Hong Chau (‘The Whale’): I was ‘very hesitant’ to return to work, but found the story ‘so heartbreaking’ [Complete Interview Transcript] (2025)

Best Supporting Actress Oscar nominee Hong Chau (“The Whale“) recently went behind the scenes with Gold Derby’s Christopher Rosen about her character Liz, the caretaker to a 600-pound man named Charlie (played by Oscar frontrunner Brendan Fraser). She reveals she was “very hesitant” about taking on the role, explaining, “I had just become a mother and was very happy to stay at home, and was not itching to go back to work. But it was really thinking about the story and Charlie’s struggle to reconnect with his daughter [played by Sadie Sink] that I found so heartbreaking.”

Chau is having a banner year on the awards circuit, being nominated for the Oscar, BAFTA, Gotham and SAG Awards for the A24 film. The actress also starred in the fan-fave horror flick “The Menu” and appeared in “Poker Face” on Peacock.

Watch the full video above and read the complete interview transcript below.

Christopher Rosen: Welcome back to Gold Derby. I’m Christopher Rosen. I’m so pleased to be joined by Hong Chau, whose big year is, continues with her acclaimed performance in The Whale, Brendan Fraser. What was it about this project that really stood out for you when you were first approached, to play Liz?

Hong Chau: Everything about it, from the top-down. It, our director, Darren Aronofsky, our star, Brendan Fraser, and the script. I think it’s so unusual for a film to, be adapted from a play, and then still retain so much of the original, play. We didn’t open it up, try to make it bigger. It stayed very theatrical. And I was curious to see how Darren would pull that off. So, it was obvious to me that, the role of Liz is the best friend, but she is so complex, and not, you know, not your typical best friend. And that was really attractive to me.

I was still very hesitant about taking it on, initially, because I had just become a mother and was very happy to stay at home, and was not itching to go back to work. But it was really thinking about the story and Charlie’s struggle to reconnect with his daughter that I found so heartbreaking.

CR: Yeah. For sure. I think … And it does, as a parent, I think it does really speak a different … I mean, maybe for other … As a parent watching it, I was like, I think it does speak to certain things that you’re like it is maybe more emotional than for non-parents. Not to, do parent privilege or anything. But I was like, “Oh this is (laughs) interesting.” Yeah.

HC: Even, even though I was a parent at the time I read the script for the first time, a year had passed and, my daughter was a little older. And I watched the film, Darren screened it for me, and I watched it, with, with my brothers for the first time. And, I came home and I was saying to her, “You’re wonderful, you’re amazing. This essay is you.” (laughs).

CR: (laughs).

HC: As she was ripping up something she wasn’t supposed to rip up. But it does hit you differently as a parent.

CR: Yeah, definitely. I … Can you talk a little bit about, like, how you viewed … You mentioned, like, how Liz is like the best friend for Charlie and stuff. But I mean they have obviously, like, very codependent relationship, and all these different things. How did you kind of think about their relationship? And I guess, how did you talk about that, their relationship with Samuel, I guess?

HC: I’m a little bit of a weirdo in that I don’t like to discuss the character too much, either with (laughs) the director, or my scene partner. I much prefer to just put it on its feet and to find, make discoveries, that way. Um, I think you can just talk about a character to death, or about circumstances, and what you end up seeing isn’t necessarily what you, can get very analytical about in, in your head.

So we had a three-week rehearsal period which was, such a gift, because there was a lot of scene (laughs) to get our heads around. We rehearsed it just like a play while the stage, while the set was being built on another stage. We rehearsed in a separate space. And they put tape on the ground that were the exact dimensions of the set that we were gonna be filming on. So we knew where we were spatially, and that was very helpful for Darren, and our cinematographer Matthew Libatique to, figure out where they wanted to put the camera, because the whole movie takes place in just Charlie’s apartment.

And, our main character, Brendan’s character is stationary a lot of times during, during most of the scenes. So it was about figuring what the best camera angles were, and also Darren was shooting on a different aspect ratio, that’s, uh, 4:3 and, a little, boxier. And it was to, in Darren’s words, it was to compliment, the story that he thought was really just about the individuals and the human beings. And it wasn’t … It makes sense for, like, Lawrence of Arabia or something like that, or if you had really large pastoral landscapes, you would shoot, you know, wide with a, a wider aspect ratio. But, um, for this it made it tricky, uh, the, the coverage really tricky. So that’s why we spent so much time with blocking, and, figuring out what the best, physical placements, for us to be, were.

CR: And then with you as an actress, I would imagine too, the less you have to think about that probably the better. So having that rehearsal would’ve maybe-

HC: Oh, yeah.

CR: … Uh, helped a lot as well. Right? Like, that kind of thing. Yeah.

HC: Yeah. Absolutely. It … I found it a little restrictive at first, you know, because when you tell me rehearsal, I think that it’s just gonna be this really loosey-goosey experience where you can come in, you know, still with the script in your hand and just figure it out, and, and muddle your way through. But Darren wanted us to hit the ground running. He wanted us to be completely off-book by the time we got to rehearsal, and just try to be as productive as possible in that short amount of time, because we didn’t have a huge budget, you know. Um, this was a really hard film for Darren to make, even though he’s Darren Aronofsky.

CR: Right.

HC: It was a really hard film to find financing for, and to find, a lead actor for. So it, it took them about 10 years to get it done.

CR: Yeah, for sure. You me- like I w- spoke to Darren and Brendan, and they both speak so highly of your performance, which obviously I think is apparent just watching the movie, (laughs) that I’m not surprised to hear them say that. But Darren was saying, like, how you could give almost, like, a different read on every scene. Right? Like, you … So even though it’s funny, you were saying, like, even though you’re kind of, like, used to maybe being more loosey-goosey, I guess you still had some kind of … You had some freedom, it seems, like, at least he was (laughs) saying, in the shooting of it.

HC: (laughs).

CR: I guess, like, I … Can you talk about, like, how, like, I guess, that process for you, and how that kind of, like, helped you connect with Brendan? And, like, in the scenes, like, doing different reads on lines, or whatever it is, I guess.

HC: I think it was just, you know, again, that rehearsal period. It allowed me the time to just get over my awe of working with Darren Aronofsky. You know? I found myself able to just tune Darren out after a while. (laughs). And then once I, you know, let what he and Mattie were doing, go to the, to the background a little bit, I was able to focus more on just Brendan, and the text, and working on that. And I think what Darren’s talking about in terms of finding it a different, in, or a different, iteration, or variation on, a scene is just about knowing a character, their history, their relationship with the other character like the back of your hand, so that you can, not necessarily improvise, I don’t like to improvise. I like to stick to the script. But, you’re able to, to flip the words a little bit, and, and, and think about, well, maybe it’s this, maybe it’s that. And it, it all makes sense because, you know, you, know that history really well, and who they are. So that, again, I credit it to that rehearsal period that we had. It gave me the time to do that.

CR: Um, not to words in your mouth, but it sounds like you’re, you were a big fan of Darren Aronofsky prior, prior to this, as, I am also. But you’ve also worked with so many incredible directors, right, in a short amount of time. Paul Thomas Anderson, Alexander Payne, Darren Aronofsky. I could go on. And Kelly Reichardt, obviously. (laughs) Like all these great filmmakers. Not to compare Darren to them, but I guess, like, you know, what was, like … I feel like he gets these incredible, like, great performances, like, he’s known for that. Right? Like, Ellen Burstyn, or Jennifer Lawrence, or, you know, Hugh Jackman. You in this, Brendan obviously. Like, what is it, what do you think it is about him that, like, allows actors to succeed so well?

HC: I think he finds good actors, the right actor for the role to begin with. And then he creates an environment where they can thrive, and they feel supported. I, you know, outside of the normal what you think of, as the normal needs of an actor. I had just had a baby. I needed to (laughs) go take care of her, and, and to, pump in between, setups. And he was very supportive of that. The very first time I spoke to Darren was over FaceTime, and I had my daughter, and was feeding her, against my chest. And he was totally unphased (laughs) by it. And he said, “Do what you need to do, and we’ll just keep talking. And it’s all good.” And, and I think that set the tone, and was indicative of how the rest of the shoot would be.

Everybody that I worked with, the producers were very thoughtful. They got a, a separate room for my baby if she wanted to come and hang out, s- uh, that was separate from my dressing room. And, um, our first AD, this, wonderful Italian man, Duccio Fabbri, was, he pulled me aside and he was like, “I think you’re so courageous, uh, to be a new mom and to come to work right now. It’s, I’m so in awe of you, and you let me know if you need me to, to do anything. If you need to go pump, or need any time for anything, you just let me know.” And so I just found it so (laughs) surprising, because, you know, you think that … You just assume that it’s going to be, an inconvenience for a production, and it wasn’t taken that way at all. So I just, I just really love them for that.

CR: Yeah. Definitely. Then I think that, like, comfort level that you’re talking about there, obviously is, I think, apparently, like, you feel … If you feel comfortable, then you’re gonna maybe do better work than you would if you weren’t. So that is very, (laughs) very good to hear. Can you talk a little about, like, obviously, like you’re working with Brendan here. He’s also, it’s an incredible performance. A humongous, physical transformation as well, like, all the, you know … It is, and emotionally so heavy. The material is so (laughs) difficult, I guess too. Can you talk about, like, working with him? Uh, like, again, I’m imagining that three weeks of rehearsal time is really key. But I guess how did you find working with him, and, like, kind of getting this relationship between Liz and Charlie s- to the way we see it on screen?

HC: I knew Brendan’s seriousness as an actor instantaneously from that first table read. And I think that is really what made me like him, is that, desire, and that hunger to do the work, and to be completely vulnerable, and fail initially. I wasn’t really familiar with his prior, uh, movies. And I’m so glad that I didn’t, I, I didn’t have the time, ’cause I was a new mother. But I just did not have the time to Google him, or to, uh, watch his, his older films. And it allowed me the opportunity to just meet him as he is, and, and to start from there. And he’s just a really special human being, Brendan Fraser. He just radiates kindness and warmth, and gentility.

A lot of times you make allowances for actors because, oh, they’re having, a hard day, or a hard time with this. So it’s okay if they’re a little bit cranky, or whatever. But I never saw that out of Brendan. And it was just remarkable. I dealt with a prosthetic a little bit on Downsizing, because my character was an amputee in that movie. And so I, I had that experience of, of having, people buzzing around while I was trying to, to focus and prepare, before they called, “Action.” And just watching Brendan having to go through that, but 100 times worse, because, uh, I mean there was just so many … It was so intricate, because the, the suit he had was so beautiful, and just completely seamless, and, um … But that took a lot of work to maintain.

And, Brendan was so beautiful with everyone who was working around him. But he never closed himself off. He was, it wasn’t like he, you know, went inside himself and just was quiet the whole time. He was still receptive, and present, and I, I found that so remarkable. And I will take that with me on every project, because it’s like, there’s no excuse for, for you. Because if Brendan Fraser could do (laughs) what he did, then there’s no excuse for you to be a drag right now.

CR: Yeah. (laughs).

HC: He’s just an outstanding, uh, human being and a first, first-rate actor in terms of his professionalism.

CR: Yeah, and I think that humanity that you’re talking about there, like, comes through obviously in the performance. And it somewhat kind of elevates this movie as well. Right? Like, I think having him in that playing Charlie is what really … Like, it’s a great alchemy, I guess, you know, together. And …

HC: Yeah. I think, Darren was saying that in the stage production that he saw, and, and also Sam chimed in on this and agreed as well, that all of the actors who had played other, variations, versions of this, on stage had never played it with the kind of, optimism and positivity that Brendan, imbues Charlie with. And I thought that that was, so odd, because I can’t imagine Charlie any other way. I guess they, they said that they were a little bit more gruff, and (laughs) and I just, I couldn’t even picture it. You know?

CR: Yeah. For sure. And we, I know we have to wrap up here, but, we’re talking, this is a great year for you, obviously. The Whale, … Menu was very well received as well. Like, you’ve gotten incredible reviews in the past for, like, things, like, let’s say, like, Downsizing, and all these movies. But, I guess, how do you process, like, the feedback of, like, getting that kind of acclaim? Is … Not to sound too weird about it, but I’m like, how do you, like, how do you take that in as a performer? Or do you try to, like, not pay attention to what people are saying about your work, and how it’s been received, I guess?

HC: I’m just really happy, all of the movies that I’ve done are really hard movies to make. They’re a really hard sell. You know? They, they’re not your straightforward films that, you know, are gonna be blockbusters. So I’m just so thrilled whenever, people respond positively to them. I (laughs) you n- … Even though it’s Darren Aronofsky, he had a really hard time getting The Whale made. And it’s miraculous that we did it, and, and especially after the, the lockdown, the COVID lockdown. So I’m just really happy that, it’s making an impact, and that people, uh, see how special it is, and, and the performance that Brendan Fraser gives in it.

And the same thing with Showing Up. I love Kelly Reichardt. I think she is … Not just me, but, a lot of us realize that she is one of our great American filmmakers. She got that wonderful award at Cannes this year. I’m just so happy for people to see Showing Up. And, of course, The Menu came out, and that was, that was well received, and I’m so happy for Mark Mylod because, you know, he’s been doing succession for quite a number of years now. But I think he, he wants to make more films. So, I’m glad that – that was successful. And then, Asteroid City with Wes Anderson, that was, a very interesting email to get, because he … I didn’t know this, but he saw me in a play, I did about five or six (laughs) years ago, and he remembered me from it, and was kind of waiting for, like, the right part to come around in one of his projects.

So I’m just really happy that everything is, is happening organically. It, it took a while to get there. Took 10 years before I, I got Downsizing. But, I’m just so thrilled, and grateful.

CR: Yeah. It’s awesome. I mean, you’ve worked with so many incredible filmmakers already. It’s very exciting. And, like, all these are, like, some of my favorite filmmakers, so it’s great, and you’re in these great movies. So it’s really fun. Hong Chau, starring in The Whale, out now, or later, this week in theaters. Thank you so much.

HC: Thank you.

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