‘The Whale’ cast another actor before Brendan Fraser

Brendan Fraser was about to not be the protagonist of the film The Whale (The whale). The film took ten years to see the light since Darren Aronofsky decided to bring the play of the same name to the big screen. They were ten years in which a long list of actors and also directors paraded. Aronofsky stepped down as director of the project on several occasions, stepping back as a producer. Thus, Tom Ford (Nocturnal animals, A single man), Janicza Bravo (Zola, Lemon) and George Clooney (The bar of high hopes, midnight sky, suburbicon, the ides of march, Good night and good luck) were linked to the project at different times of pre-production. During the promotional campaign for the film, Aronofsky has assured that he met almost all the actors in the age group of Brendan Fraser (54 years old), but that none convinced him. During the time when it was considered that Tom Ford could be the best director for this project, the actor and television presenter James Corden was the main candidate. George Clooney, however, wanted to go for an unknown actor to give life to the homosexual professor who teaches creative writing online, a weak, lonely, manic-depressive man, gigantic and ashamed of what he has done to his body after the death of his lover will lead him to slowly commit suicide. Of all the names that were considered, only James Corden was the only real alternative. The problem is that Tom Ford ended up leaving the project due to creative differences on the project with Aronofsky. And Corden only fit Ford. And Clooney and Aronofsky couldn’t find a 370-pound actor to convince them.

Against Corden he played his age. When he was approached for the role, Corden, 44 (now minus when Ford cast him as Charlie in The Whale), ten fewer than Fraser, was not only younger but looked younger.

It wasn’t until Aronofsky saw The dark side of the night (2007) in which Fraser appeared that it occurred to him to think of this actor. “There was an angsty, vulnerable quality” that she won over. “As soon as he walked out of my office after our first meeting, I felt it,” Aronofsky has said. “I knew he could play someone most people would start to write off, but within five minutes they’d start to have feelings for him.” . Then, within 20 minutes, they start to fall for the character, because Brendan has a thing for him. Pretty soon, he starts breaking your heart.” Aronofsky has insisted during promotion that he had not seen any of Brendan Fraser’s previous films and that it was not until after casting him in the role that he understood the Fraser effect.

Aronofsky has also stepped forward during the promotion for the choice of an actor who needed prostheses to give life to a character with morbid obesity. A 3D printer and digital sculpting were used to design Brendan Fraser’s costume, which included a set of intricate harnesses and padding. The goal, according to Aronofsky, was to create a suit that obeyed the laws of gravity and physics, so that Fraser could better convey the battle that Charlie had to face every day just by walking across a room, getting up from his feet. a chair or showering.

Aronofsky doesn’t understand the criticism. “It doesn’t make sense. Actors have been wearing makeup since the beginning of acting, that’s one of their tools. And everything we did to portray the realism of makeup has never been done before. One of my first calls after choosing Brendan went to my makeup artist [Adrien Morot]. I asked him: ‘Can we do something that is realistic?’ Because if it’s going to sound like a joke, then we shouldn’t do it.”

Director of The Whale has insisted that “the roles of people with obesity are usually written as villains or as jokes. We wanted to create a completely developed character that had bad and good parts. Charlie is very selfish, but he is also full of love and seeks forgiveness.” .