How do you feel about the use of "fat suits" in tv and movie production?

I want fat suits to get much more common, so that I can tell people that I wear one, when they call me fatzo.

Actors should be either fat, get fat, or wear fat.
First, the acting should be key, then the posture should be considered.
In my book.

I mean, acting is role play, so the answer is obvious.

I think if an actor would have to gain weight to play a role that role is not worth playing. Gain unusual amounts of weight is unhealthy and could be dangerous. Cosmetics like suits would be much better and safer. Gaining and losing and gaining again is very bad for your health.

@RayaHope But what about the idea that they should only get fat actors to play fat roles?

Fat suits have historically been used to mock fat people. So I get why they may leave a bad taste for many people.

Actors have gained and lost weight for roles. But the most recent discussions about fat suits in Hollywood have been about Brendan Fraser, where we aren’t talking just fat but obese. And where the title character loses the weight.

Are people really expecting Fraser to gain weight to the point of being obese? Or are we expecting an obese actor to lose weight for the role?

Both options are absurd.

There are long term health implications from being obese. The internet is wild. First they’re like oh poor Fraser. The Mummy was so hard on his body. But yeah, he totally should have become obese for this role.

And I don’t think actual obese people choose to be obese. Yeah, I’m sure they can just lose the weight for the role. Easy peasy.

Hollywood needs to use fat suits in a respectable manner. Not just for fat-shaming.

@janbb I suppose that would be “best” but being overweight is a problem for anyone. I know not everyone can be fit, but to at least try to eat healthy and exercise would be the best thing to do (if possible) because I know some people have other health issues that are tough to address.

Better than actually being fat.

The idea that actors having the traits of the character they are portraying grew out of the argument that minority actors should play the roles representing their minority. Historically, only white actors worked in large productions paying top dollar. They changed their appearance to that of the minority using makeup and prosthetics. This was the rule for many decades in Hollywood right from the beginning of the invention of motion pictures.

The idea that only a fat actor should play a fat character is the latest iteration of the evolution of allowing minorities to play their own roles. I fully believe that minorities should portray themselves.

However, I’m not sure the same argument can hold for fat characters. Somehow, this seems different. I don’t like fat shaming. Still, should it be a protected class the way race and sexual orientation and gender identity are viewed? I’m willing to be convinced either way.

By the way, the main reason Brendan Fraser disappeared is because he was traumatically sexual assaulted by a male Hollywood executive. I’m sorry, but I don’t have links to back that up. I’m in a bit of a hurry at the moment and can’t hunt.

@Hawaii_Jake GA. It does seem different to me too, and I am trying to parse out why.

There are roles where changes in the characters weight are essential to the plot. Such roles certainly justify the use of the suit. And the same can be said if the role requires the aging of the character, illness or someone bulking through exercise.

@HP But what if the character is fat throughout? I’m not arguing just trying to explore this.

The role needs to go to the actor who will do the best job. If a change to their appearance is needed then you use prosthetics or CGI. (In Forest Gump they used CGI to make it look like Lutenant Dan had only 1 leg.)
I’m fine with fat suits.

That requires some parsing. There are a lot of projects that insist on brand name stars to obtain financing. Even animated films grab A list actors for voice parts when the actors appear nowhere in the film.

@Dutchess_III lol Was that a test? Lt.Dan had no legs, both gone at the knee.

Brendan Frazier is still at work.

@Dutchess_III But the big deal is that he retired from acting for a long time because of a personal issue and has just come back in this new film.

Doesn’t look very retired.

https://www.google.com/search?q=brendan+fraser&source=hp&ei=Ld4wY7apF-yF0PEP_duHMA&gs_ssp=eJzj4tTP1TcwMjIvKTJg9OJLKkrNS0nMU0grSixOLQIAbAMIlg&oq=&gs_lcp=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&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-hp#wptab=si:AC1wQDAT6J0EVTjqRgtdRln76JkNQbDQ55XTPS_4ZthyrBrIj7vddOXPy25R6GHV4nyD7iavswgDg0fkkWqCx7ZDmNekCaeu1LiAElVGNmDkG75O6la-1dNhA3anNyWWITAgFgJQM6j_

I guess I feel about the same as I do about the comic character Bottom’s donkey head in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. How do they show that Bottom has been transformed by Puck? They could use the severed head of a real donkey. They could hire a real donkey (whole, alive) in a Bottom costume. They could use nothing and require us to pretend we see it, like the Emperor’s new clothes. Or they could just put a mask on the actor.

A fat suit is a costume. It’s a Big Bird suit, it’s Frankenstein makeup, it’s Papagena disguised as an old woman in The Magic Flute. Masks and costumes go all the way back to ancient Greek drama and beyond. I really don’t see an issue here.

@Dutchess_III A little research is a dangerous thing:

https://www.npr.org/2022/09/06/1121122595/brendan-frasers-controversial-hollywood-comeback-story

But let drop this off-topic discussion now.

@Jeruba I don’t necessarily disagree. The issue is that fat people are getting hurt and offended and also possibly shut out of acting jobs. Perhaps there are donkey actors who are hurting too?

I’m in favor of anything that deteriorates the edifice of celebrity. So sure, fat actors for fat parts, only.

Tom Hanks has said his weight variations for different roles, or individual roles, may have resulted in his present health concerns.
Christian Bale and Matt Damon have also lost dangerous amounts of weight to look right in some roles.
DeNiro packed weight on for Raging Bull by eating pancakes. Stallone did the same thing for Copland.
It would be unfair to limit a role to actors of expected size. Hanks wearing a fat suit for the entirety of his screen presence may be a legitimate argument, but the character is pivotal to the movie, and you can’t say only hefty actors should get those roles.
In Endgame, Robert Downey Jr. appeared to lose about 70 pounds in the beginning of the film. He didn’t, but this was achieved by using computers. I guess that’s okay, but I worry someone will argue computers should then make the girl in the new Little Mermaid movie white.

I apologize if some of my points were made in the NY Times article you linked. I was not able to see it because of the subscription wall.

The upcoming film “The Whale” is starring Brendan Frasier. However the character supposedly weighs 600 pounds. Frasier has gained weight, but he’s not 600 pounds. So a fat suit to add the extra pounds sounds logical to me.

Looking at recent pictures of Brendan Frasier, he could do a Rodney Dangerfield biopic without makeup.

No feeling whatsoever. I can’t imagine what feeling it could even stir.

“Big Momma”. HA! So funny!

I did read the article in yesterdays Times.
Acting is acting. The power of the role is in the acting first. Looks come second.
People just love to make something of everything.

Fuck all celebrities. If we deny fat suits to celebrities, we can limit their power in society. Fuck them all.

@Smashley I don’t think this is about “celebrities”. I am not a proponent of celebrity status or celebrity power. Acting is an Art. You also don’t have to see any of the productions. That is no reason to “Fuck them all”.

Take them all down a peg. Limit their ability to monopolize our attention, limit the jobs they are able to take, reduce their income, reduce their influence.

@Smashley Are you talking about actors or politicians? :-)

I’m fine with it. Much better than gaining weight for a role.

@janbb – I’ll take them all on until we can tell the difference again.