Brendan Fraser opened up about morphing into a 600-pound man for The Whale in a chat with Adam Sandler on Variety’s Actors on Actors.
The 54-year-old actor – who stars in the Darren Aronofsky film – revealed the 300-pound “fat suit” he wore for the film was filled with airsoft pellets, dried beans and marbles.
Describing his complex costume, Fraser said careful attention was paid to the suit to ensure it obeyed “the laws of physics and gravity.”
“Maybe Dried Beans, Marbles”: Brendan Fraser opened up about his transformation into the role of an obese man in a conversation with Adam Sandler on Variety’s Actors on Actors
“Those were shoulder-length sleeves,” he said to Sandler. “There was a five-point harness that I was buckled into. Once I put it on I was in it all day until it came off. The costume pieces themselves contained combinations of these small airsoft pellets, maybe dried beans, marbles. But the rule was that the whole look should obey the laws of physics and gravity because we don’t see that in movies.
He then thanked the Farrelly brothers Eddie Murphy, who starred in The Nutty Professor, and Mike Myers, who played Fat B**tard in the Austin Powers films, for their considerate handling of the fat suit.
“And I really looked at what the Farrelly brothers were doing. I looked at what Mike Myers did, what Eddie Murphy did. That’s only in the last 20 years.
“Everything in front of it is a cut out silhouette of a costume filled with batting and it’s just an athletic actor in a suit. And all in the service of a mean joke.”
Realism: Fraser said special care was taken to ensure the prosthetics obeyed “the laws of physics and gravity.”
Models: Fraser thanked Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy for their use of a realistic “fat suit” at a time when such costumes were considered the butt of a “mean joke”.
Fraser described his determination to portray the role as authentically as possible.
“It’s important to say that because there are people living with this disease. I felt empowered to be her voice and to be as honest as possible and as authentic in the performance as possible.
“Look, my weight was all over the map. I gained weight to play this role and that wasn’t enough – so the body had to come along and the two worked together.”
Comeback role: The actor plays a 600-pound man who hopes to reconnect with his estranged daughter in ‘The Whale.’
In conversation: Fraser spoke to his former Airheads co-star Adam Sandler
Fraser also recalled the consequences of the weight loss he suffered for his 1997 film George Of The Jungle, in which he wore little more than a loincloth on screen.
“You left Airheads and championed George of the Jungle. I was disappointed with how good you looked in it. You shouldn’t have done that to us,” Sandler joked to his former Airheads co-star.
“The wardrobe was, there was no wardrobe. George is wearing a loincloth,” he recalled of the costume.
‘I couldn’t remember my pin number’: Brendan said he struggled with his memory due to the diet she was on for George Of The Jungle
‘You made us feel bad’: The ‘Wedding Singer’ actor joked about Fraser’s ‘George Of The Jungle’ transformation
“You did the right thing with the character. But you did us wrong, man. You made us feel bad,” the The Wedding Singer actor continued.
But Fraser’s diet wasn’t without consequences, and the actor said he’s having trouble remembering his PIN number due to his weight-loss program.
“Hunger for carbohydrates. I would drive home after work and stop to eat. One day I needed some cash and I went to the ATM and I couldn’t remember my pin number because my brain was freezing. Hit that thing. I didn’t eat anything that night,’ he said.
He is back! The Whale is Fraser’s first Hollywood project in nearly a decade and his first starring role in a film since 2013’s straight-to-DVD thriller Breakout
The Whale is Fraser’s first Hollywood project in nearly a decade and his first starring role in a film since 2013’s straight-to-DVD thriller Breakout.
In the film, he plays a 600-pound gay man confined to a wheelchair hoping to reconnect with his estranged daughter.
The film premiered at the Venice International Film Festival in September, where Fraser became emotional onstage after the screening to a standing ovation.
He then collapsed again during another long ovation at last month’s screening of the London Film Festival.
The Whale is scheduled for release on December 9th.
Coming soon: The Whale will be released on December 9th