Actor Brendan Fraser has revealed the drastic actions he took in a desperate attempt to achieve his ideal look for his role in “George of the Jungle”.
The actor, 54, spoke with Adam Sandler as part of Variety’s “Actors On Actors” series, where he opened up about the effects of starving himself while filming the 1997 film.
Despite achieving his goal physique, Fraser said the drastic weight loss measures took a negative toll on his mental well-being.
“I was washed. Starved for carbs,” Fraser recalls. “I was driving home after work and stopped to eat something.”
“One day I needed cash, and I went to the ATM, and I couldn’t remember my PIN number because my brain misfired. Knock on the thing. I didn’t eat that night,” he added.
Fraser said it was important for him to get a muscular build for his role in the film because “there was no wardrobe” for his character.
“You weren’t supposed to do this to us,” Sandler quipped. “You did right by the character. But you did wrong by us, man. You made us feel bad about ourselves.”
The hit movie, which got a sequel in 2003, saw Fraser play George – a man raised by monkeys in an African jungle. He then falls in love with an American heiress, played by Leslie Mann, during her tour of Uganda.
The movie ended up being a box office flop, generating $180 million worldwide on a $55 million budget.
Fraser recently issued an apology for the massive traffic jam that brought cars to a standstill in San Francisco while filming a scene for the film.
Fraser said the scene, which caused chaos on the city’s Oakland Bay Bridge, which spans 8.4 miles, involved his character climbing the bridge to rescue a skydiver, for which a dummy was used .
But worried onlookers were led to think it was a real person stuck there, which later caused a huge traffic jam.
“Disney put a mannequin on a parachute out of the stands. It brought traffic to a standstill on both sides of the bridge,” the 53-year-old told SFGate. “My trailer was on the other side in a parking lot. I just remember watching the… Bridge.”
