Brendan Fraser says his 300-pound fat suit for 'The Whale' was almost like a 'straight jacket' and prevented him from moving without help

• Brendan Fraser opened up about his experience wearing a fat suit for his new film "The Whale."
• In a new interview, the "Mummy" actor compared the 300-lb. suit to a "straight jacket."

Brendan Fraser's new movie "The Whale" is already generating lots of buzz ahead of its debut at the Venice Film Festival, but the actor recently revealed that wearing a fat suit for his role in the film was very uncomfortable.

"The torso piece was almost like a straight jacket, with sleeves that went on, airbrushed by hand, to look identical as would human skin, right down to the hand-punched hair," Fraser told Vanity Fair of the prosthetics, which took hours to apply each day.

Directed by Darren Aronofsky, "The Whale" follows Charlie, a reclusive and obese English teacher, as he tries to repair his relationship with his teenage daughter, played by "Stranger Things" star Sadie Sink. During filming, Fraser carried an extra 50 to 300 pounds at any given time, according to Aronofsky (with the weight of Fraser's prosthetics depending on the scene).

And much like his character, Fraser's mobility was severely impacted by the extra weight he was carrying. Per Vanity Fair, there was a dedicated team of "several" people available at all times to help Fraser stand up, sit down, and move from the makeup room to set once he had his prosthetics on.

"I learned quickly that it takes an incredibly strong person inside that body to be that person," the "Mummy" actor said of his character. "That seemed fitting and poetic and practical to me, all at once."

"The Whale" is Fraser's first leading role in several years. He appeared in the 2021 Stephen Soderbergh film "No Sudden Move" and was set to play the villain in the canceled "Batgirl" movie. He'll also appear in the upcoming Martin Scorsese film "Killers of the Flower Moon" alongside Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro.