Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale created a lot of buzz for the right reasons this year. The movie brought back Brenden Fraser to the big screen, who gave a heart-wrenching performance as Charlie, an overweight and reclusive English professor trying to make amends with his estranged daughter Ellie, played by Sadie Sink. In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the cast and director discussed their characters in detail.
The Whale follows Charlie who is ridden with guilt and is at severe risk of congestive heart failure. All he wants to do is to know he’s done at least one thing right in his life. This brings him to reconnect with his daughter, who agrees on the condition that Charlie helps her rewrite an essay for school. Fraser describes this as Charlie’s “redemption story.” When Sink was asked about whether her character is "good or evil" she said, “I don’t know, I think when I was filming I, definitely for the earlier scenes, I had moments like where I was, 'Oh there’s some real, real darkness in her.' You know there is, but I think it’s just developed over time coming from this great deal of pain that she’s in.”
She further explains, “And I think she has no idea who she is, she’s very insecure, I think.” She divulges about Ellie’s relationship with her estranged father saying, “...it’s this game that she’s become really good at playing that’s kind of a challenge for Charlie, but the thing about him is that he’s able to kind of see past all of it and I don’t want to ensure her that there’s a part of herself that he sees so clearly that I think is good, I think there’s good in her.”
The Whale has been acclaimed for its performances by fans and critics alike. The screenplay by scribe Samuel D. Hunter seamlessly binds various emotions of each character and showcases the grey areas we all live in. Along with Fraser and Sink the movie features Hong Chau as Liz, a nurse and Charlie's best friend, Ty Simpkins as Thomas, a religious Christian missionary, and Samantha Morton as Mary, Charlie's ex-wife. Along with numerous standing ovations during its film festival run the movie has bagged Fraser nominations for Best Actor at the Golden Globe Awards and the Critics' Choice Awards.
The Whale is running in theaters now. You can check out Fraser and Sink’s comments below: