser said. “It’s an actor’s job to tap into their own experience, to help give it authenticity. The alchemy of acting processes has always been weird voodoo, but with a screenplay as well written as Sam Hunter and Darren Aronofsky directing it – which was definitely unlike the kinds of material I’ve seen him create before – clearly we all wanted to tell this story with as much dignity and respect as possible.

“And after?” is a major question asked of Fraser these days. But when asked if he had a dream role to play in the future, he admitted that after all these years, that still wasn’t the case.

“I promise you if I did, I would tell you,” he said. “It’s always what I do that’s my favorite thing.”

Aronofsky, who wrapped Sink in a huge hug as soon as he saw her, sang the actress’s praises further down the carpet. “She works at so much faster speed than anyone on the planet,” said the director, who wore a nubby brown Gabriela Hearst suit for the event. “Her brain is spinning so fast. And if you watch the movie a few times, you’ll constantly see new things she’s done. I first saw her in stranger things and I was like, who is this? I want to work with her.

Fraser wasn’t the only one whose family made an appearance. Aronofsky’s son, who had just come home from school and was still carrying his backpack, attended the screening with friends. The chosen family was also present: the Requiem for a Dream actress Ellen Burstyn snapped photos with Aronofsky – a reunion 22 years in the making.