Thanks to his work in The Whale, Brendan Fraser has been thrust back into the spotlight, where he belongs. It was quite the process for the actor during his latest film, dawning a heavy prosthetic suit.
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Several fans and peers expressed love towards the actor, including Dwayne Johnson. We'll take a look at what DJ had to say, along with taking a look back at how the two actors got along during DJ's film debut back in 2001 with The Mummy Returns.
Brendan Fraser was and clearly still is, a huge box office attraction, especially in the early 2000s. Fraser starred in The Mummy Returns, which made a huge impression at the box office, bringing in $435 million.
At the time of the film, Fraser revealed things weren't exactly easy, especially when it came to the stunts and prepping for the movie. "There was a lot of preparation involved... weights, high protein dieting, the works. In the script where it says Rick gets thrown across the room, then I did, and sort of got smashed up in the process," he said alongside Cinema back in 2001.
Not only that, Fraser almost lost his life during a particular stunt, that saw the actor struggle with a rope around his throat area.
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Looking back at the film alongside Popverse, the actor revealed that he had a blast on-set, calling the project a 'real-life adventure'.
"I really enjoyed getting to be with that whole cast. I loved being part of a movie that we didn't know if it was an action, comedy, horror, adventure, romance. All of the above. We didn't know what we had on our hands, and there was a certain sense of liberty and excitement about it."
"It was an old property that Universal had. The time it came out, you know, it was laughable. Everybody thought of Abbott and Costello-with the mummy. And here we were with our version of it. Courtesy of John Burton, ILM bringing state of the art CGI, and just the combination of all that made it, I'd say, the memorable film that it is now."
Little did Fraser know at the time, he was working alongside an actor that would become one of the biggest names in all of Hollywood...
It should not come as a surprise, Johnson and Fraser completely hit it off during their time together in The Mummy Returns. Johnson credits Fraser for kick-starting his career.
As for Fraser, he spoke about their time together on the film. According to the actor, he was blown away by Dwayne Johnson's level of popularity back then, given that he was making his acting debut in the film.
Brendan told Cinema, "The minute we landed, all I heard were these chants. People who didn't speak English were screaming, 'Rock! Rock!' No one cared about me." "He might be the Rock. I felt like the pebble."
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In truth, that was just the start. When Dwayne Johnson changed representation in the 2010s, his career really took off, becoming a huge A-list action star.
The Rock didn't forget where he came from, recently crediting Fraser for his career and the actor's recent project, The Whale.
Not only is Brendan Fraser back, but the actor is creating some Oscar-buzz thanks to his role as a 600-pound instructor in the film, The Whale.
At the Venice Film Festival, Fraser received a massive ovation that lasted several minutes. Not only that, but he received lots of love from his peers, including you guessed it, Dwayne Johnson.
"Man, this makes me so happy to see this beautiful ovation for Brendan," Johnson wrote. "He supported me coming into his 'Mummy Returns' franchise for my first ever role, which kicked off my Hollywood career. Rooting for all your success, brother and congrats to my bud Darren Aronofsky. #TheWhale," DJ tweeted out as a response to Fraser's ovation video.
Who knows, maybe we'll see Dwayne Johnson and Brendan Fraser reunite for another project down the road...