Brendan Fraser

Brendan Fraser & director Darren Aronofsky joined Capital Breakfast ahead of the release of their new film, The Whale. The psychological drama marks ...

"And I took great heart in that. It's been fun. He can't even get to his feet when we meet him on screen. For the obvious reason that it's like doing an Olympic deadlift for him and he might have a cardiac event at the same time." So far it's been exciting. "Charlie can't live on his couch any longer.

It is not uncommon for critics to worry that a film looks too much like a theatre piece. Martin McDonagh's The Banshees of Inisherin and Sarah Polley's ...

The director of shockers such as Requiem for a Dream and Mother! The worry is that the film deals in the worst, most jaded conventions of bourgeois middlebrow dinner theatre from the 1950s. No sooner have we settled back down after our gin and tonic at the interval than a new character is announcing the beginning of act two by knocking at the front door. When they go out to the porch, one can imagine the lights dimming on the main set and coming up on a hitherto unnoticed bit of carpentry abutting the wings. Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin and Sarah Polley’s Women Talking, current nominees for best picture at the Oscars, have had that accusation gently levered in their direction. It is not uncommon for critics to worry that a film looks too much like a theatre piece.

Directed by Darren Aronofsky, The Whale follows the story of Charlie, a reclusive and chronically obese online English teacher, who is desperately trying to ...

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Directed by Darren Aronofsky, The Whale follows the story of Charlie, a reclusive and chronically obese online English teacher, who is desperately trying to ...

From Darren Aronofsky comes The Whale, the story of a reclusive English teacher living with severe obesity who attempts to reconnect with his estranged teenage ...

Chatting to star Brendan Fraser, who has since been nominated for an Academy Award and BAFTA, and writer Samuel D. Starring Brendan Fraser and is based on the acclaimed play by Samuel D. From Darren Aronofsky comes The Whale, the story of a reclusive English teacher living with severe obesity who attempts to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter for one last chance at redemption.

If ever a performance saved a movie, it's Brendan Fraser in The Whale. The voyeuristic elements of the film are outshone by his humanity.

If ever a performance saved a movie, it’s Brendan Fraser in The Whale. Fraser’s been delivering excellent character work for years on the small screen, but it’s gratifying to see that talent shine in a leading role. With his health failing, he attempts to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter Ellie to mend damages of the past.

Darren Aronofsky brings cold and glib direction to Samuel D Hunter's adaptation of his own stage play.

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This week, Sky's entertainment reporter Claire Gregory is joined by arts and entertainment correspondent Katie Spencer, and reviewer Stevie Wong.

Hear what the team made of this rather bleak series. In this part of the podcast, the team discusses the film's theme of obesity, which some may find upsetting. [Andrea Riseborough Oscars row](https://news.sky.com/story/andrea-riseborough-what-is-the-controversy-surrounding-british-stars-oscar-nomination-12799655), and whether the Academy may change its campaigning rules.

Brendan Fraser plays a man eating his pain in the latest from Hollywood extremist Darren Aronofsky. Fraser has been nominated for an Oscar for his role as ...

And then, into his orbit, crashes Thomas (Ty Simpkins), a twitchy Christian evangelist who exhorts Charlie to save himself and the flamboyantly obnoxious Ellie, who only deigns to visit so her dad can help with her own school essay assignments. He is housebound and suffers a minor heart attack in the first few minutes of The Whale. Brendan Fraser plays a man eating his pain in the latest from Hollywood extremist Darren Aronofsky.

BRIAN VINER: Darren Aronofsky's The Whale isn't a conventional love story - it isn't a conventional anything - but it's about love nonetheless, ...

But he is certainly anything but anodyne as a director, and The Whale — adapted by Samuel D. But everyone else is searching for the Wishing Star, too, including, for more nefarious reasons, the monstrous Jack Horner and the crime family of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Indeed, it is perhaps the chief irony in Darren Aronofsky's bold drama that Charlie has a generous, almost childlike view of humanity in general that he cannot apply to himself. She is charmless at best, at worst vicious and manipulative, but Charlie, even though he has to bribe her to continue calling on him, sees only the good in her. Charlie (Brendan Fraser) weighs over 40 st and is not just housebound but practically chairbound. Hugely fat characters also populate horror and fantasy films, but it's not often that you find one as the protagonist in a love story.

Brendan Fraser had fallen off the map when he was invited by Darren Aronofsky to play Charlie in The Whale. It's a strange comeback role for an actor who ...

[Obstinacy of the Irish and heartwarming Tom Hanks – two films to catch](https://www.afr.com/life-and-luxury/arts-and-culture/obstinacy-of-the-irish-and-heartwarming-tom-hanks-two-films-to-catch-20221214-p5c6bq)The Banshees of Inisherin is an allegory that skewers the Irish. [Tom Cruise is still the Top Gun](https://www.afr.com/life-and-luxury/arts-and-culture/tom-cruise-is-still-the-top-gun-20220516-p5aloz)After a gap of 36 years, the sequel to the star’s signature film is a perfect piece of formula film-making. [One of these movies is a triumph - the other a train wreck](https://www.afr.com/life-and-luxury/arts-and-culture/one-of-these-movies-is-a-triumph-the-other-a-train-wreck-20230120-p5ce9s)Tar is a study of the corruptions of fame and power, the world of classical music and the rise of cancel culture. [Avatar: The Way of Water is three hours of CGI candy](https://www.afr.com/life-and-luxury/arts-and-culture/avatar-the-way-of-water-is-three-hours-of-cgi-candy-20221208-p5c4pw)After an hour or so of mystical wildlife documentary, it almost comes as a relief when the film finally bursts into rampant violence and mayhem. [Two films worth a trip to the cinema on Boxing Day](https://www.afr.com/life-and-luxury/arts-and-culture/two-films-worth-a-trip-to-the-cinema-on-boxing-day-20221213-p5c61v)The Lost King tells the tale of an ordinary person driven to do extraordinary things. Is the whale a symbol for God? It’s no revelation that Charlie is the “whale” of the title, but he’s also Melville, and Ishmael, the narrator of the novel. The Whale is shaping up as one of those love-it-or-hate-it films, but it will leave nobody feeling indifferent. This is interrupted by the arrival of Liz (Hong Chau), a nurse who has taken it upon herself to look after Charlie, even though she knows it’s only a matter of time until his heart gives up. It’s a strange comeback role for an actor who used to be an action hero because Charlie is the very definition of inertia. One suspects there are very few jolly fat people as the cliché has it, but Charlie’s misery is on a scale to match his waistline. Predictably, this has fired the anger of fat activists who see the film as painting a negative picture of the chronically overweight.