Brendan Fraser hanging out at the Venice International Film Festival. Once the ubiquitous movie star of the “Mommy” franchise, George of the Jungle has shied away from the spotlight over the past decade. But Fraser is planning what could be a big comeback, starting with his transformative role in Darren Aronofsky’s “The Whale,” which premiered Sunday night at the festival.
As the credits rolled at the Sala Grande Theater, audiences gave the film its long-standing standing ovation, and Fraser wiped away tears on the balcony with the director and co-stars. Fraser plays Charlie, a reclusive English teacher with a kind soul who weighs 600 pounds (270 kilograms). The film already has experts predicting Oscar nominations, but Fraser refuses to think about whether awards are in his future.
“I’m just trying to stay in the present day,” Fraser said before the premiere. He vividly remembers reading a New York Times review of a Samuel D. Hunter play, going to see it, and knowing he had to meet the writer.
One line in particular that stuck out to him was, “People can’t help but care.” He said that’s why he had to make the film.
However, there were challenges with casting.
“To much of Sam Hunter’s pain, it took 10 years to make this movie because it took 10 years to cast.”Casting Charlie was a big challenge. Every movie star on the planet, but none of them really clicked…it didn’t move me.It didn’t feel good.”
And a few years ago, he saw a trailer for a “low-budget Brazilian movie” starring Fraser and said, “The light bulb went out.”
Fraser, who co-stars with Leonardo DiCaprio in Martin Scorsese’s next film, Killers of the Flower Moon, said, “I don’t want any actor who wouldn’t want to work with Darren out of a group of my peers.” I don’t know in
Plus, “I think Charlie is the most heroic man I’ve ever played,” Fraser added. “His superpower is seeing the good in others and bringing it out.”
A prosthetic was used to transform Fraser into Charlie.
“I had to learn to move in absolutely new ways. I even felt dizzy at times,” Fraser said. “I was grateful for those who were physically similar to me.
Beyond his physical abilities, Charlie is also a character who has a deep empathy and affection for everyone around him, including his estranged daughter Ellie, played by Stranger Things star Sadie Sink.
“She has a lot to say, which makes her hot. But I don’t think she expects someone to care about her so much,” Sink said. For someone like Ellie to realize that there is something good about her is throwing her for a loop.”
Hunter, who also wrote the script, said his play was personal. He started doing it 12 years before he was teaching a required expository writing course at Rutgers University. He also stepped out of his own background to set a play in his hometown of Moscow, Idaho, where he was depressed, self-medicated with food, and attended a fundamentalist religious high school as a gay teen. interwoven with history.
“I was afraid to write,” he said. “I thought the only way I could do it was to write it from a deep place of love and empathy… I wanted (Charlie) to be a lighthouse in the middle of a dark, dark ocean.
Whales were Aronofsky’s favorite kind of challenge. Because there were too many restrictions. He learned long ago in his 1998 Pi that boundaries are the “doorway to freedom.” In that movie, he only had $20,000 and a dream. Mother! He was confined to his home. And in The Whale, it’s not just an apartment, it’s also a character who doesn’t move much.
His friendship with cinematographer Matthew Libatik dates back to his days at the American Film Institute in 1990, and he spent considerable time on “how to turn theater into a movie” and “how to make it compelling and exciting.” spent In the rough cut, Aronofsky was relieved to find that he didn’t feel claustrophobic.
Fraser said the film was “part of a movie. A proper movie.”
Venice is a regular stop for Aronofsky, who won the Golden Lion for Wrestling in 2008 and debuted Black Swan and Fountain on the Lido. He said the festival is like home.
Aronofsky and his actors could be ready to leave with a trophy this year as well. Determined. And he has A24 set to release in theaters on his December 9th. In his first film since Mother in 2017!
“Many of us have lost a lot in the last few years. … Cinema is about human connection. It’s about a chance to slip into someone else’s shoes and empathize with someone else’s mind for two hours. That’s just the world.” I think it’s what is needed, and I’m very happy to be back,” Aronofsky said. “This is a big moment for me and for the movie.”
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