Aurora Starchild
It’s no secret that Brendan Fraser’s character in The Whale was a big guy. The Darren Aronofsky film stars Fraser as a morbidly obese English teacher named Charlie. And it’s been making waves since before its official worldwide premiere at the Venice International Film Festival. But it wasn’t as simple as wearing a “fat suit.” Brendan Fraser would spend 6 hours a day getting a prosthetic body suit and makeup applied in order to appear to weigh 600 pounds. Now an incredible time-lapse video can show you just how much work this all took.
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A24, the independent film studio that helped create The Whale, posted the time-lapse video to social media and people are stunned. You can watch Brendan Fraser gain hundreds of pounds in the flesh, i.e., without any CGI effects.
“Brendan Fraser gives the most transformative — and yes, impressive — performance of his 30-year screen career,” reads the caption. Meanwhile, the award-winning actor patiently sits as layers upon layers of fake skin and makeup are applied.
Brendan Fraser Is Unrecognizable in The Whale Character Time-Lapse Video
Brendan Fraser spoke with Vanity Fair and revealed that the entire process was even more extensive than what you see in the time-lapse video.
“I wanted to disappear into it. My hope was that I would become unrecognizable,” said Fraser. The actor had spent months of intensive research into obesity so that he could methodically and accurately portray his character, Charlie. That included interviewing people who had received bariatric surgery, working with Obesity Action Coalition, learning about the disease, and watching as many films, documentaries, and reality shows that he could get his hands on. As a Method actor, his goal was to immerse himself in his character — not to simply “pretend.”
Brendan Fraser’s body suit was an intricately designed prosthetic. It was modeled on a digital sculpture and later created with a 3D printer. Recalling the first time he laid eyes on the suit, Fraser told Vanity Fair that it was both “beautiful” and “arresting.” Indeed, it must have been somewhat daunting to imagine wearing it.
He Said Wearing the Prosthetics Felt Like a “Straitjacket”
When it was his time to try the body suit on, Fraser said that wearing it was “cumbersome, not exactly comfortable.” It weighed between 50 to 300 pounds, depending on the shot (presumably, if his full body was shown, he’d need to wear more of it). It actually did make it harder for Fraser to move around. At times, he’d need assistance simply sitting or standing, or would be wheeled to different parts of the studio. It was as if he was truly struggling with morbid obesity, which of course was part of the plan. He told Vanity Fair that he would feel vertigo when the prosthetics came off.
“The torso piece was almost like a straight [sic] jacket with sleeves that went on, airbrushed by hand, to look identical as would human skin, right down to the hand-punched hair,” said Fraser. At first, it would take 5 to 6 hours to apply everything. By the end of filming, it still took 2 to 3 hours.
Over time, Fraser became a little more used to the body suit.
“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.”
The Whale’s Charlie’s Body Suit Helped Brendan Fraser Understand Real Struggles of Obese People
Brendan Fraser added that wearing the body suit helped him understand what obese people must struggle with every day.
“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.”
Aronofsky’s tearjerking film was based on Samuel D. Hunter’s play, also called The Whale. According to Hunter, the story is “a call for empathy.” It is nothing like most Hollywood portrayals of people suffering from obesity and it strives to connect viewers with Charlie’s humanity.
Brendan Fraser told Vanity Fair that the details that went into his suit fell along the same vein. “I looked at other body suits that had been used in comedies over the years, usually for a one-note joke,” he said. “Whether intended or not, the joke is, it defies gravity. This was not that.”
He Is Currently Awaiting Results of an Oscar Nomination for Best Actor
For Fraser, his role in The Whale was a comeback of epic proportions. He’s claimed that he was blacklisted in Hollywood following the #MeToo movement. He’d spoken out about being sexually assaulted by the former president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. The HFPA is the organization that puts on the Golden Globes. After that, he says he couldn’t find roles. While he probably never foresaw an Oscar nomination, a Golden Globe nomination, a Critics Choice Award, and a 6-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival, he knew this was an important role.
“This may be the first and last time I ever do this again, so I gave it everything I’ve got,” he told Vanity Fair prior to the film’s release. “And I did. That’s all I got.”
