It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost 25 years since The Mummy Returns debuted in theaters, and yet, quite a lot has happened since then. The movie’s hero Brendan Fraser, is now an Oscar winner, and the movie’s villain Dwayne Johnson is one of the biggest movie stars in the world. Now the two have reunited, and the love fest is truly something special.
Johnson and Fraser were brought together as part of Variety’s annual Actors on Actors series. During the conversation, Johnson had to specifically thank Fraser for the fact that the two of them were even sitting there together. The Rock indicates that Fraser, being the star of The Mummy franchise (which Johnson refers to as a modern Raiders of the Lost Ark) had the power to veto his Hollywood debut. And he might not have been wrong in doing so, given Johnson’s lack of experience. The wrestler turned actor said:
And so there was a moment I feel like where you could have said, Hey, listen, I love this idea of a character called the Scorpion King, but this guy, Dwayne Johnson, he's never acted before.
Dwayne Johnson was a huge star in WWE, but was largely unknown outside of that world. However, Johnson’s role as The Scorpion King in The Mummy Returns was so well received that it earned Johnson a spinoff of his own, and he’d never really look back. Johnson certainly isn’t wrong that The Mummy Returns started everything. The two men are literally sitting in chairs talking to each other because of that movie. He continued…
I know he's in pro wrestling. I'm not quite too sure. This is a beloved franchise. Felt like Raiders of the Lost Ark. And the word that I got back was, Brendan loves the idea. He welcomes you with open arms. And it really meant something to me because not only was it your franchise and you took a shot and a risk with me who had never acted back then, but also that kicked off my career. And it went from the Mummy returns to then the Scorpion King, too years later, you and I are sitting here. And I just as always, but now here, I want to say thank you, man, and thank you for in a way, in a big way, really in changing my life because the trajectory that you allowed to happen led me to be here.
For his part, Brendan Fraser doesn’t seem to want to take too much credit for anything, if only because he doesn’t seem to think his giving the green light to Johnson’s casting was ever a question. He says The Rock was “always” the right choice to play The Scorpion King, because the role needed somebody with The Rock’s particular background. Fraser said…
You’re too kind, Dwayne. You were always the right guy for the job when I was told that you were a possibility for it, forgive me, but I didn't know you from the wrestling world. And when I was shown, I said, that is perfect. That is inspired casting. That's fantastic. We'd be lucky to get the guy. Wow. No, seriously. I mean, come on. Because it felt like you need a stadium persona performance to give, to play a villain you love to hate and to introduce yourself into that franchise. It's going to take a lot of confidence and belief that yeah, you could take on all the big scary bad guys and fight them back and do all of the action and everything. And also you presented a formidable foe to the characters in the movie. I mean, Imhotep was the heavy, right? But we needed someone bigger and badder than iep. And who are you going to get? We got you, dude. Oh man, it worked out the best for everyone. You are a gentleman because I promise you what you did in the wrestling world, you were painting with a 10 inch brush.
Considering how much these guys love each other, it would be great to get them together again., And considering that The Mummy 4 is a movie that is now happening, there is at least an opportunity to do it.
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