Soon to be showing “The Whale” (this Wednesday in theaters, and which could earn him an Oscar), Brendan Fraser returned to the set of “The Mummy”, saying that he almost died there.
During his Hollywood debut, Brendan Fraser gave himself a lot physically in order to perform most of his stunts himself. A discipline that almost cost him dearly. Guest of Kelly Clarkson ShowBrendan Fraser returned to a moment during the filming of The Mummy which could have cost him his life.
The scene takes place around the 20th minute of the film, his character of Rick O’Connell is in prison and is going to be hanged. But the scene did not go as planned, as the actor tells us:
“I was standing on my toes like that, with the rope and you didn’t have to go beyond that. [réalisateur Stephen Sommers] came running up to me and said, ‘Hey, it doesn’t look like you’re choking. Can you do it to me?’ and I was like ‘okay,’ so I agreed to do one more take.”
Universal Pictures
“The camera circled around me, I got back on my toes and the guy holding the rope above me pulled it a bit higher, and I was on my toes so I could only fall .
He was pulling up, I was falling down and the only thing I remember was my elbow was in my ear, the world was upside down and I had gravel in my teeth, everyone was very worried.”
The actor almost ended up in serious condition. After his fall, the very experienced stunt coordinator Simon Crane immediately came to help Fraser up, saying: “Congratulations you joined the club – same thing happened to Mel Gibson on Braveheart”.
Universal Pictures
A very small consolation prize for a stunt that was almost fatal to him.
Brendan Fraser’s new film is to be found this Wednesday in theaters. Entitled The Whale, it paints the portrait of an English teacher reclusive at home, trying to reconnect with his teenage daughter for one last chance at redemption.