Brendan Fraser to Play Reclusive, Morbidly Obese Gay Man in Darren Aronofsky’s ‘The Whale’

Actor Brendan Fraser has signed on to play a morbidly obese, reclusive gay man in Darron Aronofsky’s film adaptation of the critically acclaimed Samuel D. Hunter Broadway play The Whale.

Variety reports: “It’s the story of a 600-pound middle-aged man named Charlie and his attempts to reconnect with his 17-year-old daughter. The two became estranged after Charlie abandoned his family for his gay lover, who later died. Charlie then turned to compulsive eating out of grief. Aronofsky’s Protozoa Pictures will also produce the film.”

Fraser has been mostly out of the headlines since he spoke out publicly about an alleged sexual assault by the former Golden Globes president which took place at a luncheon held by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association in 2003 at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Fraser said that concerns about “humiliation” and “damage to [his] career” had prevented him from speaking up till then.