Sam Amico
Brendan Fraser often felt the weight of his performance in The Whale. That that included when he wasn’t donning the costume that made him look particularly obese.
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Fraser, 53, is making a major return to the big screen via the film. He’s already garnering praise despite the fact it won’t hit theaters until early December. He plays Charlie, a man fighting for his life with obesity as he attempts to reconnect with his estranged daughter, portrayed by Sadie Sink.
Brendan Fraser not only had to put on weight for the role but was given a movie-made makeover. That’s just the way it goes when you’re playing someone who weighs 600 lbs.
The Whale
“I became accustomed to wearing Charlie’s body pretty quickly,” Fraser said, via Entertainment Weekly. “I discovered that, once I took it off, I could still feel the sensation of wearing it, almost like an undulation. At the same time, once I took all the applications off at the end of the day, I felt a deepening sense of respect for people who live in that corporal being, because I could remove it like clothing and wardrobe and makeup, and their challenge to do that with their own body is not as sudden.”
A trailer for the movie hasn’t even been released. Though, after several private screenings, the buzz is that Fraser will be up for the Oscar for Best Actor.
Newsweek described the movie’s plot this way:
“The Whale follows Charlie, a severely overweight English teacher trying to reconnect with his daughter, Ellie, who he became distanced from after leaving his wife and daughter for a man.
“When his lover died, Charlie began to binge eat in reaction to the loss, and as a way to deal with his pain and depression. Now weighing 600 pounds, Charlie may not have long to live.”
The Whale is officially scheduled to hit theaters on Dec. 9.
