The catch? Each of Elliot’s wishes comes with a cruel twist. His dreams of money and power turn him into a death-marked Colombian drug lord, while his desire to be the most sensitive guy in the world finds him weeping uncontrollably at the sight of sunsets. Fraser, suffering from the flu and a broken rib incurred while filming “The Mummy Returns” in Morocco, caught up with NEWSWEEK’s Lorraine Ali in New York to discuss the old adage “Be careful what you wish for.”
FRASER: I know. I cringed too. It’s like, “Oh, stop, stop!” He’s drenched with desire to have acceptance and be loved, to have friends. But he just doesn’t know when enough’s enough. He shadows people. You can’t shake him. He’s like a burr on your shoelace. It was a tricky part to play. You have to find a way to earn sympathy for him without making the audience want to murder him. He’s got it coming, just let him have it! But in a pinch, he can be your hero–just love him, pleeease, 40 times an hour.
Aside from Elliot? The basketball guy. I loved shooting those crazy, blind aviator, loopty-doop, double-bumpty-bump clunk shots. Then there’s the sensitive guy who sings songs about dolphins. His teeth are kinda ground down ‘cause he’s anxious. His hair’s pink rather than red, and it’s receding in a way he’s trying to be confident about and own. I also liked the Eastern, blue-blooded intellectual, but so did his boyfriend. Elliot didn’t think that wish out very well.
Yes. Harold [Ramis] was joking that no matter what happens, I’m gonna get a hell of a demo reel out of this movie. Finally, the world will know that Brendan Fraser has diverse talent. Want a Colombian drug lord? You’ve got it!
I try and make choices that will allow me to have a different thing to do every time out. Conceptually, I don’t want to get bored with it. Audiences should expect the actors they patronize to stretch and head in different directions.
I don’t believe in wishing. You have to work for things, as Elliot Richards learned in “Bedazzled.” But if I had even one wish? Hmm, it wouldn’t be for world peace, because it might set the tilt of the universe off its axis. We need chaos to balance the world. OK, how about–no one suffers in the world for one day. Just one day. But tomorrow, watch out. It’s gonna be twice as bad.
Definitely. But we’re all geeks growing up. Let’s face it, it was hell. But it’s kinda hip to show those junior-high-school pictures now, the orthodontic gear around the head. It’s like a badge of honor. I had braces with rubber bands. I could actually shoot them across the room. You had to tilt your head for the right trajectory or you’d hit your nose, and that’s just not cool.
Embrace your dorkdom, or rail against it. The choice is yours.
