‘My whole career has been about struggle’: The Whale’s Hong Chau on backlash, the Oscars and hitting Brendan Fraser

Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy While filming The Whale, Darren Aronofsky’s divisive new drama about a morbidly obese man, Hong Chau did something many would consider unforgivable: she smacked Brendan Fraser. “People are always like, ‘Ahh, it’s not my favourite PTA – it’s no Boogie Nights’.” Treme, David Simon’s soulful follow-up to The Wire about post-Katrina New Orleans? “I just wished that whatever people’s little qualms were about the film or my performance, that they could have acknowledged that a little bit more.” To this day, she thinks the backlash was unfounded. “I felt like it might be OK to just sort of peace out.” open image in gallery Chameleon: Hong Chau in ‘Downsizing’, ‘The Menu’ and ‘Watchmen’ I admit to being surprised – she’d spent 10 years trying to get her foot in the door, having graduated from a film studies programme at Boston University before being stuck on a merry-go-round of auditions, meetings and cameo roles.