Brendan Fraser has been making headlines almost everywhere after he took the dais to accept an Oscar for his performance in the film The Whale. The Whale is about an overweight man played by Fraser, he is an English professor hiding in his apartment, reclusive and isolated wanting to reconnect with his teenage daughter as death inches closer.
The film was also nominated for the Best Picture category in the 95th Academy Awards. Brendan Fraser is a name that people associated with The Mummy films which shot him into worldwide fame and recognition.
Brendan Fraser rejected $174 Million Movie sequel offer
Several choices led Fraser to the stage on 12 March 2023, some choices shaped his career rest sent a message to Hollywood solidifying his principles and diversifying his acting portfolio. Fraser’s choice to reject Millions of dollars was in retrospect a very wise decision.
Even though in the early part of his career he was known for The Mummy films but he also starred in some other hits like The George of the Jungle which surprisingly did well with the audience bringing $174 Million in Box Office collection. When the sequel was being made Fraser was approached again but this time he was not ready. Fraser though had to undergo an extreme diet and workout regime due to the physique required to play the forest man, George. He recalls the difficulties during the shoot,
“[I was] waxed, greased, starved of carbohydrates. I would drive home after work and stop to get something to eat. I needed some cash one day, and I went to the ATM, and I couldn’t remember my PIN because my brain was misfiring. Banging on the thing. I didn’t eat that night.”
Loss of memory is no joke, it shows how fatigued the Oscar-winning actor was that he forgot important things like his PIN, etc. With his body working at a limited capacity his brain could no longer take it. The diet is one of the biggest reasons Fraser said no to a sequel.
Brendan Fraser did not want to get typecasted by Hollywood
This was not the sole reason. The Mummy actor was scared he would get typecast or put in a box so before anyone could put a label on his he ditched the genre together and began to explore newer avenues.
“I was approached. I can’t remember what I was doing at the time, but I felt like I wanted to go do The Quiet American instead with Michael Caine, and shoot the first Western film in Vietnam ever, directed by Phillip Noyce, to tell an infinitely American story,”
He continued,
“I’m always making diverse choices, and, hopefully, that keeps me and an audience interested. With a bit of distance, I think they’ve all cumulatively led up to the place I’m in now.”
George of the Jungle 2, which starred Christopher Showerman, failed to capture audiences’ attention in the same way as the first film and received negative reviews. It is quite ironic how Fraser once played a well-built, confident man who was shirtless most of the time, and now Brendan Fraser is playing an overweight reclusive guy who is waiting for death to lay him down. The latter won him an Oscar the former probably led to a bigger fan following.
Source: TheThings
