This dramatic and moving film in which the main actor was covered in prosthetics has finally arrived in streaming, it would be a shame to miss it!
In March 2023, The Whale by Darren Aronofsky was released in theaters. A moving and poignant film in which Brendan Fraser lends his features to Charlie, an obese man, weighing more than 270 kg, doing his best to reconnect with his daughter (played by Sadie Sink from Stranger Things) while his state of health deteriorates. For this role which allowed him to win an Oscar, the 54-year-old actor literally transformed himself. For obvious health reasons, the actor was not asked to gain that much weight for filming. Every day, Brendan Fraser had to put on a suit padded with 50 kilos and wearing prosthetics. The rest of her transformation was achieved through the magic of special effects and makeup. A grueling shoot, both physically and psychologically, which made Brendan Fraser feel a little dizzy.
The Whale available on Canal+: how Brendan Fraser prepared psychologically for the role of his life
In order to put himself in the shoes of obese people, sometimes victims of their bodies and of mockery, Brendan Fraser went to meet several of them. He also spoke at length with a psychologist specializing in eating disorders and the treatment of obesity. He also approached the Obesity Action Coalition (OAC), the main association supporting obese people in the United States. This particular role allowed Brendan Fraser to better understand what obese people might go through : “It made me understand how strong you have to be, both physically and mentally, to inhabit a body like Charlie’s, which is a man who carries on his bodily being the trauma he went through.”
The rest under this advertisement
The Whale is adapted from a play
Ten years ago, Darren Aronofsky discovered the play written by Samuel D. Hunter in New York, performed for the first time in 2012. This play shocked the director of Black Swan And Requiem for a Dream. “I was deeply touched by the ideas discussed, and by the way in which the story always finds beauty in things that our prejudices make a priori inhuman. I was touched, I laughed and I felt carried by the courage and grace of each character. I found there this problem that I often address in my films: how to place the spectator inside a character that he could never have imagined being ?” This is the reason why offering him a cinematic adaptation of The Whale quickly made sense to him.
Article written in collaboration with 6Medias
