Celebrities like Chris SullivanAnd Sarah PaulsonThey are open to taking on their respective roles.
Brendan FraserAfter being the lead in the 2022 psychological drama, he received critical acclaim The Whale.The film is based upon a play by Samuel D. HunterThe same name tells the story a 600-pound man tries to reconnect his daughter after his partner’s death.
Ahead of the movie’s theatrical release, director Darren AronofskyResponded to critics who doubted his decision to cast Fraser over a larger actor.
“There was a chapter in the making of this film where we tried to research actors with obesity,” he told Variety in October 2022, one month before the movie’s debut. “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 Mummy actor, for his part, detailed the research he did while working on the project — including a consolation with the Obesity Action Coalition.
“They let me know what their diet was and how obesity had affected their lives in terms of their relationships with loved ones,” he explained about the advocacy group. “It was heartbreaking, because very often these people were mocked and made to feel awful about themselves. Vindictive speech is very hurtful. Vindictive speech is painful because it feeds into the cycle overeating. I just left those conversations thinking, ‘Hey, this is not your fault. This is a disease. This is an addiction.’”
Sullivan, however, had a different approach after he was subject to backlash over his prosthetics in This is Us.
“There is a lot of things to be outraged about these days, and I think that getting outraged about an actor on a television show who may be wearing a costume that makes him larger than he is, might be low on the list,” the actor, who played Toby in the hit NBC series, shared during an interview on the Today2017 Show “At least in my opinion. If I am not portraying Toby with the level of integrity or honesty — [if]You disagree with [that]I would love to chat about it. But I think that regardless of the costumes that I wear, especially with Toby, I try to bring as much heart and honesty as I can.”
Sullivan’s costar and onscreen partner Chrissy MetzHe was also defended by them.
“We tested a lot of gentlemen who were bigger, and I get it — people think the authenticity is kind of ruined by that. But Chris has been heavier, so I think he understands the plight of being overweight,” Metz said on Andy Cohen Live: Watch What HappensThe same year. “Also he was just the best man for the job. And people wear prosthetics all the time — it’s just weight as opposed to, like, a nose or a chin. It’s just kind of the name of the game.”
Scroll down to see stars who spoke out about their decision to wear body prosthetics in a role.
