Griffin is the name of Brenda Fraser‘s son with autism who inspired him to create the film that won him an OSCAR. The 20-year-old has become a mainstay for the celebrity, although he acknowledges that learning of his diagnosis was a hard blow for him, as he kept blaming himself for it, despite having no responsibility.
“The first reaction I had was ‘How can I fix this? What’s the cure? What does this mean?’ It was like being hit over the head with a baseball bat. I just thought, ‘This isn’t right. I blamed myself. I was thinking ‘Is it my genes? Is it because of the weed I smoked in college?’ It’s like trying to get a straight answer from a Leprechaun,” he recounted in an interview with Howard Stern.
Despite his concerns, he assures that his son is the happiest of all and has managed to enjoy himself without feelings of guilt.
“This kid has the most joy I’ve ever seen, and he happens to be my son. I want to know what he thinks, he’s so incredibly funny all day long, he’s always laughing his head off. He loves to go on car rides, no matter where you take him,” he added in the interview.
It was Griffin himself who helped inspire him in his character for The Whale so he had a special mention of his father in the middle of the set.
“He’s autistic. He just turned 20. He’s a big boy. He’s 5’9. He has big hands and feet, a big body. I understand intimately what it’s like to be around a person living with obesity,” she told GQ magazine about his firstborn.
