Brendan Fraser Reveals Why Darren Aronofsky Really Cast Him The Whale
Hollywood legend already has it Darren Aronofsky took ten years to find an actor to play a 600 lb man in The Whale, before setting his sights on Brendan Fraser.
But Fraser, during an informal conversation at the Red Sea Film Festival on Sunday, revealed the real reason Aranofsky cast him in the Oscar-winning role of Charlie. “He was looking for an actor who hadn’t been seen in a while. He told me. And that was me. He wanted to reintroduce that actor through a performance that would be transformative and have an element of this is the last person you might expect to do this role,” Fraser recalled.
And that was all fine for Fraser, who added he’s quite happy with the “Brenaissance” memes to underscore one of Hollywood’s most memorable career comebacks. “Yes, look at me,” he said from the stage of Old Town Al-Balad in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, as he broke out into his trademark wide grin.
But Fraser added he preferred to describe his disappearance from Hollywood before his role in The Whale as more a mid-career time out than a slump. “Taking a break is important in any line of work. In my career, it’s been a trajectory that’s been like a roller coaster loop. It’s up, it’s down, it’s sideways. It’s in the dark. It’s thrilling,” he recalls.
Fraser insists he made good use of the downtime. “I used the time to have a retrospection to think from within, so I could do The Whale,” he revealed. He chilled cooking in the kitchen, learned archery and acquired Pecas, his late horse he first met on the set of History Channel series, Texas Rising.
That career break followed a dizzying rise in Hollywood on its own, starting with his starring role in Encino Man in 1992. “To be recognized and noticed that early definitely allowed me to have access to other projects,” Fraser said as agents, directors and producers suddenly noticed his rising star.
Then he had his first box office hit with George of the Jungle in 1997, which made him a bonafide Hollywood star. “It was exciting, then. I didn’t like the working out part, though. That hurt. I had to do that frequently,” Fraser added.
George of the Jungle also brought him overnight fame, which was a surprise to Fraser as every acting gig is in reality a crap shoot. “What you think you’re going to do, and what you create and what turns out are vastly different things. When that film came out, it had a broad international appeal and a lot of monkeys,” he recounts.
Another career high was starring in The Mummy as explorer Rick O’Connell, where he performed opposite Rachel Weisz on a set in Morocco. “We had no idea what this movie was about. Was it a comedy, a horror film, an adventure film? It played quick, like a roller coaster ride,” Fraser said.
He also had dramatic turns in Gods and Monsters, The Quiet American and Journey to the Center of the Earth, which Fraser said had initial problems with its adapted screenplay. But the kinks were worked out on set, with digital 3D production also introduced in its early incarnations.
“Most excitingly, it was to test out brand new technology in 3D filmmaking and projection and the use of the dark glasses that have become ubiquitous now,” Fraser said.
But with The Whale – a chamber piece about a reclusive morbidly obese man struggling to find redemption — Fraser shot a movie during COVID-19 that he argued may never have become a commercial hit were it not for the pandemic.
“We shot that in the winter just before vaccinations came to prominence. If it was made today, I don’t know if it would be seen,” Fraser said. The pandemic era with its widespread illness and death and concerns over the health of everyone around people apparently translated to the screen for filmgoers watching The Whale.
“The amount of care we had for one another for our health, and we all had a collective experience of wondering if there would be a tomorrow. I know that that intangible showed through with how it was received by audiences,” Fraser said.
Success with The Whale included a memorable world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, where strong buzz had already built during press screenings before Fraser was left in tears during a six-minute standing ovation from the Lido audience.
“It was my first time to Venice, and I had not seen the film in its entirety, fully locked down. I knew that the message behind it was either going to resonate and get people to really reevaluate the thing we think we really know when we judge the people we love, or it could be infinitely forgettable. And the stakes are often one or the other,” Frasier said.
In the end, as Aronofsky intended, The Whale was transformative for Fraser, who insisted he hoped early in his career just to be a working actor. “Look, I’ve run in a lot of movies through fire, on top of buildings, in fast cars, and all that’s fun and dangerous. But to make a film that was the biggest emotional commitment I’ve ever had to make, I’m grateful to this film,” he said of his star-turn in Aronofsky’s classic movie.
The Red Sea Film Festival continues through Dec. 14.
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