Brendan Fraser, the resurrection of a harassed actor: "I never hid"

• Venice Festival 'The whale': the 'resurrection' of an obese Brendan Fraser in Darren Aronofsky's anemic proposal

• Comeback Brendan Fraser resurfaces in Venice as 'The Whale' and 130 kilos more

Awkward, heavy and, above all, authentic.

This is how

describes the suit and the prosthesis of

that helped him transform into Charlie, the obese and obsessive protagonist of

, the latest film by

The former Hollywood heartthrob, dual US-Canadian nationality, suffered four hours of ordeal to adjust the different pieces of the invisible frame to his body and came to feel vertigo as he freed himself from the burden each day of filming.

"The suit responded authentically to the laws of physics and gravity, and it affected me personally," he recalls in an interview in London.

The physical and emotional effort that he puts into the character was worth it.

since he presented the film at the Venice Festival, in September 2022.

The audience at the Mostra erupted into a long and loud applause, which caught the actor by surprise.

It was his first visit to the contest and the welcome became an unforgettable prelude to his return to the forefront of cinema.

"I will always remember the warm reception in Venice. It is my corollary. Such an ovation is unprecedented in my professional life. It moved me," he exclaimed in a meeting with this newspaper joined by Aronofsky and Samuel D. Hunter, author of the play in on which this existential drama is based, sprinkled with black humor and a fierce determination to achieve redemption before leaving the tunnel.

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Venice reaffirmed Fraser's knack for projecting disgust, exasperation, fondness, loathing, despair, pain, and ultimately the widest range of feelings while retaining a crude sense of humor.

The jury did not ratify the public support and awarded the Colpi Cup to Colin Farrell, for

who continues to be a strong competitor for the 2023 award winners. But critics recognized his work as a masterful twist that, after his 54 years, guarantees him a wide range of possibilities.

On social networks there is talk of the '

', of the 'rebirth' of the idol of adventure and action cinema of the nineties and the turn of the century, with titles such as '

or '

', who also excelled in dramas and comedies, from '

,' with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, to

,' opposite Ian McKellen.

"I was never very far during all that time," he reiterates his apparent distance from the spotlight.

and I'm very proud of

. It's a project that concerns me very much. It's a striking departure from everything I've done so far, but it's a story that is seldom easily told or narrated, and I wanted to challenge that reality."

Charlie teaches creative storytelling and teaches classes via Zoom from his apartment in Idaho.

He encourages the students to write honestly as he hastily disconnects his computer's camera in order to hide his morbid obesity.

He eats compulsively, it is difficult for him to get up from the sofa and taking a step through the apartment is torture that threatens to trigger a heart attack.

and is only kept alive by the hope of reconnecting with his teenage daughter (Sadie Sink), whom he abandoned as a child.

"

points out in the interview.

"I connect with the emotional reality of a man who wants to reconcile with the choices he made in his life that distanced him from his family. I feel a strong emotional connection to Charlie's need to seek and demand truth, honesty, and reality as much myself as well as everyone else. And I made sure to play the part without sentimentality."

Fraser dropped his grenade of truth in 2018. He accused the now former president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA),

of sexually assaulting him as he was about to leave a reception at a Los Angeles hotel.

and a sea of ​​confusion, anxiety and feelings of guilt, which led him to move away from the Hollywood heartland.

he revealed to Zach Baron, editor-in-chief of GQ magazine.

Berk admitted to the groping, but wanted to downplay it by pointing out that it was a joke.

He retained his position at the head of the organizing association for the Golden Globes until it was finally swept away by a racist scandal that ended up causing stars and celebrities to boycott the 2022 awards gala. Fraser was chosen this year among the nominations for best actor, but left his seat empty because, he said, he has "more history with the HFPA than respect for" the famed organization of film journalists.

They can call me many things, but not that," he replied to Baron.

Fraser's return is preceded by appearances in Steven Soderberg's film

, in the

Canadian '

' and the series

and '

', among other productions.

, '

, about the slaughter of oil-rich Osage Indians, in which he plays lawyer WS Hamilton

, is eagerly awaited .

He is also watching for this year

's Max Barbakow comedy '

On the contrary, his recent steps into the superhero universe, such as the villain of Batgirl, remained in storage when the DC Comics franchise was shelved, with the script already shot, after the merger of Discovery and Warner Media.

Fraser probably delegated the scenes of crude blows to a double, chastised for the bodily injuries that he has had since 1991 - as Sailor 1 in '

- and that have forced him

and undergo various specialized treatments since his farewell of

'The Whale

requires intense internal action from Fraser.

Charlie is stranded on the sofa, teaching his classes '

' and in direct contact with a handful of visitors.

Only his daughter, his ex-wife (Samantha Morton) and the willful nurse (Hong Chau) come to the apartment.

Meanwhile, a young evangelist (Ty Simpkins) knocks on the door as many times as the pizza delivery man, who the audience can only hear.

"Charlie's world is his apartment. The story takes place behind closed doors, we want to know what happens in there and we found that any movement is monumental for Charlie, even going to the door to get a breath of fresh air," explains his alter ego.

In the absence of exteriors and multiple locations, Aronofsky focuses on the human details of a character whose portrayal has earned the support and endorsement of the American obesity association, the

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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• Golden Globes

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• sexual harassment

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