Brendan Fraser needed eight bags of ice to stay cool while filming The Whale because of his fat suit

Brendan Fraser has revealed he needed eight bags of ice to stay cool while wearing his body suit during the shooting of The Whale.

There’s no doubt that the actor’s performance in Darren Aronofsky’s psychological drama is all the rage right now and it's even generating a bit of Oscar Buzz for the 54-year-old.

Fraser recently sat down with Variety to disclose his gruelling transformation as Charlie, a reclusive and obese literature professor.

While the idea of putting on weight for a role sounds like a dream to some actors, Fraser said it was anything but.

He was required to carry 50 to 600 extra pounds during production and things got very hot and sweaty.

Adrien Morot, the makeup and prosthetics director who is a long time collaborator of Aronosky, told the outlet: “I want[ed] him to inhabit the body of a man who weighs hundreds and hundreds of pounds.

"What is important is that the design of the makeup and all the accompanying apparatus that obey laws of gravity and physics.”

And, as a result, Morot admitted that it subsequently led to ‘45 days of torturing poor Brendan’.

Morot also revealed that to cool the actor down, he needed ice bags - like huge ones.

Efren Landaos/Sipa USA/Alamy

To which Fraser added: “My body melted eight bags.”

Earlier this year, during an interview with Vanity Fair, Fraser also recalled wanting to completely 'disappear' into the role.

Given all the internet’s reaction shortly after the trailer dropped, it’s safe to say he did just that.

Fraser told Vanity Fair: “I want to learn from the people I’m working with at this point in my career. I’ve had such variety, a lot of high highs and low lows, so what I’m keen for, in the second half of my time doing this, is to feel like I’m contributing to the craft and I’m learning from it.

“This is a prime opportunity. I wanted to disappear into it. My hope was that I would become unrecognisable.”

The George of the Jungle star also opened up about the struggles of wearing such elaborate prosthetics, likening it to a 'straight jacket'.

“The torso piece was almost like a straight jacket, with sleeves that went on, airbrushed by hand, to look identical as would human skin, right down to the hand-punched hair.”