Brendan Fraser credits fatherhood for his return to Hollywood

The Brenaissance is here and, according to Brendan Fraser, it’s all due to his journey with fatherhood.

Fraser makes his return to Hollywood in Darren Aronofsky’s upcoming drama film The Whale, where he plays a reclusive English teacher trying to reconnect with his daughter.

The actor — who is a father to sons Griffin, 20, Holden, 18, and Leland, 16 – told Entertainment Tonight that the film’s themes of fatherhood are what drew him toward the role.

“I have kids now and that really warrants how I make decisions, what I’m going to do — and, whatever it is that I’m doing, how I feel about what I’m doing,” Fraser said. “Somehow stakes get raised to such a point that something that might seem garden variety or normal takes on much more gravity.”

While Fraser says he spent the first 25 years of his career generating hope and joy from simply the screenplays he read and the characters he played, he now insists it comes from a different place.

“Some alchemy happens when you have kids and suddenly everything clicks,” Fraser said.

The Whale opens in limited release on December 9 and will expand to more theaters on December 21.