5 Things You Didn’t Know About Brendan Fraser
Image Source: Yahoo News NZ
During the 1990s and early 2000s, Brendan Fraser was on everyone’s radar. He was in most of the action and comedy movies released each year, and he was the ultimate heartthrob. Unfortunately, he dropped off the scene in the mid-2000s after suffering multiple injuries on the sets of his films. This hiatus was further exacerbated when he spoke up for himself after a horrible encounter with a higher-up in the industry and was blacklisted by much of Hollywood. Thankfully, he has made an incredible comeback with his role in The Whale which just won the actor his first Oscar and countless other awards and nominations! Let's take a look at 5 facts you probably didn’t know about Brendan Fraser!
5. Sir Ian McKellen
Image Source: IMDb
Most people know Sir Ian McKellen as Gandalf the Grey in The Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit films or Magneto in X-Men. What many people might not know is that he starred opposite Brendan Fraser in the 1998 drama Gods and Monsters. After the film’s release, McKellen stated that he wished he could one day act as well as Fraser and even compared his talent to that of Marilyn Monroe. He went on to explain that it is difficult to see his level of skill during filming but that it comes through when watching the movie.
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4. Canada’s Walk of Fame
Image Source: Twitter
Brendan Fraser may not have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (yet), but he is the first American-born actor to have one on Canada’s Walk of Fame. While the actor was born in Indiana, both of his parents are Canadian and have dual citizenship, making the actor eligible! He was inducted in March 2006.
3. Superman
Image Source: IMDb
Fraser is currently playing Robotman on Doom Patrol, but it turns out this wasn’t the first superhero role the actor was considered for. He auditioned for the role of Superman in Superman: Flyby which was a reboot that was being written by J. J. Abrams and expected to be directed by Brett Ratner in the early 2000s. He was a top contender with a then mostly unknown Henry Cavill. Unfortunately, the project was scrapped in favor of Bryan Sainger’s Superman Returns and Cavill would go on to take over the role in 2013.
2. America’s Most Wanted
Image Source: IMDb
Most fans do not know that Fraser got his first-ever acting job on America’s Most Wanted. He played the friend of murder victim Rodney Mark Peterson and was featured in the show’s first year on the air. Unsurprisingly, the actor often forgets this appearance and even said in an interview that he couldn’t remember exactly what his role was but that he had fun doing it. Three years later he made his first film debut in Dogfight where he plays a sailor traveling to Vietnam.
1. The Mummy
Image Source: IMDb
Fraser is arguably most known for the role of Rick O’Connell in The Mummy franchise. What many fans don’t know is that he was legally dead for more than 10 minutes while filming the first film! During a hanging stunt gone wrong, the actor was actually hung and says that he remembers being on set and then waking up somewhere else. Unfortunately for the actor, this isn’t his only on-set injury. He insisted on doing his own stunts in his films, which has led to him having a knee replacement, spinal, and vocal cord surgeries. He also suffered a back injury during Hurricane Sandy.
You can currently watch Brendan Fraser in Doom Patrol on HBO Max and The Whale which is available to rent on Amazon Prime Video.
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Source(s): Far Out, Variety, GQ, Canada’s Walk of Fame
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