The Whale director hits back at criticism over Brendan Fraser wearing 'fat suit' to play obese man

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The Whale director Darren Aronofsky has hit back at criticism over Brendan Fraser wearing a prosthetic 'fat suit' to play an obese man in the critically-acclaimed film.The film sees Fraser play a 600-pound gay man confined to a wheelchair and hoping to reconnect with his estranged daughter - with The Mummy actor donning the 300 pound 'fat suit' filled with airsoft pellets, dried beans, and marbles for his scenes.After reviews accused the film of lacking 'empathy' due to the 'frightful' physical portrayal of Fraser's character Charlie,  Aronofsky lauded the make-up and prosthetics on his team for lending a 'realism' to the scenes.Saying the criticism 'made no sense' to him, he told Yahoo Entertainment: 'Actors have been using make-up since the beginning of acting—that’s one of their tools.

Response: The Whale director Darren Aronofsky has hit back at criticism over Brendan Fraser wearing a prosthetic 'fat suit' to play an obese man in the critically-acclaimed film'And the lengths we went to portray the realism of the makeup has never been done before.

One of my first calls after casting Brendan was to my makeup artist,'I asked him, "Can we do something that’s realistic?"  Because if it’s going to look like a joke, then we shouldn’t do it.' He added that he wanted to change the perception of obese people on screen who are 'generally written as bad guys or as punch lines' - to create a 'fully worked-out character.'Aronofsky also told The Los Angeles Times’ The Envelope podcast about his work with  the Obesity Action Coalition (OAC), saying: 'They really feel this is going to open up people’s eyes.