Brendan Fraser has defended wearing prosthetics in his upcoming movie, where he portrays a man with obesity.
The actor, 53, is set to star in The Whale, a movie by director Darren Aronofsky, 53, where he plays a 600-lb English teacher who is trying to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter before his health further deteriorates, per IMDb.
The film received a six-minute standing ovation at Venice Film Festival, which saw Fraser get teary-eyed at the response.
Check out the trailer for The Whale:The Mummy star hasn't been without his critics though. Actor Guy Branum, 47, spoke out against the choice of casting, claiming that he has problems with casting a "straight actor who is not very fat, and [who] used prosthetics to represent fatness."
Fraser has since defended the use of prosthetics within the film. Speaking to People at the movie's premiere in New York, the actor said: "I think it's one of the more exacting ways you can create a character and body.
"In this case the mandate that Charlie's costume would respect the laws of gravity and physics as opposed to the many ways that we've seen that character depicted in films before as really a one-note joke, and in a costume that's just unfair."
The actor continued: "We felt an obligation... it was accurate, that was what we strived for."
Per Variety, the prosthetics weighed up to 300lbs and the star had to take lessons with a dance teacher to move convincingly as a person of that size.
Director Darren Aranofsky, in an interview with Variety, also spoke out in defense of his casting choice: "There was a chapter in the making of this film where we tried to research actors with obesity.
"I just needed the right actor for the role. But it’s amazing to see how people respond to him," he continued. "I think they’re going to be impressed by how the same actor who played all those honest, innocent characters back then is portraying this complicated, messed-up person.
"Outside of not being able to find an actor who could pull off the emotions of the role, it just becomes a crazy chase. Like, if you can’t find a 600-pound actor, is a 300-pound actor or 400-pound actor enough?"
The director also had concerns over the grueling schedule of the film as he worried about the potential health risks of casting an actor who was true to the size of the character.
This is Fraser's first leading role in a movie in 12 years.