‘The World Was Sideways’: Brendan Fraser Explains How He Almost Died Filming ‘The Mummy’
Actor Brendan Fraser While filming 1999’s action-packed flick, legions of undead were defeated “The Mummy” — and according to a recent interview, he very nearly joined them.
Fraser Kelly Clarkson, host of the eponymous program, invited me to join her on Monday to discuss what happened when the hanging sequence that was supposed in the movie turned out to be a bit too close to reality.
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[embedded content]Clarkson asked whether it was true that he had nearly died making the movie — and Fraser, laughing, explained that a stunt went a bit too far, and he got “choked out.”
“Well, I was choked out, accidentally. There’s a hanging sequence —” Fraser began, referencing a scene near the beginning of the movie when his character, Rick O’Connell, was sentenced to be hanged — allegedly for having “a very good time.”
“I was standing on my toes, like this, with the rope,” Fraser stood to make a demonstration. “And, you know, you only got so far to go. And Steve [Sommer] ran over and said, ‘Hey, it doesn’t really look like you’re choking. Can you sell it?'”
Fraser also agreed and added: “So I thought, one more take, man. And the camera swooped around and I went up on the toes, and the guy holding the rope above me, he pulled it up a little higher and I was stuck on my toes. I had nowhere to go but down. So he was pulling up and I was going down.”
Fraser stated that it was then that everything got sideways. “The next thing I knew, my elbow was in my ear, the world was sideways, and there was gravel in my teeth. And everyone was really quiet.”
The stunt coordinator was clapping his hands and calling his name, trying to snap him out of it — and when he finally opened his eyes, the coordinator remarked, “Congratulations, you’re in the club! Same thing happened to Mel Gibson on ‘Braveheart.'”
Sommer told Entertainment Weekly Fraser claimed that he was responsible for the accident many years ago, stating that he had done too much. “selling it” This time, it’s different.
“He tightens the noose, and then, as we’re about to get the shot, he’s trying to make it look like it’s really strangling him. I guess it cut off his carotid artery, or whatever, and knocked him out,” He said.
Fraser conceded that point, saying: “Technically yes, it was my fault, that I was following direction from my director to sell it … You know what? To be fair to that remark, I did make one fatal error. I figured before the camera lands on me, I will take three really deep breaths, so my face turns purple and my veins pop out of my neck. I’ll really f***ing sell it, you know! That had to have been a [lesson in how] to asphyxiate yourself. I mean, that had to have been it. So, you know what? In me pointing fingers at Stephen, and vice versa, you got me on that point. I was doing my job to look like a man dangling by his neck about to die. I got to say, what you see in the movie is the take that they did, so they had to cut away, because moments later, I was out of it.”
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