Brendan Fraser & co. on the "embarrassment of riches" in The Whale's cast
Brendan Fraser, Hong Chau, and Sadie Sink, plus writer Samuel Hunter, give us a glimpse of their processes in adapting The Whale for the screen
Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale is a character study examining the life of a man desperate to connect with the few people in his life. Charlie (Brendan Fraser), affected by obesity, has mostly isolated himself from the world and never leaves his apartment. His only visitors are his best friend and caretaker, Liz (Hong Chau), and a religious missionary (Ty Simpkins) who’s trying to convert him. Knowing he may not have much time to live, he desperately tries to reconnect with his teenage daughter, Ellie (Sadie Sink), whose mother Mary (Samantha Morton) has kept away from him since their divorce.
The film’s major task is extending empathy towards all of its characters despite the friction that their life choices cause among them. How they react to each is not always easy to watch. So how did The Whale’s storytellers bring to life these fraught familial relationships? The film’s cast and crew—including actors Fraser, Chau, Sink, and writer Samuel Hunter—talked to The A.V. Club about working together, finding their characters, and the Oscar buzz the film is receiving.
The A. V. Club: Sam, let’s talk about adapting your own play for the screen. What did you add or take out to make it fit into this different medium?
Samuel Hunter: Darren first approached me when he saw the play in 2012. So we’ve been talking about this project for the better part of a decade. I think, early on, we both realized that this didn’t really need to open up in the traditional way of finding different locations and adding characters. We really just want to be with this guy, much in the same way that we’re with him in the play. So it was challenging. It was the right decision, but a challenging decision, to find a cinematic language for this two-bedroom apartment. Over the years, we found that visual language for the film. Then Brendan’s performance comes in and it’s so deeply layered that he can tell so much of the story with his eyes. It was such a joy for me to be able to hand that over to him. I couldn’t be happier.
AVC: Brendan, can you talk about finding Charlie? How did you develop the specifics of this character?
Brendan Fraser: Every actor knows you’re only as good as the material that you’re given and the people you’re working with. So it’s an embarrassment of riches for me. Sam was there with us each day, which is very helpful. Sadie Sink is incredible in this role. She was winning the game ball every day, I would get lost in her eyes. The laser-sharp focus, the specific, beautiful rage that she played, that was born of the intense sadness that this girl had felt as a result of her father’s actions. She never fell into the trope of an angsty teenager. It’s exciting because I had a front-row seat to watch this kid. I mean she stared down Vecna in Stranger Things, okay? Respect.
Hong Chau, incredible. Somehow she elevates everything that she contributes to the scene. She makes the dialogue better and speaks so much more in the pauses and silences than any actress that I’ve worked with before. She just smacks of authenticity in everything she does. She’s compelling and lovely and we had excellent rapport with one another. Sam Morton, more of the same. Ty Simpkins really stepped up. This kid, I watched him grow up on this movie. And, gosh, I forgot what the question was, but I’m really happy to have worked with such talented people!
AVC: Hong, every time Liz looks at Charlie or interacts with him, we can really feel that empathy. Can you talk about being the audience’s surrogate into the story and into looking at Charlie differently?