Brendan Fraser apologizes for a freak accident involving the George of the Jungle stunt while attending the San Francisco Mill Valley Film Festival for The Whale.
Brendan Fraser apologizes for a bizarre George of the Jungle stunt accident during an interview at the San Francisco Mill Valley Film Festival. Fraser attended the festival where Darren Aronofsky’s The whale continued to shine, with Fraser himself garnering even more credit for his portrayal as reclusive English teacher Charlie. The film marks a triumphant return to the screen for Brendan Fraser who, after an unfortunate break from acting, generates Oscar buzz for his comeback role. This isn’t Aronofsky’s first experience with a star successfully returning to the spotlight after an extended hiatus, with Mickey Rourke also raking in an Oscar nomination for his powerful performance as Randy Robinson in the wrestler.
No stranger to physical performance, Fraser’s most popular role probably remains his portrayal of Rick O’Connell in Stephen Sommers’ buccaneer adventure film The mummy. The highly entertaining film and its sequels pitted Fraser’s O’Connell against all sorts of decomposing but dangerous mythical creatures; a daring set piece often used to help the main character narrowly escape. Later summon the same physical skills that made the mummyO’Connell’s beloved action hero, Fraser took on the role of the titular hero of George of the Junglemeandering and diving through jungle instead of desert for one of his most memorable on-screen performances.
In a recent video from Mill Valley’s Film Festival in San Francisco (via Twitter user @daina_scarf), Fraser apologizes for a quirky stunt by George of the Jungle. The stunt to which Fraser refers is a scene in which George jumps to the aid of a paratrooper who has become entangled in the uprights of Bay Bridge. A mannequin was used for the filming of the scene to illustrate the civilian’s precarious position, but bystanders believed it was a real person and local traffic was brought to a halt. Watch Fraser’s humorous retelling of the situation above.
Brendan Fraser continues to enjoy heartwarming return to the limelight
Fraser’s comedic timing was never in doubt during his earlier career, featuring characters like The moms O’Connell and George emphasize this on screen. Though his recent return to the public eye is also a reminder of the star herself who has the ability to effortlessly entertain a crowd without an off-screen script. His joking apology is not only very funny, but also clearly sincere, placing himself as a hopeless bystander in the story as San Francisco paused for a moment before the danger of a mannequin.
This relationship with his fan base and ability to present himself as humble and sincere has meant that Fraser’s popularity has barely waned despite his years away from the screen. Even with a director as acclaimed as Aronofsky behind the camera, it’s hard to deny that much of the buzz for The whale seems to be because it brought Fraser back to an audience that sorely missed his celebrity presence and his performances. From shedding grateful tears to a standing ovation in London, to joking with his fans in San Francisco, it’s been a heartwarming comeback for Fraser so far. With price speculation chasing the star everywhere he goes, despite some controversy for The whale himself, he will probably be able to continue sharing good memories with his fans for many more good days. Even though he may want to avoid one George of the Jungle scale problems for a while.
Source: @daina_scarf/Twitter
