Fresh Air - Brendan Fraser Has Everything & Nothing To Prove

Episode Date: November 24, 2025

In his new film, 'Rental Family,' Brendan Fraser plays an actor in Tokyo who takes a job with a rental family service. It's based on a real phenomenon in Japan: companies where you can hire someone to fill a gap in your life. Fraser spoke with Tonya Mosley about shooting in Japan, working with Scorsese on ‘Killers of the Flower Moon,’ and his struggle with confidence. Also, Ken Tucker shares three songs dominating the charts: Neko Case's "Oh, Neglect...," Valerie June's "Runnin' and Searchin'" and Olivia Dean's "Man I Need" Follow Fresh Air on instagram @nprfreshair, and subscribe to our weekly newsletter for gems from the Fresh Air archive, staff recommendations, and a peek behind the scenes. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Hi, it's Terry Gross. If you'd like Fresh Air interview collections with filmmakers or comics or musicians or staff favorites and more, sign up for Fresh Air Plus. It will make those car rides, meal prep, and the treadmill more entertaining. And you'll get daily Fresh Air podcast episodes ad-free. Learn more and sign up at plus.npr.org. This is Fresh Air. I'm Tanya Mosley. When Brendan Fraser first read the script for rental family, he recognized a world he'd never seen shown in film before. It follows an American actor, adrift in Tokyo, barely scraping by until he stumbles into a job with a rental family agency.

It's based on a real phenomenon in Japan, companies where you can hire someone to fill a gap in your life, a father to walk you down the aisle, a mourner at a funeral, or simply a companion for dinner. Brennan Fraser's character is a struggling performer who's suddenly given a new kind of role to play. In this scene, he's speaking with the head of the rental family agency who's explaining what they do and why they think he might be a good fit. Takahiro Hirah speaks first. So, what do you think we do? You, if I have to guess, you, you sell people. No.

No. We sell emotion. Oh. How? We play roles in clients' lives. But you can't just, you know, replace someone in your life. Yes, no. But people are willing to take a leap.

The actor, the surrogate. You don't have to be that person. You just have to help clients connect to what's missing. Like what? Well, could be anybody from their life. or feeling they once had. Parents, siblings, boyfriends, girlfriends, best friends. We played it all.

Well, they could just get a therapist. It's not that easy here. Mental health issues are stigmatized in this country. So, people have to turn to other things like us. Hmm. What do you need me for? We need a talking white guy. It's a niche market.

niche market. And I need someone to feel the role. Just talking white guys. Um, I'm, I'm just an actor. I don't know how to help people. But you know how to perform. I've seen the resume. Look, what I'm offering here is a chance to play roles with a real meaning. As the story unfolds, Fraser's character discovers that pretending to be someone's family member just might be the most honest work he's ever done. And for Fraser, those themes resonate. His own career has been marked by transformation, early fame, a period of stepping back, and a comeback that felt like watching someone come into himself again. Fraser first broke through in the early 90s with Encino Man and school ties and later became an action star anchoring the mummy franchise. To this day, millions of theme park

visitors see and hear him every time they step into the revenge of the mummy rides at Universal Studios. But after years in the spotlight, Fraser retreated from big studio roles, continuing to work, but often in smaller, quieter projects. Then in 2022, he delivered an acclaimed performance in Darren Aronofsky's The Whale, earning him an Academy Award for Best Actor. And Brendan Fraser, welcome to fresh air. Thank you, Tony. Brendan, this is such an interesting premise, because this is not fictional. There are rental agencies that provide this service to people in Japan. When you were offered this role, how was it explained to you? Well, there are about 300 or so businesses that operate now and have

done since, I'm told, the early 1980s. The model is based on a need for people to fill the absence of loved ones or friends, but they still have a want to connect. So very often, as I've learned, In Japan, people can become quite isolated for such a populous place. That's so interesting, right, because it's so populous. It's even shown in the film. Like, you can feel how crowded, how the population is so dense. A beehive of activity. Exactly.

And yet there's a solitude and a loneliness there. And as an actor in our film, whose name is Akira Imoto-san, did point out for him, and he just turned 77, by the way, bless him. He said, sometimes solitude can be good. It gives you contemplation, it gives you reflection, and he says that, you know, heading into the fourth act of his life right now. So it's not necessarily such a bad thing, but it is something that people still want to fulfill. And they do so by hiring an individual who may be a performer, who may be someone who just has a, talent or the patients to sit with people and to be a type of surrogate for them to feel as if they're just

not so alone. And it may be a bit peculiar, as is the title, rental family. What is a rental family? You can rent nearly anything in Tokyo. You can rent a capybara. Right, right. Yes. And this really does it deviate from that business model so much as it does provide for people who are feeling alone, who have the courage to ask for help. That's interesting because part of the reason why this is a service is because there's also a stigma around therapy. Yeah. Particularly in Japan, as I was told. There's an attitude of the word I think, is Honitatai me, forgive me for my pronunciation, for those who speak Japanese, it means the public face and the private face.

And the public face is the one that is the mask preventing what you truly feel for whatever's going on in your life. It speaks to a certain demeanor of stoicism that is just inherent in the culture. In the film, we follow your character, Philip, as he begins working with the rental aid. agency, and he really is conflicted about this whole thing. His first job was standing in as a groom at a wedding ceremony. A young Japanese woman needed her parents to think she was marrying a man, but really she was planning to move abroad with her girlfriend. And in the scene that we're about to hear, Philip is at a restaurant with his co-worker, processing what he just did. And she calls him the Japanese word for outsider, which is Guyjin. Let's listen.

You knew the situation. You knew we were her last option, and you still nearly backed out. But I didn't. But you would have. See, you're just a Gaijin. You will never understand how things work here. You're right, I am Gaijin, but Japan is my home now. And I want to try to understand.

Why do you do this? What? This job. You're so passionate about it. Why? The way these people look at you, like they've been waiting for you their whole lives, despite everything Tada says, that these people stay with you. Sometimes all we need is someone to look us in the eye and remind us we exist.

That was my guest today, Brendan Fraser, with actress Mari Yamamoto in the new movie Rental Family. Brendan, your character, it's interesting. It makes a point to tell us that your character has been in Japan for seven years. And he's still fundamentally disconnected. He's still othered. I mean, first off, because he is a white guy and a token white guy and a population. And a tall one at that, too. And a tall one.

He stands out in a crowd. Yes. You actually spent how many months? Four months in Japan. Yeah, I mean, with a predominantly Japanese crew, is that right? Entirely Japanese crew. This is a Japanese film. Japanese crafts and trades to make it, everything, with English language.

Yes, with English language. What did that experience for you just being in Japan, experiencing being an individual and outsider? How did that help inform what feels like this inherent loneliness in your character? Well, I can understand how I would stand apart in a crowd, but then again, I am tall, and I do look a lot like Brendan Fraser, so I may have attracted some attention here and there, but, and interesting to note, if ever I was recognized, it's anathema for people to approach you in a way that would be frothing, or would you please take a selfie or take an autograph or something like that, to much of the population, because because that would in some way indicate that you'd make the other person uncomfortable or inconvenience them. And I very often was never, ever approached, although I was clearly, obviously, who I am. Could you tell that they knew who you were, but there was that courtesy then? Oh, yeah. But compare that to any other populous city that I've been to, people will climb into my lap, I mean, at a restaurant or something, basically.

And that just doesn't happen in Japan. But people were redoubled in how they extended courtesy to me to one another. The notion of burdening someone else with your troubles or your concerns is just not how the way things work in Japan as a cultural mainstay. There's a moment where you're asked in the film, if you and your own life were to hire someone. to fulfill a role, would you? And I'm not going to say what you said in the film because people need to see it, but you did answer it in an honest way

that gives us just a slice of an understanding of your character. Had you thought about that for yourself because it makes the audience think about that. If we were in this position where we had the option to hire someone to fulfill a role in our lives, who would it be? Did you ask yourself that question? Yes.

Who would be a sister? I'm the fourth of four sons. And I can recall being a kid, when our family lived in Europe, I was given books that came from the UK because they were printed in English. And one of them was a book about growing up. And one of them had a picture that looked a lot. An illustration, I looked so much like me and a girl. And they were depicted as brother and sister. And I wanted that.

I wanted that relationship. I wanted. I mean, I felt that because, and I'll share this with you, I did have a baby sister, and she did pass away at birth. And in our family, that was a, you know, that was a hole, that was a vacuum. I didn't even, couldn't make sense of it when I was very young and it happened. So I think I had that intuitively in me. That and I didn't want to hang out with my smelly-aggressive three older brothers all the time. Right, because you were the baby. I was the youngest, yeah. But that yearning was always there, that understanding.

Brendan, a lot of people, a lot of places, I should say, claim you, in part because your father's work had you all moving around a lot as a kid. Where do you consider home? Upstate New York now. But going backwards, it was a hopscotch pattern of growing up. I was born in Indianapolis. That's where dad's work was. and where mom said,

whoop, time to go to the hospital. And then to Cincinnati, Detroit, Ottawa, Canada. From there in the mid-70s, our family traveled to Europe. We were housed in Holland. Dad's work was with Tourism Canada.

What did he do with Tourism Canada that had him move so much? I think he might have been a G-man for all I know. You're not sure. In those days, I just knew my kids. dad had a lot of brochures in his office because people would want to know about Canada. So they would send packets of brochures and information. He was promoting Canada around the world overseas. And so there was also affiliation with embassies and there was liaising with government

people. And I honestly don't know exactly what dad did. Sometimes he was writing. Sometimes he was attending conferences and speaking as bad French. And, you know, you're a kid. You're in your own world. And the other kids who did have that sort of hopscotch pattern were military families or they worked with, I don't know, I went to an international school in Denhock. It was called the American School of the Hank. And a lot of the kids there, some of their parents are military. So they called themselves military brats. I thought that was kind of a tough, cool name. You want to be a brat?

Yeah, no, I was a brochure brat. That was as cool as it got for me. I think you hold the distinction of one of the only Canadian-ish people to have a star on the Canadian Walk of Fame, right? Because you're not technically a Canadian. I am a dual citizen. Born in the United States, my heritage is Canadian. I feel that. Every time I'm in Canada, the air somehow does something different for me. I feel energized.

I truly feel like these are my people, my French-Canadian roots. are strong. My ancestors fought on the plains of Abraham. And from what I can still see, every time I've worked in Montreal, French Canadians are a tribe. They really are a tightly knit group of incredible, polite pirates of sorts. They're pierced and tattooed, and they've got interesting hairstyles and a prevalent attitude of if, As long as you're not harming anyone or doing anything that could hurt someone, you go ahead, you be you, you be good. And they're a tribe. They really do stick together.

And I see that from the film sets I've worked on, but just also in the proud heart of cultural heritage that they have. And that really speaks to me, too. But growing up, how did moving around in that way sort of impact your sense of belonging? We challenged it because to reinvent yourself or be picked up in mind. moved and picked up and moved and picked up and moved, causes you to need to redefine yourself to find a way to assimilate. You're always the new guy. So it can be a challenge. But many of the actors I've met have had similar backgrounds in their lives by moving around. But I have to say that it worked out for me in a way that made me feel like I was always constantly striving to find

a place that was home. And it turned out to be home was where I was, wherever that was. You also found home in this idea of acting. How old were you when it first came to mind for you that first I really like this? And then second, oh, wait, I think I can do this. It would have been when I lived in Holland and we'd take our holidays to the UK in London. I first started seeing plays on the West End there in musicals. I think one of the very first musicals I saw was Oliver, which is seeing a revival right now in London. I noticed, I hope I'm there in time to catch it.

When did it come to you that I'm going to make this something that I pursue? I'm going to pursue acting. I went to a boys boarding school in Toronto, and I was not a very good student. It's not because I was uneducated or dim or didn't understand. It's because I didn't have consistency. in a curriculum. The other boys that I went to school with had all been there through the same system

continuously. Mine was disjointed and all over the place, so I did struggle academically a great deal. And it gave me intense insecurity. Certainly mathematics did. That was a language that gave me anxiety and genuine, like I'm stammering, genuine fear because of what was expected.

What was your hardest year? Do you remember that turn for you? Yes, it was probably grade 12, my senior year, around there. When I was sent out of the math class, Fraser, this is not for you. Get out is what I remember hearing. And that stuck me in the heart like an ice dagger. It was like being told, you're stupid, you offend me, go away. And it wounded me.

It really did. And I thought, well, that must be true. I don't know. Who am I? Where do I belong? And I knew the answer. It was with the little theater company where I found a kinship with friends where I could meet girls, for instance, because they took all the parts that were needed for whatever production of West Side Story or, you know, I could be included in that. But that came to an abrupt end because my father's work ended.

And he was made redundant. And so suddenly I was cut loose. You all didn't have money for school anymore. Not at that school anyway. And I was crestfallen, to say the least. My parents were helpless to do anything. I cracked open the yellow pages in Seattle, and I found a listing for Cornish College of the Arts.

I called them, and they said, you can audition, but you have to do it today. I drove in my mom's car to this address on Capitol Hill and went in to a little black box. room and I did not have an audition piece too contrasting one classical, one contemporary. I didn't have a song. Honestly, I don't remember what it was that I did for them. I might have even read some thing from a book that I found quickly a poem or anything and they had me go through some improvised activities and they asked me, how are you going to pay to get

into school also? I said, I don't know. And that was a Friday. They thanked me, sent me on my way. I spent the weekend biting my fingernails. I called the next day, which is when the semester at Cornish began. I spoke with who was someone who was clearly an intern or, you know, college work study at the student at the office and asked, hi, it's Brendan Fraser. I just want to know I gave an audition on Friday. Do you know if I've been accepted or not? And then I heard some papers kind of shuffling and the phone go, just hanging on and then they came back. Oh, yeah, you're in. Come on. Come on. Come down. What? What? I didn't. Now? Yeah, so I drove back, and the next thing you know, I'm sitting in an auditorium getting a lecture on what is a Pell Grant.

Our guest today is Academy Award-winning actor Brendan Fraser. We'll be back after a short break. I'm Tanya Mosley, and this is fresh air. This message comes from Wise, the app for using money around the globe. When you manage your money with Wise, you'll always get the mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees. Join millions of customers and visit Wise. dot com. T's and C's apply. Support for this podcast

and the following message come from Dignity Memorial. When you think about the people you love, it's not the big things you miss the most. It's the details. What memories will your loved ones cherish when you're gone? At Dignity Memorial, the details aren't just little things, they're everything.

They help families create meaningful celebrations of life with professionalism and compassion. To find a provider near you, visit DignityMemorial.com. Hi, it's Carrie. Our co-host Tanya Mosley and I will be doing an end of the year Fresh Air Plus bonus episode, answering listener questions about the show and about ourselves.

You can send the questions now to Fresh Air Plus at NPR.org, with Plus spelled out. That's Fresh Air Plus at npr.org. Keeping up with the news can feel like a 24-hour job. Luckily, it is. is our job. Every hour on the NPR News Now podcast, we take the latest most important stories happening and we package them into five-minute episodes so you can easily squeeze them in between meetings and on your way to that thing. Listen to the NPR News Now podcast. Now. Hi, this is Molly C.V. Nesper, digital producer at Fresh Air. And this is Terry Gross, host of

the show. One of the things I do is write the weekly newsletter. And I'm a newsletter fan. I read it every Saturday after breakfast. The newsletter includes all the week's shows, staff recommendations, and Molly picks timely highlights from the archive. It's a fun read. It's also the only place where we tell you what's coming up next week, an exclusive. So subscribe at www.org slash fresh air and look for an email from Molly every Saturday morning. 1992 is such an interesting year because you had two distinct roles that you played in two big movies. There was Encino Man where you played a frozen caveman and his absurd. It was a pretty absurd but funny comedy. It was my favorite movie back in the day. And then school ties where

you played a Jewish quarterback confronting anti-Semitism at a prep school. And this was an interesting production because it was the introduction of a lot of actors that we have come to know now. So it's you. It's Matt Damon. It's Ben Affleck. And Chris O'Donnell. And Chris O'Don. Colhouser. Yes. So one of these films was silly, and the other one was quite serious. That seems like that's rare to have two films as breakout roles that were two distinctly different characters. Did you know the type of actor that you wanted to be at that time? I knew that. Encino Man was a broad comedy, and I thought, yeah, I could do that. I've done clown work. I know what I'm doing. I got the part in the audition for me. and Sino, and large part, I think, because I was wrestling with plants and painting the walls with ketchup. That's what's said in the script. Okay, so anyway, I actually did it, and they, they wanted me. But I thought it's, it's not beneath me, but not really how I want to introduce myself.

To the world, right. Yes, I had, I had protections of, you know, crafting a career early, early on. The opportunity to play the kid in school at times spoke to me a great deal, like I said, because I did go to a boys' private school. I do know what happens to young men in that environment when they wear blazers and ties, but are handed a copy of Lord of the Flies when they arrived there as an ad hoc survival guide. And that's the truth. That's the truth. You did, truly.

Yes, yes. So I wanted to be a part of the film. What does it mean to be handed that book? and to be told while you're wearing a tie in a suit? Pay attention because this is how you could frankly live or die in this environment where you live in a society of your peers and you wonder, where are all the adults? I'm glad things have changed. I know my own kids have gone to schools as such, and the environment is different now, thankfully.

But it did give me an impression of how to proceed. So while I'm not a Jewish kid, I do know what it feels like to be an outsider, looking to be a part of it. David Green in school ties was confronted by bigotry and anti-Semitism. Then he takes ownership of who he is, but is blamed for a cheating scandal because he's the outsider. He's the one who can be the sacrificial goat. There's something so timeless about that movie and that story.

I think it holds up. Yeah. That really got me thinking about something else that I heard you say during the press run for rental family when you were in London where you said that the film reminded you're good enough and had always been. That's such a vulnerable thing to admit. And I also think I was surprised to hear it. at this late stage in your career? I struggle with confidence daily all the time. And I should because I think I need to be reminded by myself that I am enough.

I don't have anything to prove necessarily any longer, and I have everything to prove still. And I don't want to be. so comfortable as to rest on the laurels of an accomplishment, an affirmation, an award, for instance, so that I lose the hunger and the desire to continue and grow and learn. There's so many filmmakers who are incredible that I want to get something from. You have worked with great directors. You have worked with Scorsese and Aronowski and these people that the list is very long in a very long career. Well, what I learned from working with, you know,

these exalted esteemed directors is that something I should have known all along, but it's the truth is that there's just people where Martin Scorsese pushes furniture around himself on the floor to block scenes. He wants to solicit ideas from actors and he makes decisions on the spot in the moment to deviate from a plan. And here I had these, you know, these pretentious ideas that he was masterful and that he would have everything prescribed as he wanted it and deemed it to be. Yes, he certainly knew what he was doing, but he is a collaborator.

He's really an ensemble player. He doesn't perceive himself as being so exalted as I was imagining that he would do. And to see Scorsesey work that way and Aronovsky worked that way also. Being surrounded by people who are so committed to what they do and committed to the vision of the one bringing it to them is truly inspiring to me. Scorsese said that he chose you to play in Killers of the Flower Moon, which is a film about a series of murders of members of the Osage Nation in Oklahoma in the 1920s. And you played an attorney and you come in pretty late in the film, but you're pretty bombastic. And one of the things he said He admired your skill

But he also admired Your ability to take up the space On the screen That's what he wanted When I spoke to him He said he needs to be large He needs to be powerful and assertive Because that character

We actually was a composite Of many different lawyers Representing that Of trials There were many During That film But it's the

The fourth act Of a Scorsesey movie It's when the hammer drops and now everybody, the reckoning is here. And so what happens? Well, they're in court and everyone has to atone for their sins, as it were. And he absolutely directed me to be large. And I was carrying some extra pounds on my own body at that time from having done, finished doing the whale. The whale, right.

You had just gotten done with that. Yeah. So I was quite larger than I am now. instance in this stage of wherever my body is now. And that was useful to him because, I mean, not only was I sitting next to Bob De Niro and defending him in federal court and going ahead to head with John Lithgow in a bellowing contest to a judge who, at that time, lawyers fought trials based on how colorful and bombastic and large they were. I want to, actually play a clip from the film so that folks can know what we're talking about. So

Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Ernest, who works for his uncle, played by Robert De Niro, and Ernest worked on the uncle's ranch and also carried out many of the murders that happened. Your character enters, as I mentioned, late in the film, playing this combative attorney representing the uncle. And in this scene I want to play, your character in a room full of powerful people try to pressure Ernest not to testify against his uncle. We hear you speak, followed by DiCaprio and then other people in the room. Let's listen. If you testify against your uncle, you realize that this can be held against you for the rest of your life.

And you can be convicted for the Smith murder. Spend the rest of your days in prison. Do you see that? No, I suppose I didn't think that through too. much, but... They're giving you the rope to hang yourself. Do you see that? He doesn't see that.

He doesn't see that. Ernest? Yeah, yeah. If you do this, you will be murdering your uncle. Ernest, you don't want to do that? Have him to die, in prison? Do you, Ernest? No, of course, I don't want that, Murdy.

You know I don't want that. Yes, you have all the power to save you. power to save his life. He is saving you, dumb boy. Do you want to go home right now? Yes, yes I do. You want to see your wife and kids? Yes, sir, I do. These government men, they beat you and they tortured you. Oh no, no, they didn't, but they did keep me up for days. No! They beat you. They beat you. you. They beat you. Yes, they beat me. They beat me. Thank you. That was my guest today, Brendan Fraser, in the 2023 film Killers of the Flower Moon, directed by Martin Scorsese. And you mentioned how you wanted to play this outsized person. That's what you were cast to do. You were meant to be bombastic in that way. But how did you approach playing someone complicit in such horrific crimes without making him a cartoon villain?

When we started to shoot that scene, Martin told me that this should be like for Leo's character and it should be like Night of the Living Dead because everyone is in on the know and he's ushered into the hot seat and he's going to be intimidated into getting what they want. He not only has to swim upstream, he has to be the boulder in the stream at the same time. Did you spend a lot of time on the set? Because what was interesting about this particular film is that it's centered. on these Osage voices, and it was made in deep collaboration with that nation. What was it like being part of a production where you're working with real people, you know?

It was like living in an opera in that courtroom scene because it was a Baptist church that had been designed on the inside to be brand new 1920s federalist architecture. So it was squeaky clean columns, and the galley was filled with, you know, the extra players. And they were First Nations. They were Osage members authentically. They really were. So this was intensely personal. This whole movie is about them for them.

And it was populated by them purposefully. And there's a sense of authenticity. He shot with four cameras, quadruple coverage. Unless it's an action car wreck or something like that. You don't often see this. This was just to play the scene. A wide on them, one on me, one on Leo, and another one hunting for.

reaction shots. And the scene went on for, you know, several minutes. So we really were in almost like a stage play when shooting that. Let's take a short break. If you're just joining us, my guest is Brendan Fraser. And his new film is called Rental Family. We'll be right back after a break. This is fresh air. You know, a lot has been said about it being a comeback after the whale. And you make the point to say that you had always been here. You just in smaller roles or in television or in streaming series. You know, one of the things that you talk about quite a bit, but you've talked about the beating that your body had had over the years, especially in your early career, over the mummy when you were doing the mummy and some of those other

very physical roles. When did you realize that you were in pain, that you had turned a corner? That I was paying attention to myself and that I needed to slow down. I took every precaution and stunt teams are there for safety and, you know, all precautions were always taken. But then again, at that time, I was, you know, I was a fit guy. I had plenty of practice with, you know, rough and tumble stuff, whatever. And I thought, you know, I can do this. But I didn't have to, although I did because I had this misconceived notion that I had to be earning this somehow. So you were pushing your body hard? Yeah, a little too hard. Like, you know, if I wasn't in pain or bleeding, I wasn't working hard enough.

And that's not necessary. I would caution actors to not do that in anyone in any field, too. And it took me being confronted by, you know, a host of, like, I won't go into the laundry list of things I had to get sorted out with a surgeon. But it took me having to step back from that and say, hey, you know, you got to protect yourself too, man. You had a lot of surgeries. I did, yeah. Yeah, I'm pretty bolted together on the inside now. But the most important thing is, I'm out of pain.

I have great mobility. And with, you know, training and caution, I can still do a version of the things that we did before. And also, I'm glad to tell a stunt, man, hey, you're going to be great in this shot. You know, one of the things I want to make sure I talk to you about because I've just been so curious about it, it's something that we don't often talk about when we are talking about men, being objectified. and you were objectified in a very specific way in Hollywood back in the 90s in the early 2000s. I think you even referred to yourself as a walking steak. Was that ever something that was of concern for you or bothered you or felt like out of step with who you were? Absolutely.

I've already told you. I contend with confidence on the daily basis, but I can remember a feeling being spoken of as if I'm not, even in the room and being picked apart by, I know, some production or executive as if I was a horse or something like that. And it made me feel, well, like a walking steak or a piece of meat, I guess. And I could automatically empathize with clearly the women who've always had to contend with this kind of derision. And it made, it. It made me aware. Like, I got off relatively easy by comparison

and knowing that type of objectification and the damage it can do to people. In that way, does it feel like a relief to get older? It does, yeah. That and I have fewer, not concerns, but I care about bigger issues now more than I did in a conceptual way. And I don't let things that really are superfluous

bother me as much as I did because I learned to ask myself, what's the worst thing that could happen in this situation? And whatever the answer is, lets me know if or not I need to be concerned about it or if I should. What aspirations do you still have? As you look at roles, you know, you've now won an Oscar for Best Actor. You're taking on roles that really push you in direction stories you've never heard before. Or what do you want to do that you haven't done yet? I want to make movies that people genuinely want to see. And it's a challenge, like I say, in this landscape of so much cluttering noise that comes from the product being beamed at us all at once. I have to look for the places where it's quiet.

Or I have to look for the projects that can dominate in that very crowded place. Get in there and throw elbows. And that's what it would take. So to answer your question, at the end of the day, I really just want to make movies that people see. Brendan Fraser, this has been such a pleasure to talk with you. Thank you so much. You do, Tanya.

Academy Award-winning actor Brendan Fraser. His new film is Rental Family. Coming up, rock critic Ken Tucker reviews new music from Nico Case, Valerie June, and Olivia Dean. This is fresh air. Rock critic Ken Tucker has chosen three new songs. songs that sound nothing like the pop music currently dominating the charts. The first belongs to Nico Case, who has released her first album in seven years, called

Neon Grey Midnight Green. Next, there is Valerie June, who Ken says has cut a song that makes a familiar message sound strikingly new. And finally, the British singer Olivia Dean, who was recently nominated for a Best New Artist Grammy. We start with Nico Case. Hello stranger You remind me of someone A jangling lust Panting on a sliver Of a dusty pool of light

It fires hue Is a merichino cherry Room temperature I The readily recognizable voice of Nico Case, a soaring, searching sound, gets a real workout over the course of her new album, Neon Gray, Midnight Green. This collection defies category. When she sang with the Canadian band The New Pornographers, the music was often described as pop rock. On her solo albums, she's leaned toward country and folk. For this new one, she's overseeing nothing less than a chamber orchestra to all. augment the rich, swirling drama of compositions such as this song titled O Neglect.

We've come so far You and me Let's do it all again I'm the sorcerer's apprentice Your indenture it ever present I'm this old surer's apprentice Your indenture at ever present Be corrupted by

My own ideas The songs on Nico Case's neon gray, Midnight Green, her first in seven years, are the perfect accompaniment to reading her unsparing, tough-minded memoir from earlier this year, titled The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You. When I heard Valerie June's new song, Running and Searchin, it reminded me what a strong album she'd put out at the start of the year, a collection called Owls, Omen, and Oracles. Runnin and Searchin, produced, as the album was, by the guitarist M. Ward, is a fresh way to showcase Valerie June's ringing voice and quicksilver idiosyncratic phrasing.

The lyrics are an encouragement to persevere through difficult times. You've heard that sentiment a million times, but you haven't heard the way Valerie June can make the familiar sound like a surprising new challenge and adventure. No, I do not need remind Every last city is a doorway To the path that lies before me Let it move you, shake you, take you, Nothing in this life can break you Seeking, hold, and giving, taking, Have it in a light of waves

Sing like no one's listening There's to shift a spirit free Sunshine got your soul on fire Beaming in the midnight I'll join like a shooting star Trinkle, drinkle what you are Because it's true burning flies Sunspiring satin' light

Running searching for them finding Valerie June deserves a much bigger audience. By contrast, Olivia Dean is a relative newcomer who's already a big star in her native England, where her talent and popularity are often compared to Adele. Dean sings in a warm tenor voice, delivering lyrics as though she's murmuring confidences into her phone. Her music has its roots in R&B and smooth soul,

what we used to call Quiet Storm music, after Smokey Robinson's own murmured confidences. On the single man I need, Olivia Dean is talking to a guy she likes, encouraging him to open up more, to be as vulnerable with her as she is with him. Looks like we're making up for lost time. Need you to spell it out for me.

Barsanova on all night. It's like a type of album. me introduce me to your best friend I can come slop right in a satellite

ain't even that far I kind of wonder where you are already know I can leave it alone you're all my mind already gave you the time and the place

so don't be shy On one of the men I need Tell me you got something to get I want it I kind of like it when you call me wonderful Whatever the type of talking is Come on there I got to know you're meant to be the man I need Talk to me

On one of her new songs Nico Kay speaks of love songs as a quote Exercise in Futility even as she's singing a beautiful one. So it is with Olivia Dean and Valerie June. They each, in their own distinctive way, express an ambivalence toward romance that makes their commitment to the love song

all the more satisfyingly complicated and realistic. Ken Tucker reviewed new music by Nico Case, Valerie June, and Olivia Dean. Tomorrow on Fresh Air, former U.S. attorney Joyce Vance talks about the controversy surrounding the Justice Department, including the prosecution of former FBI director James Comey

and the Epstein files. We'll also discuss Vance's career and her new book, Giving Up is Unforgivable, a manual for keeping democracy. I hope you can join us. To keep up with what's on the show and get highlights of our interviews, follow us on Instagram at NPR Fresh Air.

Fresh Air's executive producer is Danny Miller. Our technical director and engineer is Audrey Bentham. Our managing producer is Sam Brigger. Our interviews and reviews are produced and edited by Phyllis Myers, Anne-Marie Baldinado, Lauren Crenzel, Teresa Madden, Monique Nazareth, Thea Chaliner, Susan Yacundi, and Anna Bauman. Our digital media producer is Molly CB Nesper. Our consulting visual producer is Hope Wilson.

Roberta Shorak directs the show. With Terry Gross, I'm Tony Mosley.