Brendan Fraser The Whale

'The Whale' writer says new Brendan Fraser movie shows the opposite side of Hollywood fatphobia.

It's an impossible role to fill with a real person dealing with those issues." You have to walk in the door," he finishes. "I wanted to write this character from a place of love and write a character who had this unwavering faith in human beings as his life was kind of falling apart around him." "I understand why people have some of those reactions because, look, the history of portraying people suffering with obesity in cinema is not good, they are fundamentally objects of derision or jokes, or they're completely one-dimensional. Hunter doesn't see criticism for his characterization of a 600-pound gay man struggling with life-threatening obesity as a challenge to the film's success. Instead, he sees the movie as an opportunity to show audiences a portrait of humanity Hollywood rarely explores.

The Whale director Darren Aronofsky responded to criticism of Brendan Fraser being cast as a 600-pound gay man.

Ugly Betty actor Michael Urie said he’s [“tired”](https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2021/11/30/single-all-the-way-michael-urie-netflix-gay/) of such casting decisions. [PRIDE](https://www.pride.com/gay-movies/guy-branum-criticism-the-whale-casting-brendan-fraser) that he had “real problems with the fact” The Whale directors “cast a straight actor who is not very fat” and who used “prosthetics to represent fatness” in the film. [a “lovely actor”](https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2022/09/27/daniel-franzese-conflicted-brendan-fraser-the-whale/), but he felt “conflicted” about the directors’ decision not to cast a queer actor who fit the character a bit more in The Whale. Fraser has been receiving a lot of positive buzz from fans and critics for his performance in The Whale. [“nothing wrong” ](https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2022/09/29/ian-mckellen-straight-actors-gay-roles-bent/)with certain performances. [Variety](https://variety.com/2022/film/features/brendan-fraser-the-whale-career-1235399057/), claiming he and casting directors couldn’t find an obese actor who “could pull off the emotions of the role”.

Brendan Fraser and Elizabeth Hurley starred together in 2000 movie Bedazzled, and recently met up at a screening of Fraser's movie The Whale.

After so long out of the limelight, Fraser’s return been nothing short of spectacular, and with a few other movies already in production, it is not about to stop anytime soon. Discovery’s Batgirl](https://movieweb.com/brendan-fraser-talks-canceled-batgirl-movie-describes-the-decision-as-tragic/) movie was a kick for the actor, who was set to appear as the villain Firefly in the movie. Fraser and Hurley were both in attendance at the London screening of Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale.

'It's an impossible role to fill with a real person dealing with those issues,' Aronofsky said of casting Brendan Fraser in the main role of 'The Whale.'

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Fraser, 53, donned a stone blue suit with button-down white top and navy blue tie at the film festival.

She wore her blonde locks back and donned a light layer of makeup on the evening. I thought I was going to cry.' The Indianapolis, Indiana-born actor rounded out his ensemble with black shoes. Fraser appears to be in the midst of a full-fledged career comeback with his performance in the Darren Aronofsky-directed motion picture The latest: Brendan Fraser, 53, was snapped with his partner Jeanne Moore at the Mill Valley Film Festival in San Rafael, California Thursday, for a screening of his comeback film The Whale [Mill Valley Film Festival](https://www.mvff.com/) in San Rafael, [California](/news/california/index.html) Thursday, for a screening of his comeback film The Whale.

Brendan Fraser and Elizabeth Hurley, who starred in the 2000 Harold Ramis film Bedazzled, reunite at a screening of Fraser's new film, The Whale.

Twenty-two years after Bedazzled, it's a treat for viewers to see Hurley and Fraser together again, but it's even more satisfying to see Fraser supported by his peers after the hardships that kept him out of the limelight for so long. [Bedazzled](https://screenrant.com/tag/bedazzled/) co-stars Brendan Fraser and Elizabeth Hurley reunite at a screening of [The Whale](https://screenrant.com/tag/the-whale/). Since Bedazzled, Hurley hasn't starred in many features either, though her many television roles include [Morgan le Fay in Hulu and Marvel's ](https://screenrant.com/runaways-season-3-villain-cast-elizabeth-hurley/) [Runaways](https://screenrant.com/runaways-season-3-villain-cast-elizabeth-hurley/). In the film, Fraser played geeky office worker Elliot who makes a deal with the Devil (Hurley) in order to land the girl of his dreams. At the Toronto International Film Festival, where a screening of The Whale earned one of several standing ovations, After a decade without leading roles in feature films, Fraser is back in the spotlight as the [ star of Darren Aronofsky film ](https://screenrant.com/whale-brendan-fraser-standing-ovation-nyff-video/) [The Whale,](https://screenrant.com/whale-brendan-fraser-standing-ovation-nyff-video/) which has already generated Oscar buzz for the actor.

Three men wearing suits and smiling pose in front of a film festival backdrop. Director Darren Aronofsky, from right, Brendan Fraser and screenwriter Samuel D.

“I wasn’t surprised by the blowback, because of the history of the way that obesity is treated on film. In the A24 drama Fraser plays Charlie, a gay man who is dying as a result of his weight issues. “It’s an impossible role to fill with a real person dealing with those issues.” President Philip Berk inappropriately touched him at an event in 2003. Berk apologized but admitted to no wrongdoing. “Outside of not being able to find an actor who could pull off the emotions of the role, it just becomes a crazy chase. This is an addiction.’” The film’s screenwriter Samuel D. And we live in cynical and reactionary times.” Each day on set Fraser spent four hours in makeup and getting fitted for prosthetics. This is an illness. Like, if you can’t find a 600-pound actor, is a 300-pound actor or 400-pound actor enough?”

Darren Aronofsky says that he couldn't find an obese actor who could "pull off the emotion" before he cast Brendan Fraser in 'The Whale.'

“It’s an impossible role to fill with a real person dealing with those issues.” In “The Whale,” Fraser plays Charlie, an obese gay man who struggles to reconnect with both his ex and his daughter in his last days. “From a health perspective, it’s prohibitive,” the director continued. “There was a chapter in the making of this film where we tried to research actors with obesity,” Aronofsky told Variety.

At a screening of "The Whale" at the Mill Valley Film Festival, Brendan Fraser recounted an incident on the Bay Bridge that took place during the 1997 ...

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Our weekly film podcast sees film fanatics Graham Falk and Dave Hepburn take a look at the latest releases and choose their favourite 'watch once only' ...

Fraser, who Dave tips for an Oscar nomination, stars as a reclusive English teacher who is dealing with severe obesity as attempts to piece back together his life with his estranged teenage daughter in an attempt to get one last chance at redemption in this heartbreaking tale – and Dave has plenty to say on the movie. We also take a deep dive into the new film starring Hollywood’s forgotten hero Brendan Fraser, The Whale. [The Scotsman’s self confessed film fanatic](https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/film-and-tv/best-horror-movies-2022-here-are-15-of-the-scariest-films-on-amazon-prime-3848710) Dave Hepburn as we bring you the latest films reviews and reaction in our regular ‘vodcast’ (Not) Everyone’s A Film Critic.