The Unexpected Brendan Fraser

Q: You've said that you know your range, and that you're aware of your shortcomings. Elaborate.

A: I haven't made a foray into the "darker, edgier" characters--that's my shortcoming. It's because I don't want to buy into this current trend of nihilism in filmmaking. But I guess I have to work to change the perception of myself, since I now own the patent on being a naїf.

Q: An odd film you made that came and went was Philip Ridley's The Passion of Darkly Noon with Ashley Judd. Was it ever released?

A: It got released in film festivals in Germany. Ridley, who is the Cocteau of the latter half of this century, wrote, directed and sometimes shot it. It's a dark fable about religious persecution. You can get it on video.

Q: Were you at all attracted to Ashley?

A: No. I was in love with Afton.

Q: To whom you're now married. Is it true Afton's dog brought you two together?

A: It's true. Her dog, Wiley, chose me, I suppose. Now she's my dog. It was at a party where I knew very few people. I had my back to the wall in the kitchen and a dog burst in and ran straight up to me and stuck her snout right to my pocket, and the owner was right behind and I went, "Wow."

Q: How long before you started dating?

A: For the rest of that afternoon we hung out together, and I got her phone number.

Q: What does Afton do?

A: At the time she was an actress. Now she's left the profession and is happier. In the world of filmmaking there's such a disparity between men's and women's careers. If anything, it's much easier to run one career having two people behind it in a partnership.

Q: Where's she from?

A: Northport, Long Island. Her mom works as an art director at Newsday. I got a great spread out of an article they did on me-- the art director made sure the pictures were beautiful, the print was huge.

Q: Are you thinking about children?

A: Right now we're more interested in the collaborative process of children than in the result. [Soft laughter] But one happy day, yeah.

Q: Has marriage changed you at all?

A: It's made me a much happier man. It's allowed me to feel a sense of calm, optimism.

Q: Were you pessimistic?

A: Yeah, who isn't? My 20s were such a grinding storm of effort. I used them to set myself up for my 30s. At least that's what I was telling myself. To pass through a threshold of having a very authentic relationship with my best friend, my lover, my wife, just makes me feel much stronger. No matter what happens, it's going to be cool.

Q: With all your moving around, have you had any lifelong friends?

A: I'm not a complete loner, don't let me paint this tragic portrait of myself. But no, I don't have friends from early childhood. The pattern of my childhood and schooling was always transition transition transition, because my family traveled a great deal. I was prepared for being an actor, constantly in a state of changing who you are from role to role, living out of a suitcase and not feeling a sense of groundedness.

Q: You were very successful in your 20s--did you feel successful?

A: The day that I start believing that is the day that I need to reevaluate what I do. Part of me still can't believe that I'm a working actor. The efforts I've put forth to secure my place in the Industry didn't happen by accident. I made calculated runs at every part as if it was the last time I was ever going to do it. Because it always might be.

Q: You have a second film coming out this year, this summer's Dudley Do-Right, which, like George of the Jungle, is based on a Jay Ward character.

A: That's right, this is my homage to Nelson Eddy in MGM's Rose Marie, for sure. My great-great-grandfather was a Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman, so I felt a strong sense of heritage. Look up any book on Mounties, he's in the front with the handlebar mustache.

Q: Have you seen the film yet?

A: Yes, the first cut. It's very funny. George of the Jungle, Dudley Do-Right, Rocky and Bullwinkle, the Fractured Fairy Tales--all of those were 10-minute animateds that followed one basic structure, but they snuck a lot of social satire right under the radar. They were the South Park or King of the Hill of their day.

Q: Sticking with cartoon characters, aren't you the voice of Sinbad in the upcoming animated feature?

A: Yes. My voice was shipped off to a huge computer processing plant somewhere in India where they're doing way heavy-duty animation.

Q: How into comics and cartoons were you as a kid?

A: My diet of comic books was Dennis the Menace, the early Richie Rich, and I liked Charlie Brown when his head was very round and cute. I graduated in high school to heavy metal and got lost in the text. With cartoons, Warner Bros, and Jay Ward were my favorites--they had a subversive quality to them. Now I'm into Robert Smigel. [Laughs]

Q: What about someone like The Far Side's Gary Larson?

A: I loved The Far Side. Gary Larson is from Seattle. We used to talk about Gary Larson sightings. One of my friends had a job cleaning up after the animals at the zoo, and we'd see Gary Larson there. The rumor was he was allowed to have a bicycle where no one else was. He'd be on his granny bike with a basket in front, or you'd see him huddled in some corner staring down an iguana.

Q: What films of the last few years did you really want to be in?

A: The Thin Red Line I wanted to be in very much.

Q: You were, but your part got cut out.

A: [Big laugh] OK, next question.

Q: Are you getting a lot of scripts now?

A: Actually fewer, but better ones.

Q: I read somewhere you were considered to play James Dean for director Michael Mann. A: Maybe on paper. I read the script--it was a drama of James Dean trying to get back to his father, the story of the night he took his car out and crashed it. Someone wrote that Brad Pitt or I was going to do the part. I don't know if I'm a James Dean. Of any of the guys, Leo DiCaprio is a James Dean.

Q: Who would you say is the actor of your generation?

A: Is Nicolas Cage my generation? I admire his career very, very much. That's who I'd say.

Q: Any particular painter hold your interest?

A: Magritte--I saw an exhibit in Chicago when I was there doing With Honors. Talk about texturing your imagination--regular objects in an incongruous state. The one Magritte that really caught my eye is the massive floating stone. I used to have nightmares about large objects-- that was a fear of mine.

Q: What's your favorite junk food?

A: Baked Lay's.

Q: Wines?

A: Wines, yeah I like an Opus One. Very expensive, so it must be good for you.

Q: Favorite films?

A: I own Waiting for Guffman, the director's cut, on laser disc. And I own the director's cut of Blade Runner, which I prefer to the studio-released version, because there's no narration on it.

Q: Why won't you talk about religion or money?

A: They have too much to do with each other.

Q: Is money important to you?

A: Less and less, now that I have it.

Q: What women do you consider sexy?

A: Luanne from King of the Hill.

Q: What would you like on your tombstone?

A: I'd like the marker to be clean and simple and granite. And I'd like my birth date and my name spelled correctly for a change.

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Lawrence Grobel interviewed Liam Neeson for the May 99 issue of Movieline.

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