Although Brendan Fraser is getting much of the attention when it comes to The Whale, the actor would instead divert the attention to his co-star, Sadie Sink. Fraser plays Charlie in the movie, a grieving teacher who struggles with obesity and wants to try and connect with his estranged daughter Ellie, played with emotional maturity by Stranger Things star Sink. While speaking to GQ recently, Fraser heaped praise on his co-star, saying he was “slack-jawed” watching her at work. He commented:
Sadie Sink has been no stranger to powerful performances, having played the role of Max in Stranger Things since the horror series’ second season. As one of the best additions to the show, Sink’s role in the fourth season pushed her character to her limits and beyond. Already an emotional rollercoaster ride in season three, the penultimate season’s finale left Max in a coma. Whether she will come out of it is something that no one knows for certain.
“The fluidity that Sadie [Sink] plays, this beautiful controlled rage, was breathtaking to me. I was constantly going up on my lines, and that’s just because I got cobwebs upstairs and I was wearing a lot of gear, but also because I was just slack jawed, I’m not joking, watching her work. She won the game ball every day we worked, I’m telling you.”
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
How Did The Whale Impact Sadie Sink’s Stranger Things Performance?
Netflix Streaming
While The Whale is still to be given its full cinematic release, Sadie Sink worked on the movie before returning to the world of Stranger Things. She has previously said this really helped her performance in the fourth season of the popular Netflix series. The exploration of the character of Max is something that Sink has commented was certainly pushed to a new level by her role as Ellie in The Whale. She said:
Max’s future is uncertain in the final season of Stranger Things, but there is a firm fan belief that she would not have survived season four at all if there was not a role for her to play. For that reason, Sink will likely have another opportunity to put what she learned working on The Whale to good use once again when the time comes to start filming the final ever episodes of Stranger Things.
“It was really important that I had that experience, because I pushed myself as an actor further than I ever had before. When I returned to ‘Stranger Things,’ it was like I’d come back from boot camp or something. There was a shift; something clicked. It gave me a level of confidence that has stuck with me since. I was pleasantly surprised, when it came to filming some of those scenes, that it wasn’t hard to get into her head at all. It was such a release for Max to have those moments because those sides of her have been simmering in the background for a few seasons.”
