Brendan Fraser landed on the A-list thanks to his roll as the rollicking adventurer Rick O’Connell in “The Mummy”and its two sequels. And he hasn’t returned to the land of the undead since 2008’s “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor,” but Fraser says he’s open to revisiting the franchise that made him a megastar.
“I don’t know how it would work,”He admitted it. “But I’d be open to it if someone came up with the right conceit.”
Fraser shared his views on the film series as part a VarietyCover story about the making of “The Whale,”Drama about an obese man who tries to reconcile with his estranged child. He is now in contention for the Oscars with that film.
Fraser reflected on his days as a matinee idol in the course of the story. “The Mummy”Stephen Sommers, the director, stated that he cast the actor as he had very specific skills.
“He could throw a punch and take a punch and he had a great sense of humor,”He says. “You really like the guy. He never comes across as cocky or arrogant.”
He said that Fraser performed as many stunts himself as possible, even injuring one knee, but he was able to finish the film. “He was game for anything we threw at him,”Sommers.
Universal was relaunched “The Mummy” in 2017, Fraser wasn’t invited back to the party. Instead, Tom Cruise was left to deal the consequences of discovering an ancient tomb.
“It is hard to make that movie,”He says. “The ingredient that we had going for our Mummy, which I didn’t see in that film, was fun. That was what was lacking in that incarnation. It was too much of a straight-ahead horror movie. ‘The Mummy’ should be a thrill ride, but not terrifying and scary.”
“I know how difficult it is to pull it off,”Fraser continues. “I tried to do it three times.”