'The Whale' director defends putting Brendan Fraser in a fat suit: The criticism 'makes no sense to me'
- Darren Aronofsky said he doesn't understand the backlash against "The Whale."
- The film stars Brendan Fraser as a teacher with obesity who's grieving his boyfriend's death.
Darren Aronofsky's "The Whale" has recently come under heavy criticism for putting its lead actor, Brendan Fraser, in a fat suit to portray a man with obesity, but the director says he doesn't understand the backlash.
The reaction to the A24 movie has been mixed, and it's earned a 67% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes. Although, many have praised Brendan Fraser's performance as the reclusive teacher, Charlie, and he's been nominated for a Golden Globe award thanks to the role.
It's fair to say that "The Whale" has caused controversy online, with some critics calling it fatphobic for how it depicts Charlie and his weight. Aronofsky discussed the issue when speaking to Yahoo! Entertainment, explaining that the suit is just a tool to enhance Fraser's performance.
He said: "Actors have been using makeup since the beginning of acting — that's one of their tools. And the lengths we went to portray the realism of the makeup has never been done before."
The "Requiem for a Dream" and "Mother!" director explained that the reliance on the fat suit was a result of his attempts to make Charlie's weight look realistic, rather than "a joke."
Aronofsky said: "One of my first calls after casting Brendan was to my makeup artist, Adrien Morot. I asked him, 'Can we do something that's realistic?' Because if it's going to look like a joke, then we shouldn't do it."
The director added that obese characters are typically not well written in movies, falling into negative stereotypes as villains or as comedic relief, and the aim for "The Whale" was to depict a "fully worked-out" character.
Aronofsky said: "People with obesity are generally written as bad guys or as punchlines. We wanted to create a fully worked-out character who has bad parts about him and good parts about him; Charlie is very selfish, but he's also full of love and is seeking forgiveness."
Aronofsky added that that's why the backlash confuses him, because Fraser portrays Charlie with a focus on his personality.
He said: "So [the controversy] makes no sense to me. Brendan Fraser is the right actor to play this role, and the film is an exercise in empathy."