Brendan Fraser says The Whale ‘can save lives’

Brendan Fraser is blazing a comeback trail with The Whale and surely no one can argue with that.

The Whale is in cinemas now. Picture: Madman

Brendan Fraser doesn’t mind you calling it “The Brendan Fraser comeback story”.

“I don’t care what you’re calling me, as long as you’re calling me!” he told news.com.au.

The star of The Mummy and Gods and Monsters has been riding a wave of acclaim and goodwill for his wrenching and compassionate performance in Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale, a reminder of the actor’s blazing talent after what seemed like years in the wilderness.

“On the other hand, hang on, I was never that far away. I’ve been keeping my hands and feet busy in the past 10 years. I mean, I haven’t been able to run-and-gun in the desert every year, but with some luck, we’ll be able to make those kinds of movies again.

“I’m humbled and pleased for the response.”

It’s true that Fraser has been keeping busy – he even takes time at the end of the interview to call out for audiences to watch Doom Patrol, a DC superhero series in which he voices the cyborg Robotman (and plays the onscreen human version in flashback scenes).

In the past decade, Fraser has had roles on TV shows including spy thriller Condor, prestige drama The Affair and Getty biopic Trust. He’s also been in a handful of movies, the most notable of which was Steven Soderberg’s No Sudden Move, a crime caper starring Don Cheadle and Benicio Del Toro.

But none of them have thrust the former matinee idol back into the spotlight like The Whale, which has allowed Fraser to showcase much more emotional depth than being a sixpack – albeit a very charismatic one – swinging about in the jungle.

Brendan Fraser is blazing a comeback trail. Picture: Amy Sussman/Getty Images

Fraser has always brought an openness and tenderness to his onscreen presence, and that’s exactly what was necessary in The Whale, for which he’s now been nominated for a raft of awards, including the biggies such as the Oscar, the Screen Actors Guild and the BAFTA.

As the morbidly obese Charlie, Fraser had to draw on a deep well of humanity to persuade audiences that Charlie was deserving of love, care and humanity. Aronofsky’s film challenges audiences to view a character like Charlie beyond his physicality.

“There’s a great deal of empathy in this movie,” Fraser said. “It’s like an empathy machine.

“Charlie never felt like there were quotation marks around him. And in times past and in films past, we haven’t seen this character done this way before.

“Because when an actor puts on this costume and make-up, it’s been in the service of a bad joke or to vilify a character or just ascribe some sort of negative connotation. That’s just not fair. It was important that we did not repeat that.”

The Whale is a character piece, a story centred on a literary teacher with imminent heart failure who desperately tries to reconcile with his prickly teenage daughter, who he “abandoned” eight years earlier during a marriage breakdown.

The title refers to both an offensive term that has been used to refer to large people, but also Charlie’s desire for a relationship with Ellie. She is his whale, his Moby Dick.

“The film isn’t without controversy and there are those who decry it in all sorts of ways. I’ve thought about it long and hard, and I don’t have any conclusion,” Fraser explained with sincerity.

Brendan Fraser was previously best known for his role in The Mummy franchise.

“The concern was [the title] was a slur, and in certain circles it is. Is it a pejorative joke? Possibly. But you learn that [Charlie] is a man of letters and the whale is an ambition. The whale is Moby Dick. Everyone has a white whale to chase up in their lives.

“So, when you come in the door, you may be holding that example as a bias or a prejudice in the first place. And then to see the film, you’ll be challenged again and again and again.

“You have to make a decision about whether or not you’re going to take the invitation to go into Charlie’s apartment and go behind the closed doors of that little two-bedroom dwelling in Anywhere, Idaho, and see how this man lives.

“[Aronofsky’s] films have never offered up any easy answers about the human condition, and [they] even dare you to look away.”

The prosthetic make-up took four hours each morning to put on, and another hour to take off.

Fraser said he didn’t mind because he’s always excited by the prospect of being someone else, of the craft of filmmaking do its transformative magic.

He said he would spend the first couple of hours goofing around with the make-up artists, watching YouTube videos or telling jokes. Or he would, honestly, catch a nap.

He’s adamant that everything was “framed with dignity” and that the movie will surprise audiences who maybe weren’t expecting to be hit with a subtle message of tolerance.

During rehearsals for The Whale, with Darren Aronofsky. Picture: Niko Tavernise

He referenced a character in the film, a young missionary named Thomas, who is pushed into admitting how he really feels about Charlie.

“Finally, he breaks and says, ‘yes, you’re disgusting’, and he reveals who he really is,” Fraser said. “As unpalatable as that is, it’s the truth [of what Thomas thinks]. That honesty sets him free. The world is full of Thomases, we’re going to come to things with preconceived notions.”

But with The Whale, Fraser hoped to change minds, even just a few.

“This may be controversial, but I believe this movie can save lives, that’s what art can do.”

Crucial to that is Fraser’s performance. Charlie isn’t just his physical impairment. As Fraser portrayed him, Charlie is someone who cared for others, and was cared for.

“I never lost faith that we were creating him faithfully, without condescension or mawkishness or sentimentality.

“He is a composite of all of our favourite teachers and mentors, maybe a parent of a friend. He’s someone you’d hope to have in our lives. And for those of us who have been lucky enough, I felt like I knew him in a way,

“When it was over, this might sound a little woo-woo, but I felt like I missed him. I really love that guy.”

The Whale is in cinemas now