Brendan Fraser reached a new milestone in his career with an Oscar win for Best Actor in The Whale. Once he graciously accepts the award, he gave an emotional speech thanking the cast, crew, and loved ones for helping him along the way.

His nautical-themed speech shows excellent appreciation to director Darren Aronofsky and screenwriter Samuel D. Hunter for allowing him to take part in their project. “Gentleman, you laid your whale-sized hearts bare so that we could see into your souls like no one else could do,” Fraser tearfully says. He calls it a great honor to work alongside people like them, especially with those “at the depth of talent of Hong Chau,” who was nominated for Best Supporting Actress.

Fraser’s speech references his time out of the limelight after his nearly 30-year career, calling it a facility he didn’t appreciate until it stopped. He thanks The Whale for reigniting his spark and the rest of the cast for helping him along the way. He compares it to a diving expedition where “the air on the line to the surface is being watched over by some people in [his] life like [his] sons.”

Thanks to his much-lauded comeback role, Fraser stayed at the top of the awards season, from a six-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival Premiere to the Screen Actors Guild Awards and the Critics’ Choice Awards. When asked about the Oscar buzz surrounding the film and the possibility of him winning, Fraser quotes Herman Melville (featured prominently in the movie) and says, “I know not all that may come, but come what may, I will go to it laughing.”