Brendan Fraser Says ‘The Whale’ Role ‘Felt Like Destiny Calling’
Brendan Fraser, who plays the lead in the new Oscar-buzzed film The Whale, went through an emotional shift for the part. The film is a psychological drama written by Samuel D. Hunter and directed by Darren Aronofsky. The movie also features other star actors, including Sadie Sink, Hong Chau, Samantha Morton, and Ty Simpkins.
In The Whale, we follow Charlie, a reclusive English teacher who, years after abandoning his family for a lover, is trying to rebuild his relationship with his estranged daughter. After his lover died, Charlie’s sadness and guilt drove him to compulsive binge eating, resulting in him gaining serious weight; 600 pounds.
Darren Aronofsky spent 10 years trying to find the right actor to play Charlie in ‘The Whale’
Director Darren Aronofsky told Deadline it took a decade to find the right actor to play Charlie. “I spent a lot of time meeting and thinking about lots of different actors. People were also coming to me and suggesting different actors. But, [the choices] just didn’t get me out of bed in the morning to make it.”
Finding the perfect actor for the lead role delayed production by over a decade. The Whale was turned into a play in 2012 by Samuel D. Hunter. While watching the play, Aronofsky immediately knew that he had to direct the movie, but the film couldn’t move forward without someone to play Charlie.
That changed, though, when Aronofsky saw a trailer for Journey to the End of the Night, a Brazilian indie film starring none other than The Mummy’s Brendan Fraser. According to an interview with the Associated Press, the filmmaker had “a light bulb go out” at that moment.
Brendan Fraser said ‘The Whale’ role felt like destiny calling
Brendan Fraser used to be one of the biggest names in Hollywood, thanks to his roles in hits like The Mummy and George of the Jungle. Unfortunately, the actor’s career has been on the slide for the past decade or so owing to a mix of physical injury, a messy divorce, trauma from sexual harassment, and what the actor perceives as being blacklisted in the business for speaking out against his abuser.
However, the much-missed, once-ubiquitous actor has returned. The fact that he appears to have a lot in common with Charlie, the character he plays, only adds to the poignancy of the situation. Charlie and Fraser strive to overcome the pain of the past and rebuild their relationships after experiencing a devastating loss.
In an interview with GQ to break down his most iconic roles, Fraser said The Whale role felt like destiny calling. Speaking on how he accepted the role, the actor said, “I didn’t know the name of the movie. I didn’t know what it was about… Needless to say, I read the script. I got that feeling again that I got when I was a kid when I got the call. I mean, it felt like only destiny calling. It had the ear markings of everything that I would love to play in a character.”
‘The Whale’ is a perfect comeback role for Brendan Fraser
After the debut of The Whale at the Venice International Film Festival, the audience applauded as the credits rolled, but more specifically, they cheered Fraser for his portrayal of Charlie. Brendan Fraser’s performance as Charlie is not only his first leading role in quite some time, but it’s also widely considered the best performance of his career.
Fraser’s comeback has to be one of the most heartwarming events in the last few years. Over the past decade or so, Fraser has experienced a lot of heartache, and it’s inspiring to see him jump straight back into the game and challenge himself with new roles as an actor. From the looks of things, The Whale is a perfect comeback role for The Mummy actor!
