Brendan Fraser hopes to 'change some hearts and minds' with Oscar-buzzy 'The Whale'

Record ID: 1692937

  • Title: Brendan Fraser hopes to 'change some hearts and minds' with Oscar-buzzy 'The Whale'
  • Date: 11th October 2022
  • Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (OCTOBER 11, 2022) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** ACTOR BRENDAN FRASER ARRIVING ON RED CARPET WITH PARTNER JEANNE MOORE FRASER AND MOORE POSING FOR PHOTOS DIRECTOR DARREN ARONOFSKY AND WRITER SAMUEL D. HUNTER WALKING OVER TO FRASER (SCREEN LEFT TO RIGHT) ARONOFSKY, FRASER AND HUNTER POSING FOR PHOTOS (SOUNDBITE) (English
  • Embargoed: 25th October 2022 19:30
  • Keywords: Brendan Fraser Brendan Fraser the Whale Darren Aronofsky London Film Festival The Whale The Whale London film festival The Whale film The Whale movie The Whale premiere
  • Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM / VARIOUS FILM LOCATIONS
  • City: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM / VARIOUS FILM LOCATIONS
  • Country: UK
  • Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment,Europe,Film
  • Reuters ID: LVA001133310102022RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: U.S. actor Brendan Fraser, returning to the big screen as a leading man after a nine-year absence, said on Tuesday (October 11) playing the obese hero of "The Whale" was the biggest challenge of his career.
    The movie is directed by Darren Aronofsky, with Fraser already being touted as an Oscar contender for his portrayal of Charlie, a gay, 600-pound (270-kg) man, desperately trying to reconnect with his estranged daughter, played by "Stranger Things" star Sadie Sink.
    Fraser told Reuters it was "nice" to be back on the red carpets after nearly a decade but said he was not yet thinking about the upcoming awards season.
    "I'm just going to stay in today," he said.
    The film is an adaptation of Samuel D. Hunter's 2012 play of the same name, chronicling the rapid decline of Charlie, a gentle soul struggling to come to terms with the death of his partner and eating himself to death in his distress.
    Hunter, who also wrote the film's screenplay, said many aspects of the story came from his own life.
    "I grew up gay in North Idaho, in the town where Charlie's from, and I had experiences with a fundamentalist religious church, much like the one Thomas represents. And for a long time I self-medicated with food. And then later on in life, I was an expository writing teacher who was begging my students to write something honest. And so I kind of connected all of those disparate things in my life into a story that's not directly autobiographical, but, you know, has a lot of me in it," he said.
    Despite the pain and anguish, Charlie's compassionate heart, trapped beneath a wheezing mountain of skin, shines out as he looks to rekindle his relationship with his daughter, a deeply troubled teenager.
    "It was the most challenging film I've ever played. I think that Charlie is the most heroic guy I've been lucky enough to play. He's a man who has immense courage to stand up for himself finally, to see the good in others and bring that out in them. I think that he's someone who we could so easily dismiss in our everyday lives. And I think he stands for a voice of tolerance. I hope, my hope is that we can change some hearts and minds by story's end," Fraser said.
    The role required Fraser to use prosthetics and makeup that took four hours to apply, leaving him barely able to walk in the cramped confines of Charlie's dilapidated home.
    "It was four hours of makeup every morning. It was encumbering, for sure. It was a bit uncomfortable to wear but it all absolutely informed the role in the best way possible," he said.
    Aronofsky, whose movies include "Black Swan", "The Wrestler" and "Requiem for a Dream", said the unexpected connection he felt with the characters when he first saw Hunter's play inspired him to make the film.
    "I wanted to take people on that journey of characters that they can't relate to at the start that just become more and more human," he said.
    Aronofsky said he spent a decade searching for the right lead actor and cast Fraser after spotting him in a trailer for a low-budget Brazilian film.
    "The Whale" is released in U.S. cinemas on December 9 and globally in early 2023.
    (Production: Gerhard Mey, Hanna Rantala)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2022. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register