Brendan Fraser defends wearing prosthetics to play obese man in ‘The Whale’
Brendan Fraser has defended wearing prosthetics to play an obese man in The Whale.
The actor stars in Darren Aronofsky’s new A24 film as Charlie, a reclusive writing instructor who weighs 600lbs.
Fraser recently praised the process and said he would “absolutely” be willing to transform for another role in future.
“I think it’s one of the more exacting ways you can create a character and body,” the actor told People of the process.
He added: “And in this case, the mandate that Charlie’s costume would respect the laws of gravity and physics as opposed to the many ways that we’ve seen that character depicted in films before as really a one-note joke, and in a costume that’s just unfair.”
“That’s a personal view,” Fraser went on, “but we felt an obligation to ensure that it was cumbersome. It was accurate, that was what we strived for.”
In a three-star review of The Whale, NME wrote: “It should be said that Brendan Fraser – making his long-awaited comeback to cinema – imbues The Whale’s central figure with as much empathy and care as possible within the considerable confines of the script. ”
Fraser said recently that if he is nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance, he won’t attend the ceremony.
“I have more history with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association than I have respect for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association,” he said, before adding: “No, I will not participate.”
Asked for his reasoning, the actor replied: “It’s because of the history that I have with them. And my mother didn’t raise a hypocrite. You can call me a lot of things, but not that.”
The film is released in UK cinemas on February 3, 2023.
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Ella Kemp
NME
