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'Big, tough guy': Stephen Sommers Reveals Risky Real-Life Stunts Knocked Out Brendan Fraser on The Mummy Sets
The Mummy director, Stephen Sommers, reveals that risky real-life stunts knocked out lead actor Brendan Fraser. As the film celebrates its 25th anniversary, Sommers recalls on-set anecdotes.
Stephen Sommers is recalling some interesting anecdotes from the set of his 1999 action-adventure horror comedy directed movie The Mummy. The film recently marked its 25th anniversary and continues to captivate the audience with its exciting action sequences, adventurous storylines, and interesting characters played by its genius cast.
In addition, Sommers also revealed how they wanted some stunts of the movie to seem authentic, so they decided to let lead actor Fraser perform a risky real-life stunt. The director shared that while the scene turned out great, the stunt nearly knocked out the actor while he was performing it.
Stephen Sommers reveals real-life stunts caused Brendan Fraser to become unconscious on The Mummy
Branden Fraser has played several fascinating characters on the silver screen. However, his role as Rick O'Connell remains a fan favorite to date. He portrayed this intriguing character of Rick O'Connell in Stephen Sommers-directed 1999 action-adventure horror comedy The Mummy.
The film recently marked its 25th anniversary, and to celebrate its continued success, the film director Sommers recently shared his views on his project.
He further recalls a particular stunt scene that Fraser performed himself with dedication in this movie, which even caused the actor to become unconscious while performing it.
In an interview with THR, the Deep Rising movie director shared, “We had a great stunt team, but Brendan is a big, tough guy, and he was younger back then. We kind of beat the crap out of him. Everybody talks about the scene when he gets hung. Usually, when somebody gets hung, it’s a dummy, and that’s why they put bags over people’s heads.”
Sommers continued, “Brendan was always gung-ho, and he was like, 'Make the noose really tight on me.' Then he decided to let his knees sag a little bit. But what he forgot is that the minute you put that much pressure on your carotid arteries, it knocks you out. We all looked, and he’s completely unconscious. It was fine, and he recovered in 10 seconds. But he woke up like, 'What happened?'”
Stephen Sommers claimed they had a good stunt team on set. However, they wanted some scenes to seem authentic. So, they let Brendan Fraser perform the stunt. However, he got knocked out while performing the stunt for the scene where his character hung from a rope.
Stephen Sommers on the success of his directorial film The Mummy
While speaking with THR, The Mummy film director Stephen Sommers was asked if he anticipated the movie's immense success during its production.
In response to the above, Sommers told the outlet, "We had no idea. I remember around Christmas time in the editing room, going, 'For 40 years, people have been making fun of The Mummy.”
He continued, "I suddenly had a panic attack. I’m thinking, I love mummies and ancient Egypt, but maybe no one else will. And then the 30-second Super Bowl spot came out. It went from nobody having any interest in seeing a Mummy movie to everybody like, Holy sh-t. That was really cool.”
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Stephen Sommers-directed 1999 The Mummy received critical acclaim upon its release. The movie grossed $416.4 million worldwide against a budget of $80 million. The film has an A-list star cast ensemble featuring Branden Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Arnold Vosloo, and more.
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