Brendan Fraser is headlining everywhere after his latest movie The Whale receives a standing ovation at the 79th Venice International Film Festival. As the early reviews come out, this movie turns out to be an amazing comeback for The Mummy actor. In a recent interview, the actor revealed why he took the massive risk of such an off-beat character. Fraser also explained how this movie acts as a major lesson in his career.
Brendan Fraser is receiving widespread praise for his role, some also claiming it to be Oscar-worthy. But there’s a large amount of hard work behind it as the actor agrees that it is not child’s play to slip into the character of such an obese man.
Most challenging character in Brendan Fraser’s career
In the movie, Brendan Fraser is helming the role of an extremely obese English teacher Charlie. While talking with the press, the George of the Jungle actor spoke on various things starting from the struggles of playing such a character to the reason for him taking such a risk.
The actor needed a lot of prosthetics and some CGI to get into Charlie, a character who weighs around 600 pounds. According to the actor, after portraying this role, a sense of appreciation has grown in his heart for the people who suffer from the same issues of obesity and being overweight:
“It gave me an appreciation for those whose bodies are similar. I learned that you need to be an incredibly strong person, physically, mentally, to inhabit that being.”
Further continuing, Brendan Fraser also shared how he had to learn to move in a new way. He even added that he felt a sense of vertigo after leaving the suit:
“I needed to learn to absolutely move in a new way. I developed muscles I did not know I had. I even felt a sense of vertigo at the end of the day when all the appliances were removed, as you’d feel stepping off a boat on to the dock here in Venice.”
The character even addressed that it was too tiresome for him to carry the humongous suit on set. It is commendable that even after portraying such a difficult character, the actor doesn’t fail to impress once.
Why such an out-worldly character?
This is not the first time Fraser spoke about his role in The Whale. The movie deals with overweight and obese English teacher Charlie who caught this toxic behavior of overeating after losing his gay lover. The movie also explores how he tries to reconnect with his daughter played by the Stranger Things fame Sadie Sink.
Talking to Vanity Fair, the actor revealed what encouraged him to take such an out-worldly role:
“If there’s no risk, then why bother? I want to learn from the people I’m working with at this point in my career.”
Fraser has gone through several ups and downs. With his scheduled Batgirl movie trashed by Warner Bros. Discovery even after it was almost completed, this blockbuster was needed for Brendan Fraser. As some people wholeheartedly support the actor for an Oscar this year, it will be looked upon how will this work out in the theaters.
The Whale directed by Darren Aronofsky is set to hit the theaters on December 9, 2022.
Source: The Guardian
