Watch the trailer for Brendan Fraser’s comeback ‘The Whale’
The Whale, starring Brendan Fraser and directed by Darren Aronofsky, has dropped its first trailer after countless stories of standing ovations after initial screenings.
Fraser’s performance as an overweight man looking to re-connect with his teenage daughter, played by Netflix star Sadie Sink, is one of the film’s greatest strengths. Following the film’s screening at Venice Film Festival, the Mummy actor has received consistent praise for his appearance.
The trailer is short yet still rather impactful. It gives us a brief insight into the character Charlie’s apartment and images of his daughter crying as he asks a hard-hitting question: “Do you ever get the feeling that people are incapable of not caring? People are amazing.”
The film is being cited as Fraser’s comeback to acting following a hiatus to recover from depression and being a victim of sexual assault in the industry.
Despite these growing positive reactions, changing opinions and a climate have generated criticism and negativity towards The Whale. One of these is that Fraser wears a fat suit in the film, something that some groups aren’t taking too nicely.
Furthermore, Daniel Franzese, known for playing Damien in Mean Girls, has asked those behind the film why an overweight queer man wasn’t chosen to play the part instead.
Aronofsky immediately responded to these criticising questions during an interview with Variety. He assured the public that “there was a chapter in the making of this film where we tried to research actors with obesity.”
However, this came with complications, as the director shared, “outside of not being able to find an actor who could pull off the emotions of the role, it just becomes a crazy chase. Like, if you can’t find a 600-pound actor, is a 300-pound actor or 400-pound actor enough?”
Screenwriter Samuel D Hunter has also given explanations of the film’s subject matter after people claimed that the film attacks overweight individuals, suggested through the reference to Moby Dick residing in the plot.
“The title deliberately pokes at some people’s prejudices,” Hunter stresses. “I wasn’t surprised by the blowback because of the history of the way that obesity is treated on film.” He also reflects on societal perceptions of obesity having an influence on The Whale’s presentation and tone. “We live in cynical and reactionary times. To be clear, this is not a story about everybody who grapples with obesity. It’s how it presented in me.”
The Whale is set to be released in the United Kingdom on Friday, February 3rd 2023.
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