Adrien Morot, a Montreal-born make-up artist, woke as much as an e-mail Tuesday morning from his “good buddy: Brendan Fraser.”
The Hollywood actor was writing to congratulate Morot on his Oscar nomination for his work on The Whale.
“I used to be nonetheless very groggy. I used to be like, ‘What’s occurring right here?’,” Morot mentioned.
Earlier than replying to Fraser, nevertheless, Morot had some issues he wanted to do.
“I went to take a look at the information to see if he was nominated in order that I might reply rapidly and he was,” Morot mentioned, including the pair exchanged a number of jokes.
Fraser snagged a nomination within the Finest Actor in a Main Position class, for his portrayal of Charlie — a 600 lb man, who tries to construct a relationship along with his estranged daughter Ellie, performed by Sadie Sink.
Morot was nominated within the Make-up and Hairstyling class and is chargeable for Fraser’s radical bodily transformation.
Morot mentioned when he was first approached by The Whale director Darren Aronofsky, with whom he’s collaborated prior to now, he was instructed he had a five-week window by which to develop the character.
Learn extra:
Brendan Fraser offers emotional, tearful speech at Critics Alternative Awards
Learn subsequent:
Alberta dad learns about son’s dying in Victoria after Googling his identify, discovering obituary
After studying the script, Morot began constructing a picture financial institution of what individuals with Charlie’s situation would appear like. He additionally researched what different make-up artists earlier than him had accomplished.
“It’s at all times a place to begin,” he defined, including that’s the way you study what might be accomplished and the way far you may push issues.
However what rapidly struck him was that motion pictures by which overweight characters have been depicted have been typically comedies or science-fiction motion pictures.
“Each time these sorts of make-up have been accomplished prior to now, it was at all times just like the character was the butt of the joke,” he mentioned.
That’s when Morot realized he would want greater than 5 weeks to have the ability to do the character and the storyline justice.
“It’s a heavy drama,” he mentioned of the movie. “It might probably’t be a joke. It can’t be. It can’t be any of those different motion pictures that I’ve seen.”
Learn extra:
2023 Oscar nominations: ‘The whole lot All over the place All At As soon as’ leads with 11
Learn subsequent:
Kids died from consuming unpasteurized uncooked milk at Saddle Lake residential faculty: advocacy group
It was essential to Morot to method the the subject from a spot of empathy.
Brendan Fraser as Charlie in “The Whale”.
Courtesy Adrien Morot
So he did what wanted to be accomplished and received down on his knees and begged for extra time.
“And so we ended up with 12 weeks to construct all the physique prosthetics and facial prosthetics for the character,” Morot mentioned.
Constructing the prosthetics is just one a part of the problem. The following one is placing them on.
The primary make-up check, the place Fraser was reworked into Charlie, took seven hours.
Morot recollects how Aronofsky then advised that possibly it wasn’t essential to make use of all of the prosthetics and that possibly padding might work.
Morot, nevertheless, argued in opposition to and received his case.
The group ultimately managed to get make-up all the way down to lower than three and a half hours, not together with the time it takes on the finish of the day to take away all of it — a course of that takes about an hour.
Brendan Fraser within the make-up chair for ‘The Whale.’.
Courtesy Adrien Morot
Furthermore, the prosthetics can solely be worn as soon as and must be continuously remade, which generally is a painstaking course of.
At the start of the film, Charlie sports activities what Morot described as a “scruffy beard.”
“To try this within the prosthetics, all these hairs should be punched in separately.”
Morot dispelled any fable in regards to the job being glamourous.
“It’s very arduous work,” he mentioned, joking that the interview requests he obtained Tuesday morning are about as glamourous because it will get.
However he’s OK with that. Morot mentioned he’s happiest when he’s busy working round with issues to do and stuff to repair.
In truth, whereas successful an Oscar could be good, Morot is slightly apprehensive.
“I hope that I’m not going to must stroll on stage and make a idiot of myself,” he mentioned.
Whereas Morot is predicated out of Los Angeles for work, he divides his time between L.A. and Montreal, the place his spouse and two sons stay.
He credit his hometown for jumpstarting his profession and says as a result of Montreal’s movie group is small, it could do the identical for others.
“I believe that you’ve much more probabilities of impressing massive identify producers and administrators that could be coming … from out of city. And for those who can impress them and or impress them sufficient that they bear in mind you, effectively, that may be a terrific launching pad for a a global profession.”
That is Morot’s second Oscar nomination. He was nominated in 2011 for the movie Barney’s Model.
© 2023 World Information, a division of Corus Leisure Inc.
