Brendan Fraser and Extra Actors Deal with Carrying Fats Fits for Roles

After dealing with backlash for sporting a fats swimsuit, celebrities akin to Chris Sullivan and Sarah Paulson opened up about taking up their respective roles.

Brendan Fraser obtained important acclaim after enjoying the lead within the 2022 psychological drama The Whale. The movie, which relies on a play by Samuel D. Hunter of the identical identify, tells the story of a 600-pound man who tries to reconnect along with his daughter following the dying of his accomplice.

Forward of the film’s theatrical launch, director Darren Aronofsky responded to critics who questioned his choice to solid Fraser as an alternative of a bigger actor.

“There was a chapter within the making of this movie the place we tried to analysis actors with weight problems,” he advised Selection in October 2022, one month earlier than the film’s debut. “Exterior of not with the ability to discover an actor who might pull off the feelings of the position, it simply turns into a loopy chase. Like, in the event you can’t discover a 600-pound actor, is a 300-pound actor or 400-pound actor sufficient?”

The Mummy actor, for his half, detailed the analysis he did whereas engaged on the undertaking — together with a comfort with the Weight problems Motion Coalition.

“They let me know what their food regimen was and the way weight problems had affected their lives when it comes to their relationships with family members,” he defined concerning the advocacy group. “It was heartbreaking, as a result of fairly often these individuals have been mocked and made to really feel terrible about themselves. Vindictive speech is painful. And it does injury as a result of it feeds into the cycle of overeating. I simply left these conversations considering, ‘Hey, this isn’t your fault. That is an sickness. That is an habit.’”

In the meantime, Sullivan had a special method after receiving backlash for his prosthetics in That is Us.

“There’s loads of issues to be outraged about nowadays, and I believe that getting outraged about an actor on a tv present who could also be sporting a dressing up that makes him bigger than he’s, may be low on the listing,” the actor, who performed Toby within the hit NBC sequence, shared throughout an interview on the In the present day present in 2017. “At the very least in my view. If I’m not portraying Toby with the extent of integrity or honesty — [if] you disagree with [that], I’d be glad to speak about that. However I believe that whatever the costumes that I put on, particularly with Toby, I attempt to convey as a lot coronary heart and honesty as I can.”

Sullivan’s costar and onscreen accomplice Chrissy Metz additionally got here to his protection.

“We examined loads of gents who have been greater, and I get it — individuals suppose the authenticity is form of ruined by that. However Chris has been heavier, so I believe he understands the plight of being obese,” Metz mentioned on Watch What Occurs Reside With Andy Cohen that very same yr. “Additionally he was simply the very best man for the job. And folks put on prosthetics on a regular basis — it’s simply weight versus, like, a nostril or a chin. It’s simply form of the secret.”

Scroll down for stars who mentioned their choice to put on physique prosthetics for a job: