'I’m always making diverse choices': Brendan Fraser spills the beans on why he turned down 'George of the Jungle 2'
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Almost two decades ago 'George of the Jungle 2' was released but the George in the 'George of the Jungle 2' was not the same as the prequel character. Recently, 'The Whale' lead, Brendan Fraser jokes that Disney wasn't able to pay him enough to make him wear the tiny loincloth he wore for 'George of the Jungle'. Sam Weisman's comedy film was based on the 1967 animated television series of the same name created by Jay Ward and Bill Scott, which itself was a parody of Edgar Rice Burroughs' fictional character 'Tarzan'.
Regardless, recently Fraser also confirmed that he went to great physical lengths to star in 'George of the Jungle'. The 'Mummy' actor told he underwent extreme weight loss and diet to play the title role in the 1997 film. Fraser said he was "waxed, greased, and starved of carbohydrates.” He remembers one incident when he would drive home after work and stop to get something to eat. He needed some cash one day, and he went to the ATM, and he couldn’t remember his PIN number because his brain was misfiring.
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Brendan Fraser says he 'couldn't remember' things due to 'starvation' during 'George of the Jungle'
Fraser recently confirmed to Entertainment Weekly that he was approached for 'George of the Jungle 2' but turned down the offer because of the salary although jokingly. “I think ‘George’ got a remake, and they built a joke into it that the studio was too cheap to hire me, which wasn’t inaccurate,” Fraser said.
“I was approached. I can’t remember what I was doing at the time, but I felt like I wanted to go do ‘The Quiet American’ instead with Michael Caine, and shoot the first Western film in Vietnam ever, directed by Phillip Noyce, to tell an infinitely American story,” Fraser continued. “I’m always making diverse choices, and, hopefully, that keeps me and an audience interested. With a bit of distance, I think they’ve all cumulatively led up to the place I’m in now.”
'The Whale' had its world premiere at the 79th Venice International Film Festival on September 4, 2022, and is set to be released in the United States on December 9, 2022, by A24. The film received generally positive reviews, with acclaim for Fraser's performance from the critics after they watched the movie at the film festival.