Indy’s own Oscar-winning native waved the green flag to start the 110th Indianapolis 500.
Brendan Fraser did the honors for 2026.
Fraser’s performance in The Whale scored him the 2023 Academy Award for best actor in a leading role. That was the first Academy Award nomination for the star of “George of the Jungle” and “The Mummy” film trilogy.
The Oscar-winning turn was his first lead role in more than 10 years, with Fraser donning heavy prosthetics to play a reclusive and morbidly obese English professor looking to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter (played by “Stranger Things” actress Sadie Sink.)
Fraser attended a screening of the movie during the Heartland International Film Festival.
Fraser, who was born in Indianapolis to Canadian parents, stars as Dwight D. Eisenhower in the upcoming war drama “Pressure.”
Contact Midwest Connect reporter Cheryl V. Jackson at cjackson@usatodayco.com or 317-444-6264. Follow her on X.com: @cherylvjackson or Bluesky: @cherylvjackson.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Brendan Fraser waves green flag to start Indy 500
Reporting by Cheryl V. Jackson, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
