In one of the most unexpected movie comebacks of all time, Brendan Fraser transformed into a morbidly obese man for The Whale, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival on Sunday.
One of the biggest names in Hollywood in the 1990s, Fraser starred in a number of family-friendly blockbusters, including George of the Jungle and The Mummy, before ending his screen career in the late 2000s.
But his return as Charlie, a 500-pound English professor trying to reconnect with his daughter, immediately sparked talk of an Oscar nomination.
“I had to learn to move in a completely new way,” Fraser told reporters in Venice.
“I’ve developed muscles I didn’t know I had. I even got dizzy at the end of the day when all the equipment was removed as you step off the boat here in Venice.”
The film is the latest from US director Darren Aronofsky, who won the 2008 Venice Golden Lion grand prize for The Wrestler and is known for gritty indie films like Black Swan and Requiem for a Dream.
However, “The Whale” has a deeply optimistic attitude.
As the story progresses, the reasons for Charlie’s obesity surface – rooted in trauma tied to his sexuality and religion – but he never allows them to cloud his view of the world.
– ‘Lighthouse in the Dark Sea’ –
“Charlie is by far the most heroic man I’ve ever played,” Fraser said. “His superpower is seeing the good in others and bringing that out in them.”
Aronofsky said this is “the most important message to get out into the world.”
“Everyone leans into the cynicism and the darkness and gives up hope, and that’s not what we need right now. We have to lean on the idea that underneath it all, we really do care about each other,” the 53-year-old director said.
There was some grumbling in the US press as to whether an obese person should have been cast for the role.
When asked about this point, Aronofsky said, “I considered every, every type of movie star on the planet, but none of them ever clicked.
“Then a few years ago I saw a trailer for a Brazilian film, kind of low budget. Brendan had a role in it and a lightbulb went out.”
“The Whale” was originally a play by Samuel D. Hunter, who helped adapt it for the screen.
“I wrote this character from a very personal place. I have a history of self-medicating with food. I was a gay kid in a fundamentalist religious high school,” he said in Venice.
“I was afraid to write it. I could only write it from a place of love and empathy… I wanted him to be a lighthouse in a dark sea.”
