After its Oscar wins, there were questions about whether Darren Aronofsky's The Whale was based on a true story. The movie was met with critical acclaim, especially its incredible lead performance from Brendan Fraser at its center, and it had a fascinating story. The Whale followed an introverted English teacher named Charlie (Fraser), who lived with severe obesity and was trying to reconnect with his teenage daughter Ellie (Sadie Sink) years after he left his family for his gay lover. This guilt Charlie felt for his decision triggered his binge eating and weight gain.
The Whale drew controversy despite Fraser's comeback, specifically around criticisms of dehumanizing fatphobia. Fraser had both digital and practical effects applied to his performance so he could play a 600lb man. However, the wave of positivity around Fraser's Charlie took center stage even with these concerns, with Fraser receiving a standing ovation after TIFF's The Whale screening. The ovation moved Fraser to tears, and he said he hoped the film would "change some hearts and minds" and encourage viewers to become more compassionate. It also prompted questions about its inspiration.
The Whale Is Based On A Play, Not A True Story
The 2012 Play Is By Samuel D. Hunter
The Whale is not a true story but is based on a 2012 play by Samuel D. Hunter, who also wrote the film. Dale Calandra played the original Charlie in a similar transformation to Fraser's for The Whale movie, during the play's original run at the Victory Gardens Biograph Theater in Chicago. The film's plot closely followed the play's, although there were a few cinematic format advantages over a theater that Hunter made use of, including staging scenes at a beach.
What took the film adaptation so long was his struggle to find someone who could personify Charlie's humanity.
Aronofsky wanted to adapt The Whale on screen after seeing the play during its original run and meeting its writer, noting to NBC that he was especially touched by the line of dialogue, "people are incapable of caring." What took the film adaptation so long was his struggle to find someone who could personify Charlie's humanity. He then came across a trailer for the Brazilian thriller Journey to the End of the Night starring Fraser and knew he had found his perfect protagonist.
The Inspirations Behind The Whale
The Story Is About Human Connection
The Whale kickstarted Fraser's comeback because of his empathetic performance as a complicated, vulnerable, obese man. However, it's not a play or film about obesity but rather a human connection. That, and the grief, self-loathing, loneliness, and guilt fostered without human connection, was Hunter's inspiration for the play. Hunter, a 2007 graduate of the Iowa Playwrights Workshop, had written for television in the past (Baskets), but this ended up as his first film adaptation.
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According to Hunter, he drew parallels to his own real-life experience growing up in Moscow, Idaho, when his religious high school kicked him out after he came out as gay. After moving into the public school system, a teacher suggested he pursue writing, so he read poetry and then read Our Town and Angels in America, which made him fall in love with plays and theater. He began writing The Whale after graduating from Julliard while teaching at Rutgers.
He had told his students in that class to do what Charlie did in The Whale: write about something honest
Hunter's work teaching expository writing informed Charlie's story, as he found himself trying to connect with reluctant teenagers forced to take the course he taught. "It was just that struggle to connect with these kids that really gave birth to the play." He had told his students in that class to do what Charlie did in The Whale: write about something honest, and they would work together to make it into an essay.
Hunter said he took his own advice and began writing the play as a more personal story. "I attended a religious school, one I had to leave when they found out I was gay. That resulted in years of depression and self-medication with food," Hunter said (via The University of Iowa). He admitted that it was hard to bring it to writer groups because it made him vulnerable. However, it worked, won some awards, and then Darren Aronofsky wanted to make it into a movie.
“It is a very rare, if not impossibly rare, experience for a screenwriter to have a world-class director preserve his script so faithfully and also be invited to be on set the entire time.” .
Hunter said he was surprised at how similar the movie's screening was to the opening of a play. He said he was anxious but he knew what was going to happen. "Even though I don’t go to every performance of my plays, I still anxiously await the performance reports," Hunter said. "With the film, I know exactly what people are getting, which is nice."
Brendan Fraser Won His First Oscar
Fraser Won His Award For Best Actor
The Golden Globes awarded Austin Butler (Elvis) the Best Actor award over Brendan Fraser, but Fraser was still the Oscars' frontrunner for The Whale. True story or not, Fraser delivered an award-worthy performance and enjoyed a massive comeback, making him someone who walked out of the ceremony with the first Oscar award win of his career. Fraser's award win wasn't The Whale's only recognition from the Academy Awards.
Best Actor | Brenda Fraser | Won |
Best Supporting Actress | Hong Chau | Nominated |
Best Makeup and Hairstyling | Adrien Morot, Judy Chin, and Annemarie Bradley | Won |
While passed over for the Best Picture and Best Director nominations, the movie did receive another acting accolade when Hong Chau picked up a nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance as Charlie's caregiver, Liz. The Whale also deservedly won the Oscar Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling for the work at transforming Fraser into his heartbreaking character.
Directed by Darren Aronofsky, The Whale is based on a 2012 stage play of the same name by Samuel D. Hunter. The film star Brenden Fraser as Charlie, a reclusive and obese English teacher who, faced with his own mortality and guilt-ridden over his past, attempts to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter Ellie, played by Sadie Sink. The film was part of Fraser's comeback to acting and earned him an Academy Award for Best Actor.
Director Darren Aronofsky
Release Date December 9, 2022
Distributor(s) A24
Runtime 117 minutes
English (US) ·