Celebrities Address Wearing a Fat Suit for a Role: From This Is Us’ Chris Sullivan to The Whale’s Brendan Fraser

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Celebrities Address Wearing a Fat Suit for a Role: From This Is Us' Chris Sullivan to The Whale's Brendan Fraser

After facing backlash for wearing a fat suit, celebrities such as Chris Sullivan and Sarah Paulson opened up about taking on their respective roles. Brendan Fraser received critical acclaim after playing the lead in the 2022 psychological drama The Whale. The film, which is based on a play by Samuel D. Hunter of the same name, tells the story of a 600-pound man who tries to reconnect with his daughter following the death of his partner. Ahead of the movie's theatrical release, director Darren Aronofsky responded to critics who questioned his decision to cast Fraser instead of 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 painful. And it does damage because it feeds into the cycle of overeating. I just left those conversations thinking, ‘Hey, this is not your fault. This is an illness. This is an addiction.’” Meanwhile, Sullivan had a different approach after receiving backlash for 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 Today show in 2017. “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 be happy to talk about that. 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 Metz also came to his defense. “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 Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen that 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 for stars who discussed their decision to wear body prosthetics for a role:

Credit: Shutterstock (2)

Celebrities Address Wearing a Fat Suit for a Role: From This Is Us' Chris Sullivan to The Whale's Brendan Fraser

After facing backlash for wearing a fat suit, celebrities such as Chris Sullivan and Sarah Paulson opened up about taking on their respective roles. Brendan Fraser received critical acclaim after playing the lead in the 2022 psychological drama The Whale. The film, which is based on a play by Samuel D. Hunter of the same name, tells the story of a 600-pound man who tries to reconnect with his daughter following the death of his partner. Ahead of the movie's theatrical release, director Darren Aronofsky responded to critics who questioned his decision to cast Fraser instead of 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 painful. And it does damage because it feeds into the cycle of overeating. I just left those conversations thinking, ‘Hey, this is not your fault. This is an illness. This is an addiction.’” Meanwhile, Sullivan had a different approach after receiving backlash for 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 Today show in 2017. “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 be happy to talk about that. 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 Metz also came to his defense. “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 Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen that 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 for stars who discussed their decision to wear body prosthetics for a role:

Credit: Shutterstock ; ABC

Chris Sullivan ('This is Us')

In October 2017, Sullivan addressed the backlash about him wearing a fat suit for This Is Us.

“I think that the show is just too good; they had to find something wrong with it,” he said on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, noting that he understood why fans felt “fooled by things they see" on TV.

The Emmy nominee added: “We currently live in a culture where outrage is a bit of a hobby for some people. If they’re not outraged about something, they’re totally bored. It’s a tool. It’s a costume that I put on. Logistically speaking, it allows me to travel back and forth through time when Toby was not as heavy as he is now.”

Credit: Shutterstock ; Frank Ockenfels 3/NBC

Renee Zellweger ('The Thing About Pam')

"The idea is accuracy," Zellweger told Entertainment Tonight in March 2021 about bringing convicted murderer Pam Hupp to life with the help of body prosthetics. "I think, especially in the case of telling this story, it was really important to as closely resemble Pam Hupp as we possibly could, because she seems so familiar. She seems like someone that we recognize and we know."

According to the Cold Mountain actress, it was necessary for her to alter her appearance for the role. "In order for you to better understand how possible it might be that people would project onto her who they are ... or what kind of person she might be, it just seemed really important that we got as close to that as we could," she said at the time.

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Sarah Paulson ('Impeachment: American Crime Story')

After playing Linda Tripp in Impeachment: American Crime Story, Paulson admitted that she regretted wearing a fat suit for the show.

“I think the thing I think about the most is that I regret not thinking about it more fully. And that is an important thing for me to think about and reflect on,” the American Horror Story star told the Los Angeles Times in August 2021. “I also know it’s a privileged place to be sitting and thinking about it and reflecting on it, having already gotten to do it, and having had an opportunity that someone else didn’t have. You can only learn what you learn when you learn it.”

Paulson, who gained 30 pounds for the role, pointed out that the decision to wear a fat suit wasn't only hers.

“That entire responsibility I don’t think falls on the actor for choosing to do something that is arguably — and I’m talking about from the inside out — the challenge of a lifetime,” she detailed. “I do think to imagine that the only thing any actor called upon to play this part would have to offer is their physical self is a real reduction of the offering the actor has to make."

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Raven-Symone ('State of Georgia')

While a cohost on The View in 2015, the Disney Channel alum candidly addressed her issues with a past job. “You don’t even know what I went through,” Symoné said. “On State of Georgia, they had me wear a fat suit. Because they said I wasn’t the size they wanted me to be.”

Credit: Shutterstock ; Courtesy of A24

Brendan Fraser ('The Whale')

The Whale's director defended his decision to cast Fraser instead of an actor with obesity, telling Variety in October 2022, “From a health perspective, it’s prohibitive. It’s an impossible role to fill with a real person dealing with those issues.”