The director of black swan took 10 years to bring Samuel D. Hunter’s play to the screen because he couldn’t find the actor who could do justice to such a difficult score to play. Then came Brendan Fraser. Itinerary of a film project like no other.
At the world premiere of The Whale at the Venice Film Festival, the emotion was tangible. Rumors of trophies and Oscars spread at lightning speed and Brendan Fraser’s name was on everyone’s lips. Darren Aronofsky’s new film indeed marks the return of an actor who, after having been one of the biggest Hollywood stars of the 1990s and 2000s, had practically disappeared from the radar screens. And who finds, at 54, the greatest role of his career.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY ENTRACT FILMS
Brendan Fraser is the headliner of The Whale (The whale), a film by Darren Aronofsky.
“It took me 10 years to realize this project because I could not find the actor who could play this extremely demanding role, explained the filmmaker during a virtual press meeting at which The Press has assisted. Like everyone, I had almost forgotten the existence of Brendan Fraser when I saw him, quite by chance, in the trailer of an independent film shot in Brazil [Journey to the End of the Night, d’Eric Eason]. It made a spark in my mind. I said to myself: why not him? »
Darren Aronofsky went there on instinct because he himself is not part of the target audience of George of the Jungle, Encino Man and others mummythe productions to which Brendan Fraser owes his popularity.
“I now know how important these films are for people of younger generations. To be honest, however, I had no idea how revered this man was. »
PHOTO VIANNEY LE CAER, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
In the running for the Golden Lion, Darren Aronofsky presented The Whale (The whale) world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on September 4.
The welcome that Brendan receives thanks to The Whale is completely handsome and crazy, but when I offered him the part, I had no thought at all of the effect he would produce. It’s a bonus!
Darren Aronofsky, director
A great challenge
Beyond the performance of the main actor, The Whale also represented a great challenge in terms of production. As soon as he saw Samuel D. Hunter’s play on the Playwrights Horizons stage in New York, after reading a rave review from the New York TimesDarren Aronofsky immediately knew that a singular film could be drawn from it.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY ENTRACT FILMS
Darren Aronofsky on the film set The Whale (The whale)
“I was well aware that because of the subject, everything would take place in a single setting and that it was going to be impossible to open the room to situate it in different places. I also liked the idea of designing a scene around a character who cannot move, as if he were the sun in the center of a solar system with a few planets rotating around it. Making it all lively and captivating despite the constraints, without making the viewer feel confined or bored, was my great challenge as a filmmaker. »
Supported by his lifelong accomplice, Matthew Libatique, in the cinematography department, Aronofsky, who asked the playwright to draw a screenplay from his own play, thus turned an eminently theatrical work from the outset into a true cinema proposal.
PHOTO NIKO TAVERNISE, PROVIDED BY ENTRACT FILMS
Sadie Sink in The Whale (The whale)
At the heart of the story is Charlie (Brendan Fraser), an English teacher with a passion for literature (one of his favorite stories is Moby-Dick, to which the title of the film alludes), who gives his lessons virtually to students who never see him. Prisoner of a too heavy body, the latter has only four people left in his life: his best friend, nurse and also caregiver (Hong Chau), a young visiting evangelist (Ty Simpkins), his former wife (Samantha Morton) and, above all, Ellie, his 17-year-old daughter (Sadie Sink), whom he has not seen for several years.
An incredible humanity
“What attracted me to this piece is the incredible humanity that Samuel D. Hunter managed to put into it,” says the filmmaker. Although Charlie’s condition is obviously dramatic, I don’t really see The Whale like a tragedy. I even think that before, none of my films contained so much hope and humor. People laugh for a moment and they are heartbroken right after. This is due to Samuel’s magnificent writing and the talent of the actors, of course. »
PHOTO VIANNEY LE CAER, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
Brendan Fraser, Hong Chau, Darren Aronofsky, Sadie Sink and playwright Samuel D. Hunter at the presentation of The Whale (The whale) at the Venice Film Festival
On this level, the one who, in 2008, offered a major role to Mickey Rourke, in The Wrestleraffirms not wanting to make a specialty of orchestrating the great returns of more or less forgotten actors.
“As well as being emotionally challenging, Charlie’s role was just as technically challenging,” says Darren Aronofsky.
Several actors could undoubtedly have offered a good performance, but would they all have submitted to such discipline? Brendan had to spend five hours in the makeup chair every day and spend another nine shooting.
Darren Aronofsky, director
“Sometimes, he continues, we come across actors who are at the peak of their careers, other times, on actors who have not had the same opportunities all the time. That was the case with Mickey then, and now with Brendan today. The main reason that led me to do The Whale was to give Charlie to the world so that his inner beauty could shine. We need that right now. »
The Whale (The whale in French version) will be released on December 21.