Brendan Fraser: first look of The Mummy star in Darren Aronofsky’s new film The Whale

The former Hollywood heartthrob will star alongside Stranger Things Sadie Sink, who will play his 17-year-old daughter

The film, which is directed by Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan, The Wrestler), sees Fraser play the role of a character who “lives with obesity.”

The former 1990s heartthrob, who was known for his role in The Mummy franchise, has undergone a significant physical transformation to play the role of Charlie, who is battling compulsive eating disorder.

Here is everything you need to know about The Whale and what happened to Brendan Fraser.

Fraser became an overnight heartthrob in the 2000s with the 53-year old playing the leading role in films including: Encino Man, Airheads, George of the Jungle, Dudley Do-Right, Monkeybone, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Inkheart and Furry Vengeance.

The actor withdrew from the limelight over the last decade and was rarely seen in Hollywood films.

What is the Whale movie about?

Charlie is an English teacher who is battling compulsive eating disorder and is trying to reconnect with his estranged 17-year-old daughter, Ellie who is played by Sink.

The film’s synopsis reads: “A reclusive English teacher suffering from severe obesity attempts to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter for one last chance at redemption.”

Who stars in the Whale?

The film will see Fraser return to the role of leading man, for the first time since the movie Breakout, which went straight to DVD release in 2013.

In Whale, he is joined by Stranger Things Sadie Sink who will play the role of his 17-year-old daughter and Samantha Morton who is known for her roles in The Minority Report and The Messenger.

Speaking about the upcoming project, Sink told Vanity Fair: “Darren Aronofsky is obviously brilliant, and working with him was a really formative experience, and Brendan is so incredible in it, and also just probably my favourite human on the planet.

“It was so amazing having that experience with him. I learned a lot about myself as an actress, and tapped into a side of things that I hadn’t really explored before.”

When is the Whale movie coming out in the UK?

The actor said: “I don’t know if this curried disfavour with the group, with the HFPA. But the silence was deafening.”

Berk called the claims a “total fabrication”, although he acknowledged that he had written an apology letter to the actor, he said that it “admitted no wrongdoing.”