Brendan Fraser Enters the Oscars Race with Buzzworthy The Whale Performance
The Whale, directed by Darren Aronofsky, is based on the 2012 stage play of the same name that was written by Samuel D. Hunter (Baskets), who also wrote the screenplay for the adaptation.
It stars Brendan Fraser as the 600 lb shut-in Charlie. This film was first shown at the Venice Film Festival, having generated quite a buzz, with many saying that Brendan Fraser is likely to be nominated for the Oscar next year.
And now, as the first trailer for The Whale is released for general public, we can see what exactly gave rise to such opinions. Though the trailer consists of fewer than a dozen shots, plus blurbs of critical praise, it still manages to deliver a substantial emotional impact.
The Whale tells us the story of Charlie, who, years before the film starts, abandoned his wife and daughter for his lover Alan. After the latter dies, Charlie starts to medicate his crushing grief with compulsive overeating, with obvious results. In the play on which the film is based, Charlie supports himself as an online writing tutor. One day he is unexpectedly shaken by an essay written by one of his students, and that leads him to make an attempt of reconnecting with Ellie.
The Whale provoked some controversy – people have objected to the perceived fatphobic use of prosthetics and a fat suit, so that Brendan Fraser can portray a 600 lb man, rather than casting someone of similar size.
Fraser responded to the criticism with, "I am not a small man, and I don't know what the metric is to qualify to play the role. I only know that I had to give as honest a performance as I can." (via Newsweek)
Judging by the reactions – both that of guests at Venice to the film as a whole, and that of general public to the trailer – he indeed managed to give a truly honest performance.
The trailer, unfortunately, did not provide us a specific date on which we will be able to see that performance on the big screen. But as reported by various sources, the release date has previously been confirmed as Friday, December 9.