Gay Actor Daniel Franzese Questions Casting for 'The Whale'

Straight actors playing gay remains controversial, but out actor Daniel Franzese pointed out another problematic wrinkle in the casting of Brendan Fraser in Darren Aronofsky's acclaimed new movie "The Whale."

Franzese, who co-starred on HBO's short-lived gay dramedy "Looking" and is also known for the role of Damian in the 2004 film "Mean Girls," noted that the movie – written by Samuel D. Hunter, and based on Hunter's own 2012 play – could have featured a plus-size out actor to play the main character, a 600-pound gay man tormented by guilt over how his earlier failure to embrace authenticity has affected his family.

"I love Brendan Fraser," Franzese told PEOPLE Magazine, but, he added, he was "very conflicted" over how the part went to an actor who is not part of the LGBTQ+ community and who he said was not genuinely large enough for the role. "Seeing him get up so modest in Venice and have that moment, I was very happy for him," Franzese went on to say, referring to the glowing reception the film won at the prestigious film festival. "He's a lovely man. And it's great. But why? Why go up there and wear a fat suit to play a 400-lb. queer man?"

"Franzese noted that both queer actors and people in Hollywood with larger bodies have fewer roles written for them already, without having to contend with straight actors in body suits for creatively significant, career-impacting roles," The Hollywood Reporter said.

"To finally have a chance to be in a prestige film that might be award-nominated, where stories about people who look like us are being told? That's the dream," Franzese remarked to PEOPLE.

"So when they go time and time again and cast someone like Brendan Fraser, me and the other big queer guys, we're like, 'What the ... ?'"

Added Franzese: "But I guess you can go ahead and wear a fat suit and do what you got to do and get your Oscar. We'll just sit here, waiting."

Awards for the film are not out of the question, given both its premiere at the Venice International Film Festival and its enthusiastic reception there. AV Club recalled that "The Whale" "premiered... to a six-minute standing ovation" at the festival.

"In the meantime, Franzese is learning more about himself as the fabulous Donna Bellissima on 'RuPaul's Secret Celebrity Drag Race,'" AV Club said. "As he recently told The Houston Chronicle, drag 'made me face things that I think I was uncomfortable facing... It was interesting to be in a place where I could push my femininity to as far as it could go and celebrate that and see how that goes.'"