“Got a little banged up from years of doing my own stunts”: Brendan Fraser Raevealed How Hollywood Forced Him To Take Spinal Surgeries To Keep Up
Hollywood’s charm Brendan Fraser is best known for his roles but is more known for his fit-and-toned physique in blockbusters, comedies, and dramatic movies like The Mummy and George of the Jungle. However, his best acting image is now associated with his role in The Whale. He embodied a new level of transformation for the film, where he illustrated the challenges and consequences of obesity. The actor won the Critics’ Choice Awards 2023 in the Best Actor category for his splendid performance in The Whale, where he left everyone emotional with his best speech.
In a recent interview, The Mummy star recently opened up about the impact his early career performances had on his body and mind. He emphasized how there is no such thing as an easy road to success in Hollywood.
Brendan Fraser Opens Up About The Sense Of “Self-Loathing” That Shaped His Early Career
Actor Brendan Fraser, 54, who performed many physical roles in his early career, said the roles he played hurt his physical and mental health. During his interview with The Telegraph, he opened up about his challenges to maintaining an incredibly toned physique.
When asked about the cost of damage he paid for achieving the tremendous masculine physique, Fraser said,
“I got a little banged up from years of doing my own stunts and needed a surgical fix on the spine and the hinges. That took a lot out of me. I knew I would get better, but it took a long time.”
He explained that among his surgeries were a partial knee replacement and a procedure that removed a part of bone from his lower back. Also, he shared the experience and challenges he faced while filming the third part of The Mummy.
He added,
”I put myself together like a gladiator with muscle tape and ice packs, strapping on this Transformer-like exoskeleton just to get through the scene. Those physical performances, whether fighting, dancing, or comedy, had an element of self-sacrifice. But it wasn’t very clever of me at all.”
Fraser said,
“Absolutely, there was self-loathing. I think on some level I felt I deserved a beating and wanted to be the one who got in the first punch.”
In addition to his physical surgeries, he also mentioned the vocal cord surgery that left his voice hushed and hoarse. During the interview, he talked about how he had reached a point in his career where he no longer needed to struggle physically to get Hollywood fame physically.
He concluded,
“I’m older now; I don’t look the way I did in those days, and I don’t necessarily want to. But I’ve made peace with who I am now. And I’m glad that the work I can do is based in an emotional reality that’s not my own life but is one that I can strongly identify with.”
In addition to winning the Best Actor Critics’ Choice Award 2023 for his film The Whale, his performance in the film earned him a nomination for the Best Actor category at the Oscars 2023. In the film, Fraser plays Charlie, a 600-pound gay, reclusive man experiencing the end of his life.
Brendan Fraser’s Strict Diet And Physical Struggles For George Of The Jungle Body Type
Aside from being one of the most recognized faces in cinema, the 54-year-old Fraser also spoke earlier about his past life, diet, and incredible physique during the promotion of The Whale. To play Charlie’s role in the movie, the charming actor put on up to 600 pounds. In an interview with Variety, the actor explained that he followed a no-carb diet for George of the Jungle to achieve his tremendous body type.
During the interview, Brendan Fraser said,
“I was waxed and starved of carbohydrates. I would drive home after work and stop to get something to eat. I needed some cash one day, and I went to the ATM, and I couldn’t remember my PIN number because my brain was misfiring. Banging on the thing. I didn’t eat that night.”
Fraser explained that for a short period of time, he gained an incredible body for the movie, but his memory was messed up. He described feeling unfocused and forgetting things as a result of the diet. Furthermore, he explained that he had many physical problems at the time, although his long-term health was not affected. Apart from physical distress, in 2018, Fraser revealed that years of performing his acts and being physically abused by a prominent Hollywood figure also ended his acting career and left him unhappy and depressed. The actor, however, has returned to his charm, is up for an Oscar, and won many hearts with his incredible performance and physical transformation in The Whale.
The Whale is available in most theaters right now.
Source: The Telegraph, Variety
