29 January 2023 , 18:54
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Hollywood star Brendan Fraser says he's 'made peace with the way he looks' after turning his back on his days as a 'hunk.'
The actor has just been nominated for an Oscar for his role in The Whale where he plays an overweight english teacher called Charlie.
The character sees director Darren Aronofsky's highlighting the obesity crisis in the US by showcasing the issues being overweight can cause not just health-wise, but in a social capacity.
While Brendan has spent years playing more hunky roles such as George Of The Jungle and the Indiana Jones inspired lead Rick O'Connell in box-office smash franchise The Mummy, he now looks unrecognisable as the obese lead role that has won him critical acclaim.
Brendan has been nominated for Best Actor at The Oscars (Variety via Getty Images)However, while the part may seem him no longer cast as a conventionally good-looking all-American lead, Brandan, 54, isn't sad to see a change in how he is depicted to audiences.
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In fact, he has admitted to being happy to not look the same way as he used to, especially for such an important role.
He told The Telegraph: "I do know that it brought me to a point in my life when I needed to retreat. And I did.
Brendan has traditionally played hunkier roles (Universal Studios)
Brendan says he is at ease with his appearance as he gets older (Getty Images)"I’m older now; I don’t look the way I did in those days, and I don’t necessarily want to. And I’m glad that the work I can do is based in an emotional reality that’s not my own life, but is one that I can strongly identify with."
In order to transform his appearance for the film Brendan wore a fat suit packed with dried beans to create an authentic look as the 21-stone morbidly obese man whose weight has put him at risk of an array of serious health conditions including congestive heart failure.
Describing the costume he admitted "it wasn’t restrictive - I found it helpful, honestly, that it was so cumbersome. I learned that Charlie had to be an incredibly strong man to carry around that body, which I thought was kind of poetic."
Brendan looks unrecognisable as morbidly obese Charlie in The Whale (A24)Brendan opened up further about the role during in an appearance on UK chat show Lorraine on Friday (January 27), admitting he no longer feels he has anything to prove to anybody in the industry.
He said: "I have three kids, I know what it means to have all the love I ever need in my life and I have nothing to prove.
"You make one film for fun, for money for prestige and if you're lucky you get to make one at all and the fact I get to be a part of a film that's hopefully changing some hearts and touches on weight bias. There's harm to be done by the way we speak to each other."