Brendan Fraser

28:17And I remember Tak Fujimoto was the DP. And he was the one who pointed out to me how important it is to step on the mark, the piece of tape he put there. But he wasn't condescending about it at all. He explained so that the focus puller can keep it sharp because he was very helpful. And Matt Damon, he was already hired so I thought, well, he must have done something right to get the gig. I should probably really focus in and pay attention to Matt. And there was something about that reading that we did that somehow made sense. My sensibilities were really broad. I was very theatrical. I had a sense of playing to the back row for what I believed.

29:11And I could see immediately how focused and easily and comfortably that Matt spoke dialogue that I just did my best to match pitch with him. So another debt of gratitude, Matt, I got the job. Thanks for that. It's, I mean, then you're kind of off and running from those first couple films. I mean, if you look back at the filmography, you know, it's Airheads, it's with honors. I remember the the film with Albert Brooks, The Scout. You're making a lot of quality work. And then there's something like Georgia of the Jungle, which on paper should not work. Like, that's such a... And this is kind of like emblematic of a lot of things in your career.

29:52There are things that are like, is this really going to work? Like, this feels really broad and silly, and if it's not done quite right, it's going to fall flat on its face. And yet they always work with you, Brendan. Well, you know, you don't know until you try it, I guess, is the next thing to say, but also there's something in me where I'm constantly looking for something that seems sort of risky that way. Creatively speaking, that is. I mean, there have been a few risks I've taken on film sets that have resulted in bumps and bruises too, but that comes with the territory. At that time, I was a really fit guy.

30:32I was a very physical performer, and I figured I could really hold my own, and by and large, I got away with it until I turned 16. You recall back to the... Never mind. It was just important to somehow go towards that risk, that fear, even. I believe, as I was told and trained, that that's usually where the most growth will come from. And you might just surprise yourself and others, too, if you commit fully. And also ask yourself, what's the worst thing that can happen? And what's the best thing that can happen if you play it safe? Like, if you play it safe, you know the end result's only going to be a B - at best.

31:28Fair enough. I agree. So why play safe? I decided to keep pace with the speed that films were being made in the 90s, independence that is, and there were many, many of them. There were many studio pictures being made. They were lined up like airplanes on a tarmac about to take off. And around the time, I think it was probably around Titanic, around that time in the industry, around there, things changed a little bit after that sort of blockbuster era. Right. And it later became where we are now and superheroes and et cetera. But you were even from that period of time, if you look at it, the great Bill Condon film Gods and Monsters, you're working with Sir Ian McKellen.

32:18A little later on, you're working with Michael Caine, Philip Noyce, Quiet American. So clearly you had enough savviness and interest in your career that you needed to satisfy both sides of the brain. You wanted different kinds of experiences throughout. I did feel like one for you, one for me. Two for you, one for me. I might not have made so many friends sometimes by that sort of trajectory, and I bumped my way through a lot of different agencies, etc., but again, I was willing to take those risks and an opportunity to work with one of my heroes, who is Ian McKellen. In that library where I trained at Cornish, I probably wore out the beta copy of Acting Shakespeare that he did for BBC a thousand years ago.

33:13And I always marveled at how he had such facility with language, clearly, to make classical text, dynamic pentameter, sound as ordinary as the conversation you and I are having right now. And he just seemed to just speak to the need to communicate that we all felt as young actors. And the opportunity to work with him was unfathomably unattainable in my fondest hope, but surprise, surprise. Turns out Ian's just a regular guy. This is the same kind of thing you hear about someone like Sir Anthony Hopkins. It's like they kind of like, they're not precious about the work. It's just a job. Get on with it.

34:05You know, creed. Right. That and let's know the words. So he would sit down and say them. And that also something that always stayed with me was that we should approach this work as if it's the first time you ever have. And also the last time you ever will. So the stakes are there. And that stayed with me. Stayed with me. It stayed with me all the way up until, well, all the way up until the film Rental Family.

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37:50So, um, they're going to drag me out of here if I don't bring up the mummy. so I'm going to bring up the mummy, Brendan. It's just contractual.

38:01I mean, this is a film that was big at the time but somehow has become bigger and bigger and is now one of these perennials. It's kind of... You can't even wish for something like this. Go figure, right? Go figure. And you've talked about this to a degree, but nobody really knew what it was going to be. Tonally, it was kind of a lot of things. it was an action picture it was a romance it was a drama it was a horror film it was a comedy it was a smorgasbord of all of that and while we were shooting it I can still hear Rachel saying oh no they're going to confiscate our equity cards which was a joke but not a joke yeah sort of well let's just carry on and we didn't know what this film would do we had fond hopes that we would find an audience but I guess it landed because they had us back 18 months later to do another one because if it worked once you might as well do it again so what was Rachel saying on the second one she was saying where's my trailer no no she wasn't what was I mean in terms of like your guiding light on that in terms of how to play that kind of quintessential hero.

39:22I mean, are you thinking Indiana Jones? Sure. I mean, that was I loved those films. Who didn't? They were staples of my childhood. I also, as a kid, I loved Ray Harryhausen movies. The scene where Rick is battling mummies at the end was completely inspired by claymation stop motion animation from, and this with Stephen Summers, who made sure that we knew where he was coming from. And, you know, I love that sort of, like, hidden little gem in there, you know, that sort of agenda that lets you know that we're really here to have fun. That's the most important thing. I mean, yeah, you have to invest in it and believe in the reality of whatever the situation or the scene or the environment calls for, because at that time, CGI was something that was very expensive, and if it wasn't done by a certain standard, people could go, uh-uh, I don't believe that.

40:25I saw the seams around the edge. And so Stephen was very adamant to have ILM and John Burton there to create the creature as being formidable and cool and a little bit sexy but dangerous. He would say, yeah, this is Jaws. He's not going to quit. It's Terminator Mummy. That's his inspiration for it. And hey, if we believed it, then CGI artists could track in their part so there's a little bit of a collaboration element to it. And if that worked, then an audience would believe it. Yeah, if you don't feel the stakes from an audience, the air goes out of the picture. If we don't believe it, then an audience doesn't believe it.

41:10Otherwise, while you're there, let's go mow our lawn instead or something else. Can we credit you with Dwayne Johnson's acting career in an indirect way? We can, kind of, Brendan. Well, he is a performer. Absolutely. He can entertain. He did entertain stadiums full of people by lifting his eyebrow. He did. And he had so much more to him. And yeah, pugilism is its own performance. And fake fighting has its own value. for, you know, take it for what it is, but I know for a fact that Dwayne is, he has the heart of an actor in him. And if you haven't seen Smashing Book, Smashing, forgive me, I just think about the book.

41:56Don't read the book. If you get one thing out of that, don't read it. Smashing Machine, thank you, Josh. Check it out. I think he gives a formidable performance, and he's definitely come into his own. But he does say, hey, you know, thank you for... He's very open and crediting you for helping. We chatted about this the other day for Variety, actors on actors. And after like 45 minutes or so, they pulled the plug on us. And we told everyone to just get lost because we want to keep just shooting the breeze here. Amazing. He's a real good guy. And this performance is, well, for one thing, it's absolutely put him in the conversation for all this awards pomp and circumstance.

42:43That's for real. In the 2000s, you kept very, very busy. A lot of opportunities, a lot of exciting roles. There's some famous ones you've talked about a little bit, like many an actor, but it's still a small club. I think you wore the Superman costume at some point. you were up for was it jj's or brett ratner jj brett ratner directed it um or he was going to direct it yeah was well yeah he directed the screen test i see i see so so how did that feel because you you said it didn't quite feel right to you at the time or what like oh i loved that screenplay they let me read it they locked me in a um empty office and i don't know some studio lot signed an nda it was printed black on crimson paper so you couldn't photocopy it or sneak it out the door, you know, and can speak easily.

43:31But it was, I mean, it was Shakespeare in space. It was a really good screenplay, it really was. So, but yes, I was considered, I did do a screen test. I did wear the big guy suit. I sneak a photo, is there a photo in existence? No, that was anathema. Thou shalt not. That was pretty clear to me. They were watching you. So how did it feel in the moment? Was it an exciting... If I think about it, I can remember feeling... You feel a certain anxiety anyway when you're going up on some big job. But I also remember thinking, if I do get this job, then, well, I think Superman's going to be chipped on my gravestone.

44:21There's an element of you are that for the rest of your days, your career. I mean, and that's not a bad thing. I'm not saying that's going to kill me anytime soon, but it is something that becomes part of your entire brand, who you are. And I don't know if I was ready to take that on then. I mean, I felt I was because of big opportunity and excitement, etc., etc., but I don't know.

44:51like the Irish director that I worked with whose name I'm forgetting at the moment, Terry George, once said, if it's not for you, then it'll pass you by. If it's not for you, it'll pass you by. And it wasn't for me. It worked out for everybody. It's all good. And then I want to jump to The Whale. We referenced it earlier. But it remains a remarkable performance. And I mean, a lot of people made it out to be this comeback. You were working. You've always been working. There's never been. Like, you are a working actor. How did it sit with you when it was kind of like that was the narrative, like Brendan's comeback?

45:27Did you take it in the spirit? I was glad they'd just be in the narrative. When that film was shot, it was just, well, it was during our collective experience with existentialism. During COVID, before vaccines came out. And so Darren Aronofsky directed, had a set built in Newburgh in the lower half of what's now a motorcycle museum in a flexible space. And it was Charlie's apartment, you know, built one-to-one scale with such incredible detail that it really looked lived in by this unique man. and every day that we came to shoot that, the stakes were high enough because of the collective experience we were having globally.

46:19We were, well, I was, we were all wondering if there would be a tomorrow, so to speak. So, hmm, I think that that focus gave me the impetus to believe what Ian McKellen told me which is, it's the first time the last time you will ever do this again so I gave it everything, I knew how to some things I didn't know I had in me, that Darren got out of me but I do know that when I wrapped that show, I remember thinking well Well, if this movie doesn't find its audience and I get tired and feathered for, you know, whichever reasons that, you know, those negative voices that speak in your ear sometimes, then fair enough.

47:14I really don't know what I'm doing because I am all out of moves. I didn't know what else I could have put into that role. So, in a sense, I felt like I had nothing to lose going forward. and it turned out that the story of a man who has a superpower for bringing out the good in others, if there is such a thing, it was this man. It spoke to audiences in a way that made them reconsider what it is that we think about others whom we may automatically hold, we may automatically have disdain for. And in a way, it did find also a way of making medicine out of that poison. So I'm glad for having had the experience.

48:18It was, I mean, the makeup call was several hours at least, that all of that kit was elaborately created by Adrian Moreau, who was at that time using, because it was COVID, we were all scanning with iPads. He took the data, created Charlie virtually, and from there did his voodoo magic and ran it through a 3D printer to create the appliances so that they would be absolutely perfect from day to day to day because Charlie's health deteriorates over the course of the film. So, hey, look, long story short, Darren brought together a group of people, and we made a film that is lightning in a bottle because I don't know if you could make that movie now the same way.

49:10The circumstances in a weird way contributed. Yeah, there are a few films that, and I'm not alone here, that have made me ugly cry, like watching The Whale. Thank you. You're only as good as the people you work with. That was Sadie Sink, who I believe I just read, who's going to be doing Juliet. Yes, Romeo and Juliet in London. Right. A director named Inca, I believe? Sounds right, yeah. I believe so, yes. who's produced on stage with Mark Strong right now. Oedipus. Thank you. So good on you, Sadie. You're doing what I knew that she would from just being in front of, I mean, I'll say this young woman, I mean, she was a kid then.

49:55I had a front row seat to watch how incredible she is. Oh my goodness. I was always forgetting my lines, for instance, And she had such exactitude and spirit to her that she's really what we look for in a natural-born actor. Right there. You're very generous in talking about the actors. I'm sure they would... I'm talking like it is. Yeah. Well, they're not here to reciprocate. Sadie would say good things too, man. About you. Just saying. So since the Oscar win, I mean, you've made this Killers of the Flower Moon, Martin Scorsese, that's the opportunity any actor would relish. Has it been interesting to kind of navigate this next act in a career, coming off of the Oscar win, maybe new opportunities or not?

50:49What has it felt like in the wake of The Will? Well... We're obviously at a strange point in the industry, but... There's that too. I think right now it sounds like, it seems like, I think you need to do work that people want to see. And the question is, well, what is that? I don't know the answer, but I know what it is when I see it. And whatever my interpretation of it becomes, or collaboration, whichever director, I don't Rental Family is an example of that. It really is. Thank you.

51:38I was... I saw the script before any of the awards anything that year in 23. And it's all in the title. It stood out right there. What is a rental family? And when I found out more about it from meeting Hikari and the elements involved to create this film, I had a feeling that it was going to be something special because, for one thing, the only villain in the movie Rental Family is Apathy, if you ask me. Can anyone else think of a villain that you might have seen? I don't know. I don't know. And there has to be an obstacle in dramatic structure, right? Well, maybe not always. Maybe it's an internal struggle to overcome.

52:33And, well, if I'm correct, then our director Hikari has found a way to make that movie. Well.

52:43At this point, is there a director that's eluded you? Is there someone that you've always kind of been waiting for the call or tried to manifest? Like, who's on the short list for you at this point? Scorsese was probably there, so you knocked that one off. Well, gosh, when that offer came in, I was like, Fraser? Brendan Fraser? I was like, really? So check that box.

53:08Can I go back in time? Yeah. Like Ford or something like that is what I would have liked to have done. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. A lot of folks out there, and I know you're probably not going to be able to say anything, but I'm obligated, want to see you in a Mummy sequel. And there is indeed talk, real talk out there, if you believe the news, that a filmmaking group called Radio Silence, very talented, is directing a Mummy sequel and that you may be involved. If I'm putting money on this, Brendan, am I going to cash out? Am I going to make money on Brendan Fraser returning to the Mummy franchise? Okay, cough once for yes, twice for no.

53:41Exactly. Exactly.

53:47One cough.

53:55Settle down. He didn't say anything, guys. Here's my one follow-up. I mean, if that were to happen at some point, the last time you shot one of those, you were a 40-year-old man, and the stunts are real, man. Is that a consideration? Absolutely. That's what they have stuntmen for.

54:18One of my favorite things to say is, dude, you're going to be awesome in this shot.

54:26Really? Okay. Brendan said so. I only do this with actors that have amazing filmographies. This is going to be tough on you, Brendan, but I'm going to make you pick the greatest Brendan Fraser movie of all time. I'm going to pick some movies against each other. This is just for today. This is in the moment right now. Gut, okay? We're gonna anoint the top one. Encino Man versus School Ties. I'm a School Ties man. School Ties man. Okay, School Ties. Mummy versus George of the Jungle. Okay, all right. We're all on the same team, guys. I'm sorry, I just short-circuited.

55:12I'm gonna go with the Mummy. Okay. Gods and Monsters versus the Quiet American. Man, you play dirty. I know, I know. It's rough.

55:25For its relevancy to our everyday world, about politics and meddling in it and staying out of it, I'm going to stay away from the Quiet American. I'm going to go with Gods and Monsters. Okay, okay. Crash versus the Whale. The Whale. Okay, now we have School Ties versus The Mummy.

55:51I'm going to have to change a spark plug in. The Mummy, The Mummy. Okay. Everybody like The Mummy. And then Gods and Monsters versus The Whale. The Whale. And for all the marbles, Brendan, The Whale versus The Mummy.

56:23forgive me Darren for I have sinned the mummy

56:31there are no wrong answers everybody won um we end happy sad confused this podcast of mine with profoundly random questions you ready Brendan as I ever will be dogs or cats dogs. Like the murmurs. Do you collect anything? What do you collect? Oh, archery supplies. Arrows. Really? Okay. That's a new one. Do you have a favorite video game of all time? Oh, hell yes. It's Zelda Breath of the Wild. Not to be outdone by Tears of the Kingdom. Wow. And by the way, if anybody knows how to get more bomb flowers... Still a gamer to this day? Oh, heck yeah. I was charging up my Nintendo Switch on the bedside table in my hotel room as we speak.

57:19As I wore it out on the plane at the way in. What's the most amount of hours? What game have you spent the most time? It probably would be Zelda.

57:30The Dakota Johnson memorial question. She asked me this. I ask everybody, would you rather have a mouthful of bees or one bee in your butt? Ooh, wow. I'm gonna go with the butt beat. What's the wallpaper on your phone? My son, Holden, who's at NYU. He's in his third year at film school now. And darn, he's handsome. Where'd he get that from? The FedEx guy? The FedEx guy? The last actor you were mistaken for was?

58:09I still don't know who this guy is because I was doing a reshoot for Harold Ramis' film, Bedazzled. It was, thanks. And there was a sequence that the studio thought was too hot for an audience because, just real quickly, it's the story of Faust, Faust is, and Elliot makes a deal with the devil

58:38who's tricking him at every turn

58:42and he... Liz Hurley plays the devil, by the way. You know, perks of the job, right? And she says, you know what you need? You need to be a bad boy. That's what you want. He says, yeah, I want to be really famous and so she goes, all right, you got it and suddenly he's a rock star and they filled a stadium in Los Angeles with rockers and we did a rock number and we went backstage. It was like Spile Tap and the studio saw it and I don't know, they must have like wet their pants or something. They were like, no, we can't put that out there. And they said, no, you have to reshoot that scene. And I was disappointed because I thought it was really pretty cool.

59:18It's probably, it's an Easter egg. You can find it somewhere. Anyway, so instead I was going to be Abraham Lincoln. yeah on that day other than that how was the show Mrs. Lincoln moment so if you've seen the movie then yeah that's what happens Elliot becomes Abraham Lincoln so I had to get full on transformational prosthetic makeup on and I was in the car being driven to I was in London at the time in England shooting the second Mummy movie and we were shooting in Richmond at this little old Victorian theater and they were stopping traffic in the neighborhood to let your cars in or out if you belonged or if you didn't.

59:58And we pulled up and there was a cop there. And he said, stop, stop. And I was in the back, tricked out like Lincoln, with the full on stove hat and everything. And my driver, Nigel, who's quite a wind up kind of guy, he said, who's in this movie? and the cop says, oh yeah, what's his name? It's Robert Markson.

1:00:33I was like, no it's not, who the hell is Robert Markson? He couldn't figure, Bob, it was me. I'm like, it's Brendan Fraser. But I'm wearing Lincoln makeup and he doesn't believe me because I don't look like Brendan and Fraser. So I guess in a way I got mistaken for myself.

1:00:55And Robert Markson went on to become? An alias. I guess now I will never use again. What's the worst note a director has ever given you, Brendan? The worst note? Oh, the worst note.

1:01:15I try to filter those out, to be honest. What's not helpful? What don't you want to... Oh, well, it's Stephen Summers in The Mummy. He would say, he'd set up a shot, a big one. He'd go, ready and don't suck. Action! Running, crashing, camels exploding. I was like, really? Do you think I'm going to choose right now to not suck? Or to suck?

1:01:48And finally, Brendan, in the spirit of happy, sad, confused, an actor who always makes you happy, you see them on screen, you're in a better mood, would be? Japlin. Nice. Gloucester Keaton.

1:02:03Any of the silent film stars, pretty much. And I'm always glad to see Bugs Bunny. Who I've worked with. Yeah, I was going to say. Yeah, yeah. He's actually a really cool guy. Yeah, I've heard that. On the other hand, Daffy Duck's an asshole. A movie that makes you sad, always brings you to tears. Oh, I'm not going to say old yeller. No, a movie that's sad that always brings me to tears is... Hmm. Old Yeller. No. I don't know if I have one of those, honest. But then again, I cry when I see shaving commercials. So the bar is low. Yeah, it's pretty low. I'm a pushover. And a food that makes you confused, Brendan.

1:02:53You don't get it. Why do people eat that food? Oh, yeah. That one's called natto. I don't know what that is. Tell me. It's a Japanese food. It's soybeans fermented. And it's got this consistency of little lumps. And it sort of has tendrils that come from you. Stretch it apart. I mean, it's really cool looking. Sure. It smells like acid. Why would you want to put that in your mouth? I'm like, here's very healthy for you though. So respect to those who live for the natto. I am not a natto man. Everything else about Japanese culture we love. We still are celebrating it with rental family. That and poi in Hawaii.

1:03:33Is that what it's called? Poi, the sort of bitter, white, goopy. So it's consistency. It's weird. Yeah, I think it's that. Flavors and weird consistencies. That's not what I mean. We're going to end positive. This movie is fantastic. Congratulations. I want you guys, I know you will, spread the good word. Movies like this need support. Tell five friends. Rental Family in theaters November 21st. And man, thank you so much for sharing your career, your life with us. Continued success to the one and only Brendan Fraser, everybody. Thank you.

1:04:28And so ends another edition of Happy, Sad, Confused. Remember to review, rate and subscribe to this show on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm a big podcast person. I'm Daisy Ridley and I definitely wasn't pressured to do this by Josh.

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