Happy Sad Confused - Brendan Fraser

Episode Date: November 20, 2025

From GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE and THE MUMMY to THE WHALE, Brendan Fraser has been making audiences laugh and gasp and cry for over 30 years. The soft spoken Oscar winner joins Josh at the 92nd Street Y for a live chat about his entire career up to and including RENTAL FAMILY. UPCOMING EVENTS Walker Scobell 12/19 in NYC -- ⁠⁠Tickets here⁠⁠ Check out the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Happy Sad Confused patreon here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! We've got discount codes to live events, merch, early access, exclusive episodes, video versions of the podcast, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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they used to, you need to see this. Watch Catherine Heigle's free video now at hscpet.com. That's hsc pet.com. Your dog's health will thank you. I appreciate the notices and it always, I feel moved whenever someone says, hey, I loved you in Georgia the jungle, you like were my childhood. And then they say, I'm showing my kid that movie now and I'm like, I'm old. Prepare your ears, humans.

Happy, sad, confused begins now. Hey, guys. Welcome to another edition of Happy, Sad, Confused. Today on the podcast, a first-time guest, I don't know how he's eluded me so long, but Brendan Fraser is on the show today talking rental family, Georgia the Jungle, the Mummy, Gods and Monsters, so many more amazing projects in his career.

This one's a treat. Thanks, guys, as always, for checking out the podcast, for listening, for watching on Spotify, perhaps. I will say we hit amazing numbers recently. We're the most watched entertainment. podcast on Spotify as of this moment may change, may go up or down, whatever. I guess it's not going to go up, but I'm so appreciative of you guys for checking out the podcast. We are bigger and better. I like the thing than ever. And that's because of you guys

spreading the good word. So please continue to do so. Whether you're new to happy, say I'm confused or not, tell a friend, let them know what we do over here. And, you know, if you have a favorite actor or filmmaker, they've probably been on the pod, probably more than once. Except Brendan Fraser, who has alluded me, as I said. This was a great event. We taped this at the 9 Second Street Y, and Brendan is so sweet and soft-spoken and funny and just a unique, amazing vibe that really connects with fans. He is so endearing on screen and in interviews, and this was a really special night. This is a career conversation. This was taped after this audience saw his new film, which is rental family, which I really recommend. I've seen it a couple

times. It is such a sweet story. It's a fish out of water story. He plays Philip a kind of out of work down and out actor living in Tokyo who somehow gets involved in this bizarre service, which apparently these things exist in Japan, where you can essentially rent a family member, a brother, a sister, a mother, a father to fill some need in your life. It is funny, it is heartwarming, it is sweet. It's a good one about connection and something good for the holidays, I think, actually. So I hope you guys check it out. It's the kind of small dromity that I want to see more of on the big screen.

I think you guys are going to enjoy this conversation before we throw to it. I do want to remind you, as always, patreon.com slash happy, say I confused, early access, bonus materials, merch, so much cool stuff. If we have an upcoming event with Walker Scobel that there are some tickets available for if you're a Percy Jackson fan or if you have a Percy Jackson fan in your life, get your tickets now because this one is going to sell out. I'm pretty sure.

The link for that is in the show notes. And yeah, patreon.com slash happy, say, I can't support us over there. Makes us more stuff over here. All right, here we go. Without any further ado, I take you now to a live taping of the pod with the one and only, Brendan Fraser at the 9 Second Streetwide.

Enjoy. Hi, everybody. Hello, good evening, everybody. Welcome. Welcome to the 92nd Street Y. My name is Josh Horowitz. I host a podcast called Happy, Sick, Confused, and this is a very, very special taping of that podcast

because, well, first of all, this audience has just seen rental family earlier than the rest of the world. What did you think, guys? What a beautiful piece of work, am I right? I know you guys are going to spread the good word of this. You've felt the emotion, the humor, everything about this film is so special, directed by Hikari, who did an amazing job.

And its lead is a very special actor who I've actually never had on the podcast. So I'm so excited tonight because I'm not going to say too much because we all know who Brendan Fraser is and what he's done in his remarkable career. Yeah, give it up. Come on, Brendan Fraser, everybody. he has over 30 years of work in film and TV he's an Academy Award winner of course we've loved him in in such diverse work from you know way back when George of the Jungle the mummy

gods and monsters and yes his heartbreaking amazing portrayal just a couple years back in the whale there's a lot to celebrate a lot to talk about I am so So, so, so very thrilled to welcome to the 9th 2nd Street Y stage for the very first time. Make him feel welcome. It's Brendan Fraser, everybody. Let's give it up. Come on. He's now fluent, are you?

How's your Japanese? Akira Imoto, his English was a lot better than my Japanese. Man, thanks so much for sharing this film, sharing this work, and sharing your time with us tonight. It's really exciting to have you here. First of all, Academy Award winner, Brendan Fraser, does that ever get old at this point? I'm getting accustomed to it. You're owning it. Does it entitle you to any privileges?

You walk into a Starbucks. Can you go from like a Grande to a Venty, just from the awesome? Oscar winner, like, what does it afford you? I have it bolted to a helmet when I want. It's very subtle. All right, let's start on this film, because it's a very special piece of work. By the way, if you ever have the opportunity, watch Rental Family next to Brendan Fraser next to you. He'll give you amazing commentary about the film as it was going.

You're very proud of this one, as you should be. Absolutely, I am. Talk to me a little bit about why this one has resonated. so deeply with you. When I watch rental family, I think it's a film we need now. I think it's a film that's an antidote to cynicism, and I think it's a film that's never sentimental, and it delivers empathy for people who may feel bereft, may have a sense of solitude that leads to them being lonely.

And it's said in Tokyo, as you see clearly, which is just a beehive of activity, and you would possibly be confounded to think, like, how could, you know, you feel so alone in such a busy, busy place? But loneliness is real, and it's actually a public health concern in many ways because of the demographics in, well, in Japan. And there's an aging population and there's issues with birth rates and of course a new generation who are changing, you know, social statuses and there make, there are holes in between where oftentimes, as you saw in the film, you know, 45, 50 year old men are still living with their parents and they're just not socialized to know how to interact with one another. But there's a fix. You can rent family members in Japan. Yes, this is the question you've been getting nonstop and because those of us here in

the States, we somehow can't believe this is an actual real thing, but this is an actual real thing. It is. It's a business model that's been in use since the 1980s. There's some 300 plus operating, probably more now that film's coming out, but I mean you can rent nearly anything in in Tokyo you can I rented a hedgehog for an afternoon I had to give it back it's a rental it's a rental you know so I mean you're getting at what I think resonates so much with all of us is that yes we live in this age of connectivity we are we are connected seemingly to the entire world at all times and yet we are siloed off often from human contact

There's that. We're now a society and a new generation who have a device in their hand that, well, it is very stimulating for all kinds of interesting reasons. One thing it just can't do is really sincerely give you the connection that humans genuinely crave that genuinely need. So that's another explanation of how that is addressed in particular in Tokyo. by allowing for people to, to, well, effectively have the courage to say, I need help, which is the first step towards ameliorating whatever concerns you, right? But I personally, I didn't know you could ask for help until probably only a dozen or so years ago. And I was astonished that when you do, someone will help you. If I can make a point of that, just one more way. In the film The Whale, Charlie is struggling with an eating disorder, and it's rendered him incapable of walking to leave his apartment.

And he, too, is so very alone, feels so lonesome. We were partnered on that film with an operation called the Obesity Action Coalition, who really are our lighthouse in many ways. And the biggest challenge that they had, and they are, I guess, an agency of their own, in their own way, who offer guidance through referrals and in-house medical treatment, pretty much anything, support. And they told me the number one issue for addressing the issue of obesity is that people feel so stigmatized that they can't or they won't stand up for themselves

and they don't ask for help. But when the film came out, the number of that engagement spiked. So it just goes to show that if you reach out, you really can get a good result, but you just need to take that first step. It's the hardest one, but the most important one, yeah, yeah. corners of our imagination comes a game show that's more ridiculous

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In which case, it calls us. For you and your own life and career, I mean, has acting and celebrity to a degree been kind of the cheat code to connectedness? I mean, you can walk out on the street. If you're having a bad day, you can walk out on the street and you can receive love. You can receive a lot of love being Brendan Fraser. You've brought so much joy to people. That must be a nice kind of like cheat code to, I don't know, connecting on a.

days where you need connection? It has its pros and cons. I'm looking at the pros for now, yeah. Hey, you owe me 50 bucks, you know, that one. I appreciate the notices, and it always, I feel moved whenever someone says, hey, I loved you in Georgia the jungle, you, like, were my childhood. And then they say, I'm showing my kid that movie now, and I'm like, I'm

old. went through a whole thing right in 10 seconds. Yep. We were talking backstage. I mean, it's also, I mean, I don't know, you know, I'm sure some people have had the pleasure of visiting Japan, Tokyo. What a remarkable culture, this juxtaposition of the modern and the ancient. And it's just fascinating. It sounds like you fell in love with the culture.

Absolutely. For me, just a quick show of Hans, who has been to Japan? I'm about 14 so percent of the house. That's accurate, you're at 14. Every year. I'd be at 15, 15 percent. 15 percent, and rising. And rising.

Well, for the rest of you, you have just basically spent two hours in Japan because this film was made there and it was made with love. I adore the culture. I adore the architecture. the food, the demeanor, the rules following, everything works there. What? Yeah. Press that button. There are many of the escalators everywhere.

I was staying in a part of Tokyo called Minneto City, which is quite modern. And, you know, their construction rules are so guided that they start at 8 a.m. on the dock, and they stop at like 4.30 p.m. And they don't break the rules. I mean, like, it's not Manhattan. You know, and Manhattan's going to be a great place when they finish building it. It's going to be amazing. We're so close.

We're so close. But if you were to see, for instance, somebody fly past your window using a jetpack, you would just kind of go, okay, well, I guess we're doing that now. So what would you take from Japan back here to, to, to do that? New York, food, cultural item, practice, if you could steal part of their culture and adopt it here. I think courtesy, the sense of not burdening others with not just your troubles, your concerns, but making every best effort to make those around you as comfortable as possible at all times. You know, just basic one, two, threes of chivalry, being a, well, so-called gentleman. Years ago, I made a film directed by Hugh Wilson.

It was called Blast From the Past. And he told me that that film was an elegy to his father, who he admired deeply, of course, naturally loved, but he said his father was a gentleman, and he lived by those rules. And, you know, you do what you can to not inconvenience others. and, you know, here I thought, and many of us also did, that gentlemen are just people who own horses or something like that, but not true. Are Philip struggles as an actor relatable to you at all? I don't know if you have any toothpaste commercials in your past

that I haven't dug up, but... It was never committed to any kind of image-rendering device, but I can paint the picture for you if you're like, Yeah, sure. I was 19. I was in Seattle, Washington. I was just finishing training at Cornish College of the Arts. And I was broke, flat broke. And I got a gig to be the mascot for a, oh, what was it? It was like, when you lock up your stuff, what's it called? You know, the compartments of the storage. Not all at the same time. Thank you. Storage facility. That was opening and the mascot was like this Keystone cop. Got it. So the helmet, the tunic, the mustache, the twirly baton, very chaplain-esque big shoes.

And I was like, yeah, 14 bucks an hour, I'm there. So I took the job very seriously. I arrived at the location on Aurora Avenue North in Seattle. If you know the story about Aurora Avenue North, Google it. And, hey, I invited every car that came by to stop in and lock up their stuff. There's a special being run for signing up early this weekend. Oh, man, I got flipped off so many times. I think I took it a little too seriously.

Well, needless to say, I left that one off my CV. What were we talking about? All the highlights of your career, and that's one. So was the evidence early on that you were going to make a career in acting if I talk to friends and family about Brendan as a kid? I don't think so. I mean, I made the decision pretty quickly at age of 17. I went to a high school that was in Toronto,

and it went to grade 13, and that was kind of like a sluffy off year, just, you know, you get credits or something. But my father's work was with Tourism Canada and the bursary that our family received, to send me to golf to school for tuition was taken away. And so quite suddenly, I wasn't allowed to go back. I was quite crestfallen, if I'm honest.

And so this was something that came down like a bucket of cold water just before that Labor Day weekend before we were to start the new year, school year. And so I cracked open the yellow pages. And I looked up acting because I remember. Remember, this is what I felt, like, it's where I felt that I belonged. From, like, school plays. Yes, exactly. I mean, that was really the only reason why they let me stay at that high school, to be honest with you.

Although, I was carrying a lot of spears. You did a better. Although I did, also, if I made aside, I did play Bernardo in West Side Story. Oh. Yes. Yes. Thank you. Yeah.

I had, like, a 97 second death on stage. You really drew it out. Oh, believe me, I got a Ziploc bag. I filled it with, like, red food. die, I taped it to my chest, and when it came time to get stabbed, it wouldn't pop as much as I hit

it, so I was smack it. And then it, yeah, then it popped, and it just went gush, splashed off of my throat, into the front row of, like, the orchestra pit, and some poor kid, like, eh, you know. And I went back years later to address

the school, and I can still see the stain on the boards where I fell. Literally made Your mark. Congratulations. Roaded in blood. Not mine. So you got that rush from even school plays and then you...

It gave me a sense of belonging. I mean, and we all want to belong in one way or another. We've all felt like we've had our nose pressed up against the glass on the outside and you want to be a part of whatever's in that you're looking at. You behold, but there's something holding you back, whether it's personal or some other external force and that that was the theme also in the film school ties which I did in 1991 yeah let the record show so you done you did a small bit in dog fight which is a great movie that's long forgotten but but a fantastic movie lily taylor um the great river phoenix

can i tell you my um union card line let's hear it you made me say it How'd you like to eat my shit, huh? Hey, Taft-Hartley, it got me my union card, so I win. That's an Academy Award-winning performance right there from an actor. But then you have this remarkable one-two punch that will go down in history of Encino Man and school ties. Which... which will never be replicated, I would venture. Tell me a little bit about that year.

I don't know in what sequence you did them, but that must have been quite a reckoning for you in films to kind of figure out your place in the movie industry. I had left my formal training at conservatory training in Seattle, Washington. I did a year as an intern at Intubon Theater. I knocked around doing jobs cabling Christmas tree lights. in a cherry picker like 40, 50 feet

in the air in a bucket with a guy who just got out on a work release program. So I figured you know, it's probably time to blow out of Seattle and go go follow my fortune. And I did have a full tilt scholarship

offered to me at SMU. And that was for a master's program. And I chose SMU because I like the architecture. And also because the instructors there were, as I remember, they were the instructors of my instructor, so it seemed like, you know, it was good, but a good choice to make. But it also meant that I'd have to go back to school again. And so, you know, I rethought it. So I stopped in California

on the way, couch surfed with a classmate of mine's apartment, and went to a meeting on the first morning, the day really that I arrived, it was a callback for a film called Blood In, Blood Out. It was directed by Taylor Hackford. And I had done an audition in Seattle and they said they wanted to see me there. So I went into the office and it was my time to go and do my reading and I went into the room and my introduction to Hollywood and directors and first big audition was Taylor. Just get a off of a call and he's going, well, you just came out of this smell like a fucking rose getting you! And he slams the phone down. What? So I did my reading and I was not right for

this part. I was rattled a little bit, but the casting director said, hey, look, you're going to need an agent. Look around. Here's a list of a few. That person's name was Sharon Biali. I owe her a debt of gratitude for my career for that occasion. And I say it here now at 92nd Street. Why thank you from the bottom of my heart, Sharon Biali. You, I mean, the amazing array of actors you're around. Did you feel like you were in a company of actors? I mean, looking back, it's Anthony Rap, it's Matt Damon, it's Ben Affleck.

Cole Houser. Yeah. Ben, Randall Batenkoff. Were these like the actors you were going up against? and auditions? Like, did you know all those guys at the time? I met them while auditioning for the film School Ties and I was told that they had all auditioned

for the role of David before I did. And, you know, so we were kind of cycling through who was gonna be the David, is what they said. And luckily I was given an offer by Sherry Lansing to do a screen test. And I remember Daq Pujimoto, was the D.P. And he was the one who pointed out to me

that how important it is to step on the mark the piece of tape he put there. But he wasn't condescending about it at all. So he explained so that the focus puller can keep it sharp because he was very helpful. And Matt Damon, I mean, he was already hired, so I thought, well, he must have done something right to get the gig.

I should probably really focus in and pay attention to Matt. And there was something about that reading that we did that somehow made sense. My sensibilities were really broad. I was very theatrical. I had a sense of playing to the back row for what I believed. And I could see immediately how focused and easily and comfortably that Matt spoke dialogue.

that I just did my best to match pitch with him. So another debt of gratitude, Matt, I got the job. Thanks for that. It's, I mean, then you're kind of often running from those first couple of films. I mean, if you look back at the filmography, you know, it's airheads, it's with honors. I remember the film with Albert Brooks, the scout. You're making a lot of quality work. And then there's something like Georgia of the Jungle, which on paper should not work.

Like that's such, and this is kind of like emblematic of a lot of things in your career. There are things that are like, is this really going to work? Like this feels really broad and silly and if it's not done quite right, it's going to fall flat on its face. And yet they always work with you, Brendan. Well, you know, you don't know until you try it, I guess is the next thing to say. But also, there's something in me where I'm constantly looking for something that seems sort of risky that way. Creatively speaking, that is, I mean, there have been a few risks I've taken on film sets that have resulted in bumps and bruises too, but, you know, that comes at the territory, and at that time, I was a really fit guy, I was a very physical performer, and, you know, I figured I could really hold my own, and by large, I got away with it, you know, until, you know, until I turned 16. callback to the, never mind. It was just important to somehow go towards that risk, that fear

even. I believe, as I was told and trained, that that's usually where the most growth will come from. And you might just surprise yourself and others too if you commit fully. And also ask yourself, what's the worst thing that can happen? And what's the best thing that can happen if you play it safe? If you play it safe, you know the end result's only going to be a B-minus at best. Fair. Fair enough. I agree. So why play safe? I decided to keep pace with the speed that films were being made in the 90s. Independence, that is. And there were many, many of them. There were many studio pictures being made.

Like, they were lined up, like, airplanes on a tarmac about to take off. And around the time, I think it was probably around Titanic, around that time in the industry, around there, things changed a little bit after that sort of Blockbuster era. Right. And it, you know, later became where we are now and superheroes and et cetera. But you were even from that period of time, if you look at it, the great Bill Condon film

Gods and Monsters, you're working with Sir Ian McKellen, a little later on, you're working with Michael Kane, Philip Noist, Quiet American. So, clearly, you are, you had enough savviness and interest in your career that you needed to satisfy kind of both sides of the brain.

You wanted kind of different kinds of experiences throughout. I did feel like, one for you, one for me. Two for you, one for me. Yeah. You know, I might not have made so many friends sometimes by that sort of trajectory, and I bumped my way through a lot of different agencies, et cetera. But, again, I was willing to take those risks and an opportunity to work with, you know,

one of my heroes who is Ian McKellen. In that library where I trained at Cornish, I probably wore out the beta copy of acting Shakespeare that he did for BBC a thousand years ago. And I always marveled at how he had such facility with language clearly to make classical text, diamic pentameter, sound as ordinary as the conversation you and I are having right now. And he just seemed to just speak to the need to communicate that we all felt as young actors. The opportunity to work with him was unfathomably unattainable in, you know, in my fondest hope, but surprise, surprise.

Turns out, Ian's just a regular guy. This is the same kind of thing you hear about, like, someone like Sir Anthony Hopkins. It's like they kind of like, they just, they're not precious about the work. It's just a job. Get on with it is, you know, creed. Right. That and let's know the words. so you would sit down and say them

and that also something that always stayed with me was that we should approach this work as if it's the first time you ever have and also the last time you ever will so the stakes are there

and that stayed with me stayed with me it stayed with me all the way up until So, well, all the way up until the film, Rental Family. Goodbye, Kyle. Did the sound of those words call to you like Pavlov's dog? Then you might enjoy our podcast, Turtle Time. Every week you can join me, Riley Hamilton, and my co-host, Amy Scarletta,

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It's just contractual. I mean, this is a film that was big at the time, but somehow has become bigger and bigger, and is now one of these, like, perennials. It's kind of, you can't even wish for something like this. Go figure, right? Go figure. And it was, as you've talked about this to a degree,

but, like, nobody really knew what it was going to be. Like, tonally, it was kind of a lot of things. It was an action picture. It was a romance. It was a drama. It was a horror film. It was a comedy. It was a smorgasbord of all of that.

And while we were shooting it, I can still hear Rachel saying, oh, no, they're going to confiscate our equity cards. Which was a joke, but not a joke. Yeah. Sort of, well, let's just, you know, carry on. And we didn't know what this film would do, or we had fond hopes that, you know, we would find an audience. But I guess it landed because they had us back 18 months later to do another one.

Because if it worked once, you know, you might as well do it again, right? So what was Rachel saying on the second one? She was saying, where's my trailer? No, no, she wasn't. what was I mean in terms of like your guiding light on that in terms of how to play that kind of quintessential hero I mean are you thinking Indiana Jones or you think what do you know I mean that was a those I love those films who didn't they were they were staples of my childhood and I also as a kid I loved I loved like Ray Harryhausen movies you know the scene where Rick is battling mummies at the end was completely inspired by you know claymation stop motion animation from, and this was Stephen Summers, who made sure that we knew, knew where he was coming from. And, you know, I love that sort of, like, hidden little gem in there, you know, that sort of agenda that lets you know that we're really here to have fun. That's the most important thing.

I mean, yeah, you have to invest in it and believe in the reality of whatever the situation or the scene or the environment calls for, At that time, CGI was something that was very expensive, and if it wasn't done by a certain standard, people could go, uh-uh, I don't believe that. I saw the seams around the edge. And so Stephen was very, very adamant to have ILM and John Burton there to create the creature as being formidable and cool and a little bit sexy but dangerous. You know, he would say, yeah, this is a, this is Jaws. You know, he's not going to It's Terminator Mummy, you know, that's his inspiration for it. And, hey, you know, if we believed it, then CGI artists could track in their part, so there's a little bit of a collaboration element to it. And if that worked, then an audience would believe it. Yeah, if you don't feel the stakes from an audience, the air goes out of the picture, right? If we don't believe it, then an audience doesn't believe it.

And otherwise, you know, why are there? Let's go more a lawn instead or something else, you know? Can we credit you with Joanne Johnson's acting career in an indirect way? We can, kind of, Brendan. Well, he is a performer. Absolutely. He can entertain, he did entertain stadiums full of people by lifting his eyebrow. And he did.

And he had so much more to him. And, yeah, you know, pugilism is its own performance. And, you know, fake fighting has its own value for, you know, take it for what it is. but I know for a fact that Dwayne is, he has the heart of an actor in him. And if you haven't seen Smashing book, Smashing, forgive me, I just think about the book. Like, don't read the book. If you get one thing out of that, don't read it.

Smashing machine, thank you, Josh. Check it out. I think he gives a formidable performance, and he's definitely come into his own. But he does say, hey, you know, thank you for, It's very open and crediting you for helping We chatted about this

the other day for variety, actors on actors. And after like 45 minutes or so, they pulled the plug on us and we told everyone to just get lost because we want to keep just shooting the breeze here. He's a real good guy.

And this performance is, well, for one thing, it's absolutely put him in the conversation for all this awards pomp and circumstance. That's for real. In the 2000s, you kept very, very busy. A lot of opportunities, a lot of exciting roles. There's some famous ones you've talked about a little bit, like many an actor, but it's still a small club. I think you wore the Superman costume at some point.

You were up for it. Was it J.J.'s or Brett Rattner directed it. Or he was going to direct it, yeah. Well, he directed the screen test. I see. I see. So how did that feel? Because you said it didn't quite feel right to you at the time, or what? Oh, I loved that screenplay. They let me read it.

They locked me in an empty office and, I don't know, some studio lot, signed an NDA. It was printed black on crimson paper, so you couldn't photocopy it or sneak it out the door. You know, I can speak your sleep. But it was, I mean, it was Shakespeare in space. It was a really good screenplay. It really was. So, but yes, I was considered. I did do a screen test.

I did wear the big guy suit. I sneak a photo? Is there a photo in existence? No, that was anathema. Thou shalt not. That was pretty clear to me. They were watching you. So how did it feel in the moment?

Was it an exciting? I mean, that's a pin of my mind. If I think about it, I can remember feeling, you know, you feel a certain anxiety anyway when you're going up on some big job. but I also remember thinking if I do get this job then well I think Superman's going to be chipped

on my gravestone you know like there's an element of you are that for the rest of your days your career I mean it's and that's not a bad thing it's not I'm not saying that's going to kill me anytime soon but you know it is something that becomes part of your entire brand

you're who you are and I don't know if I was ready to take that on then. I mean, I felt I was because of, you know, big opportunity and excitement and et cetera, et cetera, but I don't know. Like, like, like, like the, the, the, the, uh, Irish director, um, that I worked with whose name I'm forgetting at the moment. Terry George once said, if it's not for you, then it'll pass you by. It was not for you. It'll pass you by. And it wasn't for me. It worked out for everybody. It's all good. And then I want to jumped it to the whale, we referenced it earlier, but it's such a, remains a remarkable performance.

And, I mean, a lot of people made it out to be this comeback. You were working. You've always been working. There's never been, like, you are a working actor. How did it sit with you when it was kind of like, that was the narrative, like Brendan's comeback? Did you take it in the spirit? I was glad they'd just be in the narrative. When that film was shot, it was just, well, it was during our collective experience with existentialism during COVID before vaccines came out. And so Darren, Darren Aronovsky directed, had a set built in Newburgh in the lower half of what's now a motorcycle museum in a flexible space. And it was Charlie's apartment, you know, built one-to-one scale with such incredible detail that it really looked lived in. by this unique man

and every day that we came to shoot that the stakes were high enough because of the collective experience we were having globally. We were while I was, we were all wondering if there would be

tomorrow, so to speak. So hmm I think that that focus gave me the impetus to believe what Ian McKellen told me, which is, it's the first time, the last time you will

ever do this again. So I gave it everything. I knew how to, some things I didn't know how, some things. I didn't know I had in me that Darren got out of me, but I do know that when I wrapped that show, I remember thinking, well, if this movie doesn't find its audience and I get tired and feather for, you know, whichever reasons that, you know, those negative voices that speak in your ear sometimes, then, fair enough, I really don't know what I'm doing because I am all out of moves. I didn't know what else I could have put into that role. So in a sense, I felt like I had nothing to lose going forward. And it turned out that this story of a man who has a superpower for bringing out the good in others,

if there is such a thing, it was this man. It spoke to audiences in a way that made them reconsider what it is that we think about others whom we may automatically have disdain for. And in a way, it did find also a way of making medicine out of that poison. So I'm glad for having had the experience. It was, I mean, the makeup call was several hours at least that all of that kit was elaborately created by Adrian Moreau, who was at that time using

And because it was COVID, we were all scanning with iPads. He took the data, created Charlie virtually, and from there did his voodoo magic and ran it through a 3D printer to create the appliances so that they would be absolutely perfect from day to day to day because Charlie's health deteriorates over the course of the film. So, hey, look, long story short, Darren. brought together a group of people and we made a film that is lightning at a bottle because I don't know if you could make that movie now, the same way?

The circumstances in a weird way contributed. Yeah, there are a few films that, and I'm not alone here, that have made me ugly cry like watching The Whale. Thank you. You're only as good as the people you work with. That was Sadie Sink, who I believe I just read, who's going to be doing Juliet. Coming soon. Yeah. Yeah.

Right. Director of Nica, I believe. Sounds right, yeah. I believe so, yes. Who's, um, he's produced on stage with Mark Strong right now. Oedipus right now. Thank you. So good on you, Sadie.

You're doing what I knew that she would from just being in front of, I mean, I'll say this young woman. I mean, she was a kid then. I had a front row seat to watch how incredible she is. she is. Oh my goodness. I was always forgetting my lions, for instance, you know, and she had such exactitude and spirit to her that she's really what we look for in a natural-born actor. Yeah. Right there. You're very generous in talking about the actors. I'm sure they would. Yeah. Well, they're not here to reciprocate. Sadie would say good things too, man. About you. I'm just saying.

So since the Oscar win, I mean, you've made this, Killers of the Flower Moon, Martin Scorsese, that's the opportunity any actor would relish. Has it been interesting to kind of navigate like this next act in a career coming off of the Oscar win, maybe new opportunities or not? What has it felt like in the wake of the will? Well, um,

we're obviously at a strange point in the industry, but that's, there's that. too. I think right now it seems like it seems like I think you need to do work that people want

to see. And the question is what is that? I don't know the answer but I know what it is when I see it. And whatever my interpretation of it becomes or collaboration which

whichever director rental family is an example of that. It really is. Thank you. I was, I saw the script before any of the awards anything that year in 23. And it's all in the title. It stood out right there.

Like, what is a rental family, you know? And when I found out more about it from meeting Hikari and the elements involved to create this film, I had a feeling that it was going to be something special because, for one thing, the only villain in the movie Rental Family is apathy, if you ask me. Can anyone else think of a villain that you might have seen?

I don't know. I don't know. And there has to be an obstacle in dramatic structure, right? Well, maybe not always. Maybe it's an internal struggle to have it come, to overcome. And, well, if I'm correct, then our director, Hikari, has found a way to make that movie. Wow. At this point, is there a director that's alluded to you?

Is there someone that you've always kind of been waiting for the call or tried to manifest? Like, who's on the short list for you at this point? Scorsese was probably there, so you knocked that one off. Well, gosh. When that offer came in, I was like, Fraser, Brendan, Fraser? So check that box. Can I go back in time? Yeah.

Like Ford or something like that is what I would have like. Yeah. Okay. A lot of folks out there, and I know you're probably not going to be able to say anything, but I'm obligated want to see you in a mummy sequel. And there is indeed talk, real talk out there, if you believe the news, that a filmmaking group called Radio Silence, very talented, is directing a Mummy sequel,

and that you may be involved. If I'm putting money on this, Brendan, am I gonna cash out? Am I gonna make money on Brendan Fraser returning to the Mummy franchise? Okay, cough one three, yes, twice for now. Exactly, exactly. One cough.

He didn't say anything, guys. Here's my one follow-up. I mean, if that were to happen at some point, the last time you shot one of those, you were a 40-year-old man, and, like, the stunts are real, man. Is that a consideration? Absolutely.

That's what they have stunt men for. One of my favorite things to say is, dude, you're going to be awesome in this shot. Really? Okay. Brendan said so. I only do this with actors that have amazing filmographies. This is going to be tough on you, Brendan. But I'm going to make you pick the greatest Brendan Fraser movie of all time.

I'm going to pick some movies against each other. This is just for today. This is in the moment right now. Gut, okay? We're going to anoint the top one. Encino man versus school ties. I'm a schooltys man. A school ties man.

Okay. School ties. Mummy versus George of the Jungle Okay, all right We're all on the same team, guys I'm sorry, I just short-circuited I'm going to go with the mummy Okay

Gods and Monsters versus the Quiet American Man, you play dirty I know, I know it's rough, it's rough for its relevancy to our everyday world about politics and meddling in it and staying out of it I'm going to stay away from the quiet America I'm going to go with gods and monsters

okay okay crash versus the whale the whale okay now we have school ties versus the mummy I'm going to have to change a spark plug in the mummy the mummy okay everybody like the mummy

and then gods and monsters versus the whale the whale and for all the marbles brendon the whale versus the mummy Forgive me, forgive me, for I have sent to the mummy. There are no wrong answers. Everybody won. We end, happy, say, I confuse this podcast of mine with the profoundly random questions. You ready, Brendan? will be. Dogs or cats. Dogs.

Like the murmurs. Do you collect anything? What do you collect? Oh, archery supplies. Arrows. Really? Okay. That's a new one. Do you have a favorite video game of all time? Oh, hell yes. It's Zelda, Breath of the Wild. Not to be outdone by Tears of the Kingdom. Wow. I didn't know.

And by the way, if anybody knows how to get more bomb flowers. Oh, me. Still a gamer to this day, or was that... Oh, heck yeah. I was charging up my Nintendo Switch on the bedside table in my hotel room as we speak. As I wore it out on the plane and the way it is. What's the most amount of hours? What game have you spent the most time?

It probably would be Zelda. The Dakota Johnson Memorial question, she asked me this. I ask everybody, would you rather have a mouthful of bees or one bee in your butt? Ooh, wow. I'm going to go with the butt bee. What's the wallpaper on your phone? My son, Holden, who's at NYU. He's in his third year at film school now, and darn he's handsome.

Where to get that from? The FedEx guy? The last actor you were mistaken for was... Was... I still don't. to know who this guy is because I was doing a reshoot with, for Harold Ramos' film bedazzled. It was, thanks. And there was a sequence that the studio thought was too hot for an audience because, just real quickly, it's a story of Faust, Fausticity.

And Elliot makes a deal with the devil who's tricking him at every turn. and he Liz Hurley plays the devil by the way you know perks of the job right and she says you know what you need

you need to be a bad boy that's you want he says yeah I want to be really famous and so she goes all right you got it and suddenly he's a rock star and they filled a stadium in Los Angeles with rockers and we did a rock number and we went backstage it was like Spile Tap and the studio saw it and I don't know

They must have wet their pants or something. They were like, no, we can't put that out there. And they said, no, you have to reshoot that scene. And I was disappointed because I thought it was really pretty cool. It's probably, it's an Easter egg. You can find it somewhere. Anyway, so instead, I was going to be Abraham Lincoln. Yeah, on that day, you know, other than that, how was the show, Mrs. Lincoln moment.

And so if you've seen the movie, then, yeah, that's what happens. Elliot becomes Abraham Lincoln. So I had to get full-on transformational prosthetic makeup on. And I was in the car being driven to our set. I was in London at the time in England, shooting the second Mummy movie. And we were shooting in Richmond at this little old Victorian theater. And they were stopping, you know, traffic in the neighborhood to let cars in or out if you belonged or if you didn't.

And we pulled up and there was a cop there. And he said, stop, stop, you know. And I was in the back, tricked out like Lincoln. with the full-on stove, you know, hat and everything. And my driver, Nigel, who's quite a wind-up kind of guy, he said, yeah, who's in this movie? And the cop says, oh, yeah, what's his name? It's Robert Maxen.

I was like, no, it's not. Who the hell is Robert Markson? He couldn't figure, Bob, it was me. I'm like, it's Brendan Fraser. But I'm wearing Lincoln makeup, and he doesn't believe me, because I don't look like Brendan Fraser. So I guess in a way, I got mistaken for myself. And Robert Markston went on to become an alias.

I guess now I will never use again. Exactly. What's the worst noted director has ever given you, Brendan? The worst note. Oh, the worst note. I try to filter those out, to be honest. What's not helpful? What don't you want to...

Oh, well, it's Stephen Summers and the Mummy. He would say, he'd set up a shot, a big one, and you'd go, ready, and don't suck. Action! Running, crashing, camels exploding. I was like, really? Do you think I'm going to choose right now to not suck? We're to suck. And finally, Brendan, in the spirit of happy, say I'm confused.

An actor who always makes you happy, you see them on screen, you're in a better mood, would be... Japlin. Nice. Cluster Keaton. any of the silent film stars pretty much. And I'm always glad to see Bugs Bunny. Who I've worked with. Yeah, I was going to say.

And he's actually a really cool guy. Yeah, I've heard that. On the other hand, Daffy ducks an asshole. A movie that makes you sad, always brings you to tears. Oh, I'm not going to say old yeller. No, a smoothness sad that always brings me to tears is Old Yeller. No, I don't know if I have one of those, honest But I then again, I cry when I see shaving commercials, so the bar is low. Yeah, it's pretty low

I'm a pushover and a food that makes you confused, Brendan. You don't get it. Why do people eat that food? Oh, yeah, that one's called Nato. I don't know what that is It is. Tell me. It's Japanese food. It's soy beans fermented. I see. And it's got this consistency of little lumps and it sort of has tendrils that come from you stretch it apart.

I mean, it's really cool looking, but it smells like assing. Why would you want to put that in your mouth? I'm like, I hear it's very healthy for you. So respect to those who live for the Nato. I am not a Nato man. Everything else about Japanese culture we love. So we're celebrating it with rental family. That and poey in Hawaii.

Is that what's called? Boy, the sort of bitter, white, goopy. So it's consistency. It's weird. Yeah, I think it's that. Flavors and weird consistencies. That's not what I'm doing. Fair enough.

We're going to end positive. This movie is fantastic. Congratulations. I want you guys, I know you will. Spread the good word. Movies like this need support. Tell five friends, rental family, in theaters, November 21st. And man, thank you so much for sharing your career, your life with us, continued

success to the one and only Brendan Fraser, everybody. Thank you. And so ends another edition of happy, sad, confused. Remember to review, rate, and subscribe to this show on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm a big podcast person. I'm Daisy Ridley, and I definitely wasn't pressured to do this by Josh. This podcast is dedicated to my younger self because she really needed it. She couldn't keep a man or a job. Welcome to Brooklyn Therapy.

I'm your host, Stephanie Megan. I'm your co-host. Rose McAlees. Every week we dive into dating, sex, and relationships. Who doesn't want, like, best friend kind of deep conversations? It's about creating a safe space and just having a good time while listening and also crying a little bit. I think there's nothing better than listening to a podcast and crying. That's how all podcasts should be is you crying silently to yourself.

And that's on therapy. And I just want to say that we are not professionals. But you bring professionals on the pod to Therapeutize us to give us some advice. Listen to Brokot Therapy wherever you love to listen to podcasts and head to brocotherapy.com for all the info and the links. Therapy is too expensive, but this podcast isn't.