Watch Brendan Fraser in a heartbreaking deleted scene from ‘Rental Family’

Brendan Fraser delivers an emotional performance in Searchlight Pictures’ Rental Family as a once-promising American actor who has drifted into professional and personal obscurity, until an unexpected job offers him a strange new sense of purpose. That role comes via a “rental family” agency in Tokyo, where actors are hired to temporarily fill emotional gaps in the lives of strangers.

Gold Derby is exclusively premiering a deleted scene from the film (watch above) that reveals another layer of Fraser’s character, Phillip, as he listens to a voicemail from his father. The camera stays fixed on Fraser’s face, and the actor barely moves. Yet the emotional shift is seismic: hurt, longing, love, and forgiveness register in real time, conveyed entirely through expression, as he hears his father apologize for not being there and tell Phillip that he is proud of him.

The film, directed by Hikari, will be available on digital platforms including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, and Fandango at Home beginning Jan. 13, with a Blu-ray release scheduled for Feb. 17. The home release will include nine deleted/extended scenes, include “Phone Call,” along with behind-the-scenes featurettes.

Rental Family has been embraced by critics and audiences, with an 88 percent “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Much of the praise centers on Fraser’s performance as his character navigates loneliness and disappointment before arriving at hope and resilience while living in Japan.

“Audiences are taking something different away from this film every time — something unique, something good. It’s staying with them for several days,” Fraser previously told Gold Derby. “You have a heart of stone if you don’t shed a tear when you watch this film. But you will be taken by surprise by the revelations that come.”

View this article at Gold Derby.