How Brendan Fraser’s two acting heroes influenced his early career
Having rightly received widespread critical praise for his recent role in The Whale, Brendan Fraser‘s career has enjoyed a significant uptick. His performance in Darren Aronofsky’s movie was one of his most potent dramatic turns and showcased an actor capable of channelling sincere emotion and a unique perspective into his work. Considering his start in the Hollywood game, it’s a portrayal that few thought he could muster.
For many years, Fraser was considered a comedic actor. He may have picked up the odd role built out of swashbuckling magnetism and sex appeal, see his life-changing performance in The Mummy for proof, but his ability to raise an eyebrow and garner a laugh from the audience is what made him a name worth adding to the call sheet of your movie.
Despite his first role in a feature film being dramatically charged, taking on David Greene opposite Matt Damon in the 1992 movie School Ties, it would be his turn as Chazz Darby in Airheads that would first grab the audience’s attention with gusto. Standing alongside the comedy heavyweight Adam Sandler in the movie and not feeling minute in comparison was no mean feat. However, Fraser adopted a clownish demeanour that would stand him in good stead for his entire career.
In that same year, Fraser would take on the role of Linkavitch ‘Link’ Chomofsky, a caveman who is defrosted by two hapless teenagers in the early 1990s. What follows is the usual hijinx and hilarity of the classic “fish out of water” characters that Fraser would play. During a conversation with GQ, the actor attributes his comfort in playing these roles to his upbringing and childhood heroes.
Having spent most of his childhood travelling across the globe thanks to his father’s work, Fraser notes that trying to fit in was a regular challenge. “Whether I felt like I belonged or didn’t, I knew that I felt comfortable in my own skin. When you’re the new guy, you gotta find a way to fit in instantly,” he shares. “I guess I might have latched on to that way of working early on.”
This feeling of comfort with himself allowed Fraser to not only fall into the roles in front of him fully but also laugh at himself. “There were a series of naif characters,” he continues, “The ‘babe in the woods’, the ‘fish out of water’, the new guy. New in town and just trying to fit in.” These were attributes that Fraser already had inside of him.
However, he also possessed a unique clownishness that few actors at that age were able to deliver with sincerity. But this likely derived from Fraser’s childhood heroes, as he told the publication: “My heroes were Buster Keaton to Bill Irwin in the height of his clowning career”. It’s easy to see the comparisons in Fraser’s early performances, in Airheads, Encino Man and his breakout blockbuster George of the Jungle, all of which contain a unique comedic turn that Fraser has mastered, even if he isn’t totally aware of how he’s done so.
His praise of the stars continued: “These savant, poker-faced, Chaplain-esque performances that define cinema to this day for the contribution they’ve made was nothing that was lost on me in the time that I was in training and certainly what I remembered about what you needed to bring to a comedic performance.”
For any budding actors out there hoping to replicate Fraser’s funny bones, he has a piece of advice: “The last thing that you need to bring to a comedic performance is the comedy. I have no idea how to be funny. I don’t know why people may think I am. I am the least funny person I know. I just think you have to believe in everything you’re doing because if you don’t, your audience won’t.”
Watch the full interview below.
