Brendan Fraser Apologizes For Movie Stunt Gone Terribly Wrong
Brendan Fraser made a public apology for a stunt that halted traffic on San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge during the production of George of the Jungle.
Actor Brendan Fraser has been receiving the best reviews of his career so far as his starring vehicle, The Whale, has been making its way through the film festival circuit. While attending the latest screening of the film at the Mill Valley Film Festival in San Francisco, Fraser chose to issue an apology on behalf of himself and the production crew at Disney responsible for a stunt that halted traffic during filming of the hit movie, George of the Jungle, which starred Fraser and was set in the city of San Francisco.
The stunt in question is a reference to a scene in the 1997 flick where George saves someone dangling from the Golden Gate Bridge after a parachute accident gone wrong, but the filming of the scene ended up on the news and stopped traffic on both sides of the famous bridge, so Fraser felt the need to call out the stunt gone terribly wrong.
According to a report by SFGATE, Brendan Fraser made reference to the stunt where, in real life, a mannequin was dangling from the Golden Gate Bridge and Fraser’s character of George is meant to swoop in and save the person. Apologizing directly to San Francisco-based media and to the audience of The Whale prior to his new movie debuting, the actor apparently felt responsible for any issues caused by the stunt’s filming.
This included the fact that the stunt ended up cutting into an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show to then show local news coverage of the event at the time. The crowd attending the screening at the film festival laughed off Fraser’s comments when he said “It brought traffic to a standstill on either side of the bridge,” as they were eagerly awaiting the festival’s premiere of his new movie.
For Brendan Fraser, 25 years between George of the Jungle and The Whale might sound like a long time, but the actor has been putting in the work to get attention for his latest acting effort. Directed by Darren Aronofsky, The Whale had its North American premiere last month at the Toronto International Film Festival and Fraser’s performance as an obese gay man attempting to reconnect with his daughter (Sadie Sink) after the death of his boyfriend has sent critics into a frenzy.
Fraser is currently getting Academy Award buzz for his performance in the film and has been racking up huge honors at every festival the movie is screened at this year.
George of the Jungle premiered in theaters in July 1997 and quickly became of the best-known movies of Brendan Fraser’s career before the introduction of The Mummy series of films. George of the Jungle went on to gross close to $175 million against a budget of $55 million, furthering along the careers of its stars that included Fraser, Thomas Haden Church, Knocked Up alum Leslie Mann, and Holland Taylor.
As for the upcoming movie The Whale, the major project that also costars Hong Chau and Samantha Morton is due to be released to the general public in theaters on December 9, as the film and Fraser are vying for consideration come awards season.
