Brendan Fraser has reminisced about his role in George of the Jungle, one of the roles that made him a movie icon. It seems, though, that the actor had to go to extreme lengths to keep himself in prime physical form for the movie, and it ended up causing him memory problems. Will speaking with Adam Sandler for Variety’s Actors on Actors series, Fraser recalled eating so little that it started to mess with his brain.
George of the Jungle was released in 1997, and featured Fraser in the titular role. Based on a spoof Tarzan animated series, the series called for the actor to wear very little and that meant that his body had to look exactly right. When Sandler brought up the movie, Fraser said:
“The wardrobe was there was no wardrobe. George wears a loincloth. I was waxed. Starved of carbohydrates. I would drive home after work and stop to get something to eat. I needed some cash one day, and I went to the ATM, and I couldn’t remember my PIN number because my brain was misfiring. Banging on the thing. I didn’t eat that night.”
While Fraser appears to have suffered for his craft to make George of the Jungle, it paid off in that the movie was a hit at the box office after making over $170 million, and still has a following quarter of a century later.
Brendan Fraser Recently Apologized For George of the Jungle Incident
While filming George of the Jungle, one particular stunt ended up stopping traffic in San Francisco, something that Brendan Fraser recently made a humorous apology for during an appearance at the Mill Valley Film Festival. Being back in the city, Fraser said:
"I have almost an apology to make. When we were doing George of the Jungle, George goes to rescue a parachutist tangled in the Golden Gate Bridge. That means Disney put a mannequin hanging by a parachute from the uprights. It brought traffic to a standstill on either side of the bridge. My trailer was on the other side in a parking lot. I just remember watching the Golden Gate Bridge. There's this dummy parachutist hanging from it. I had the TV on, and Oprah got interrupted because there was a special news report with helicopters saying a parachute is dangling on the bridge. And I'm going — wait a minute, I'm looking at the helicopters and TV — somebody didn't pull a permit, somebody's going to get in trouble with the mayor's office. So I can only apologize for that."
While George of the Jungle is never going to ranked alongside some of the greatest movies of all time, the film has enough of a legacy to ensure that many people still remember it fondly. The biggest reason for its longevity is down to Fraser himself, who throws himself into the role, literally, with joy and enthusiasm. While Fraser’s new roles are of a more serious nature, his comedic abilities will always be there for everyone to see in George of the Jungle.