CUMBERSOME! 'The Whale' actor Brendan Fraser reveals 'straight jacket' prosthetic suit weighed 300 pounds!
Actors are often tasked with the herculean task of transforming their bodies to fit the roles they seek to portray. In one such case, the 'Mummy' star, Brendan Fraser will now be seen in the upcoming movie, 'The Whale' for which he had to 'carry' up to 300 extra pounds thanks to his prosthetic suit, a task he describes as "cumbersome". Notably, several fans had raised concerns, adding that the actor looked unrecognizable owing to his weight gain.
The 53-year-old actor has now spoken about the difficulties of carrying the extra weight and the challenges of filming with it. He portrays the role of a 600-pound man named Charlie in Darren Aronofsky's psychological drama, an adaptation of Samuel D Hunter’s play of the same name. The movie also stars Sadie Sink in the role of his teenage daughter.
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Speaking to Vanity Fair, Fraser revealed that it took a lot of effort to film the scenes as he was always carrying anywhere between 50 to 300 pounds due to the prosthetic suit he had to wear. The elaborate torso piece of the suit made the entire experience to be "cumbersome" and "not exactly comfortable". In fact, the actor recalled the horrors of putting on the artificial suit that bulked him up, saying, "The torso piece [of the suit] was almost like a straight jacket."
He also added that a tremendous amount of effort was put in to ensure that the added weight looked as natural as possible. This involved a ton of make-up and visual effects, "With sleeves that went on, airbrushed by hand, to look identical as would human skin, right down to the hand-punched hair." The ordeal required him to stay put in the makeup chair for over five to six hours.
The lead actor in the movie, Fraser essays the role of Charlie, a man who seeks to reconnect with his teenage daughter, played by Sadie Sink. The character weighs a total of 600 pounds in the movie, the result of binge-eating that was induced by his feeling of guilt at leaving his family for a gay lover who later dies.
Nevertheless, the veteran immersed himself in the role, going to great lengths to perfect his portrayal. For instance, he revealed that he consulted the Obesity Action Coalition to get a better idea of what it was like for people who underwent bariatric surgeries and had a high body weight. On this, he stated, "I learned quickly that it takes an incredibly strong person inside that body to be that person," adding "That seemed fitting and poetic and practical to me, all at once." 'The Whale' is scheduled to premiere at the 79th Venice International Film Festival on September 4, 2022. It will release in the United States on December 9, 2022.