Martin Scorsese has heaped praise on Brendan Fraser following heavy online criticism of his performance in Killers Of The Flower Moon.
The recently released film – which is led by Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro and Lily Gladstone – is based on a non-fiction book of the same name published in 2017. It tells the true story a series of murders of Osage Native Americans over the rights for the oil under their land in Oklahoma.
Fraser, who plays lawyer W.S. Hamilton in the film, has been heavily criticised by some on social media who have described his performance as “overblown” and comparatively cartoonish for such a serious film.
Scorsese, however, has jumped to the actor’s defence, saying he portrayed the character perfectly.
“We thought he’d be great for the lawyer and I admired his work over the years,” said the director (via LADbible).
“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’.”
Scorsese added: “Really for us, when we heard that he brought the whole scene down on Leo it was perfect. 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.”
NME gave Killers Of The Flower Moon a glowing five-star review, writing: “These days, Scorsese seems to exclusively make long films but this 206-minute epic is lengthy even by his standards. Thankfully Killers Of The Flower Moon earns its runtime.
“Each conversation between De Niro and DiCaprio is an exercise in clever euphemism and while some may find the tempo a bit too stately, the story of an entire people’s eradication deserves to be told in full. This is among Scorsese’s most important work.”
Killers Of The Flower Moon is available to stream on Apple TV+ and is also showing in cinemas.