Brendan Fraser did not actually gain weight for his role in The Whale. Instead, he wore a specially designed fat suit weighing about 300 pounds (approximately 136 kg), filled with materials like dried beans and marbles to realistically portray the character's size while allowing mobility on set
. The suit was a complex prosthetic that took several hours to apply each day and was engineered to obey the laws of physics and gravity for authenticity
. Fraser was reportedly unable to gain enough weight naturally for the role, which is why the fat suit was used
. Thus, the physical transformation was achieved primarily through the prosthetic fat suit rather than actual weight gain by Fraser
