Brendan Fraser rose to fame on the backs of movies like The Mummy and George of the Jungle. For a while there, he was the comic action star to beat, mixing splashy blockbusters with smaller, more intimate movies like Gods and Monsters.
His star dimmed for a while afterward, but we find him currently in the midst of a renaissance. Fraser is getting Oscar buzz for his performance in The Whale, directed by Darren Aronofsky. He plays a reclusive English teacher trying to reconnect with his estranged daughter, played by Stranger Things star Sadie Sink.
Might this lead to a blockbuster comeback for Fraser? For instance, has he been approached about a possible reboot of The Mummy franchise, where he played explorer Rick O’Connell in three films between 1999 and 2008? “Not, like, officially, no, but I know the fans have,” Fraser told Entertainment Weekly. “I’ve been having a great time in recent years, in my so-called hiatus, going to fan conventions, keeping it real, meeting everybody and thanking them personally for putting me where I am. I think I got over myself, insofar as ‘I’m too busy’ or ‘That’s not for me,’ I don’t know what I was thinking. I needed to have some gratitude.”
Brendan Fraser is getting Oscar buzz for his performance in The Whale
Fraser isn’t the only Mummy veteran in demand these days. Michelle Yeoh costarred with Fraser in the third Mummy film, Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, and is now out there promoting her role in Everything Everywhere All At Once, not to mention her part in the upcoming The Witcher: Blood Origin prequel series. Her character died in Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, but Fraser still thinks it “sounds like fun” to re-team with her.
“I’m always looking for a job, if anyone’s got the right conceit,” Fraser said. “I’ve never been as famous and as unsalaried than I am at the moment, so, spread the word!”
I mean, if Harrison Ford can play Indiana Jones again at 80, I don’t see why Fraser can’t play Rick O’Connell at 54. In the meantime, The Whale opens in theaters today.
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