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CINEMA FEATURE

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The best of Brendan

breadcrumbs. But you found me.” Based on Samuel D. Hunter’s acclaimed play, The Whale , at its core, is a tale of transformation and transcendence, one man’s odyssey into himself and out of his body, a journey through the depths of grief towards the possibility of salvation. Through Charlie, the movie gives us access to a life that is rarely portrayed with tenderness or sensitivity on the big screen. But Fraser pours himself into the kaleidoscope of Charlie’s inner world, all of its contradictions and longings and fears, with a twinkling, almost mischievous wit. Any concern about the possible insensitivity of the title is dispelled once it’s understood that Moby Dick factors prominently in the story, both literally and thematically. Charlie and Ahab are not so different, underneath it all; both men caught up in the pursuit of a dream, intoxicated with the could-have-been, obsessed with the fantasy of another future. “Inhabiting Charlie's body changed me physically,” says Fraser of donning the prosthetic suit for the role. “It was up to several hundred pounds in a couple of shots. But that's good, because it meant there's less affectation or acting needed. “Of course, I studied with a movement coach and we took research from those who live with obesity and how their bodies dictate what their mobility is and how their feet are held. “And once the apparatus was off for me, I still felt changed. I was moved to think that I can take this off of my body and effectively put it in a closet, whereas there are those who are trapped in their own body; who are bedridden; who wait a strange fate in a limbo,” he adds. “I did my best and I had to let the prosthetics and who I am create who he was. And I do have lived experience of what it is to live with obesity. That doesn't mean that I'm automatically the best person for the job because I fit a body genotype. But what it does mean is that I have an obligation to bring as much humanity to this character as I know how to, and also to have that drawn out by a world class director like Darren.”

STACK talks to Brendan Fraser about his triumphant return to the screen in the acclaimed indie drama, TheWhale . Words Gill Pringle B rendan Fraser felt like a sumo wrestler, living in the skin of a 600lb English teacher who has pushed his heart to the point of collapse in Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale . “Getting to my feet was an act of willpower and at the same time almost like Olympic daughter (Sadie Sink) many years earlier. Once one of Hollywood’s most reliable leading men, Fraser starred in box office hits The Mummy (1999) and George of the Jungle (1997), also receiving critical acclaim for his performance opposite Ian McKellen in Gods and Monsters (1998), and alongside Michael Caine in The Quiet American (2002). A BIG COMEBACK

deadlifting, so I paid close attention to that and to sumo wrestlers. This film was like my Mount Kilimanjaro,” he tells STACK . Fraser’s character, the morbidly obese Charlie, is also a man struggling to come to the terms with the death of his former lover, and the shame and guilt he feels over abandoning his wife (Samantha Morton) and now teenaged

But his career was sidelined after he accused Philip Berk, then-president of the scandal-ridden Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), of sexual assault in 2003. The alleged assault, a subsequent divorce, and the death of his mother sent Fraser into a depression that, combined with surgeries to repair damage caused by years of stunt work, led to a decline in movie offers. However, his mesmerising role in The Whale is a triumphant return, which some wags have dubbed another “Brennaisance”. Indeed, an emotional Fraser took to the stage on January 15 after being named Best Actor at the Critics Choice Awards. Talking about how director Aronofsky offered him a lifeline, Fraser said in his acceptance speech, “I was in the wilderness and I probably should have left a trail of

Sadie Sink as Ellie in TheWhale

The Whale is only in cinemas on Feb 2.

24 FEBRUARY 2023

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