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'Cast fat actors to play fat characters': Dove splits Internet after trolling Brendan Fraser's Oscar

Brendon Fraser's role in 'The Whale' won him Best Actor, while the film also won in the category of best make-up and hair styling

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA: Soap and hygiene company Dove took a moral stand against the Oscar-winning film 'The Whale' for using a 'fat suit' on Brendan Fraser instead of starring an obese actor. The film had faced severe backlash in the lead-up to Sunday's Academy Awards, where it earned major laurels, including one for best make-up and hair styling.

In the latest swipe, the toiletry company blasted the film in response to a tweet from an obese Twitter user who called out 'The Whale’s hair and make-up team. The tweet read, "Fat suits are harmful - they are not your opportunity to win awards. Our identity is not your costume. Cast fat actors to play fat characters." The billion-dollar company then joined the bandwagon and said, "Stop giving fat suits awards. We want better representation in Hollywood. #LetsChangeBeauty," according to Daily Mail.

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Dove’s response soon garnered immense social media attention, with many users supporting Fraser's portrayal. “Saying that award was “for a fat suit” is deeply insulting to the man who won it with his acting & put a lot of heart into it. In case you didn’t know Brendan Fraser suffered from spine problems that made it hard for him to stay in shape and get body-shamed all the time,” one user wrote.

'Let actors explore'

“If everyone played their own type of character, is it really acting? No...let actors explore roles that challenge their norms. Brendan Fraser was amazing! Could you imagine the movie Cleopatra, w/o Elizabeth Taylor.. NO! We as a society have to stop making everything a thing,” another said while a third added, “Didn't Brendan Fraser go from a hansom buff guy to a bit of a fat normy? Did he not reach the right level of fat enough for you then?”

However, some social media users supported Dove’s stance. "The Oscar for best makeup going to the construction of a fat suit on The Whale is blatantly disrespectful. And to blast this specific image of a fake fat body on display behind the award is inconceivable," noted one user. Another asserted, "I don’t appreciate that the makeup team who created a fat suit just won an Oscar and that is because we need to have better stories with fat actors and not thinner actors in fat suits."

Fat suit was 'appropriately heavy'

‘The Whale’ sees Fraser playing Charlie, an extremely obese man whose eating disorder damaged his relationships with his loved ones and rendered a normal life practically impossible. Fraser, who scooped up the Best Actor Oscar, wore a 330-pound fat suit and extensive prosthetic makeup for his role.

In a previous interview with host Graham Norton, Fraser talked about his body suit and said, “It was designed with the rules that it would obey gravity and physics. It was appropriately heavy and that really made the experience of playing the part, I think, a lot closer to what it would be like to live in a body of a man that size, for me personally."

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.