Fat suit
A fat suit , even ( English ) fatsuit [ fætsuːt ] is a kind of suit, with foam , plastic granulate , filled, or the like for example, an actor in film and theater to make it look thicker.
The types range from simple suits that are lined with a kind of wadding , to more complex models with a kind of granulate with realistic movements, to extremely elaborate models in which the skin is reproduced so that they can be shown without clothing . The latter was used, for example, in the music videos “No Lust” by Rammstein or “3½ minutes” by Dendemann .
Simple models wore because no adjustment from the make-up artist is required, including Cordula Stratmann in the program Schillerstraße , because her pregnancy was to be concealed for the role, and Alexandra Neldel in Verliebt in Berlin , because the actress should look inconspicuous and fat.
In the film Mrs. Doubtfire - The Prickly Nanny you can see how the lead actor Robin Williams adjusts such a suit to take care of his children in the role of a sixty-year-old housekeeper . In the music film comedy Hairspray , John Travolta plays an overweight woman, for whose portrayal he had to wear a 15 kilogram fat suit during the filming .
Because he had lost almost half of his previous weight after Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix , Harry Melling , who played Harry's cousin Dudley Dursley, had to wear a fat suit for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 , so that he was the obese figure from the novels was as similar as possible.
Gwyneth Paltrow has in the title role of the comedy Shallow Hal alongside Jack Black , wearing a fat suit. In order to transform into the 150 kilogram Rosy, the petite Gwyneth Paltrow had to undergo a four-hour procedure with a makeup artist. During the filming, she made an interesting self-awareness: When she walked incognito in her costume through the hotel lobby during a break in filming, she found it fascinating that despite her imposing appearance she was no longer noticed and everyone turned away from her.