Now and forever, mention of Brendan Fraser will come with the “Oscar winner” moniker following the actor accepting a golden trophy last month for his performance in The Whale. His The Mummy co-star Rachel Weisz was among those rooting him on during the recent awards season, as she recently shared.
Weisz memorably played Evie Carnahan, a brilliant and rather awkward librarian who wins the heart of Brendan Fraser’s Rick O’Connell in The Mummy and The Mummy Returns. When the actress was asked about her thoughts on seeing Fraser being among the distinguished 2023 Oscar winners, she said this to Extra:
I’m so happy for Brendan. Very happy. I texted after his win. I texted him after I saw the performance. It was a staggeringly good film.
Fraser won the Best Actor Oscar on March 12 for his leading role in Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale, beating out Austin Butler’s Elvis performance, along with Colin Farrell, Paul Mescal and Bill Nighy. The Whale had Fraser playing an overweight and solitary English teacher who attempts to reconnect with his estranged daughter. Check out his emotional acceptance speech:
Although his Oscar win will most certainly go down in history, it's safe to say The Mummy is considered among the best action movies audiences have ever seen. The 1999 Universal film is a modern classic that beautifully blends elements like comedy, romance and horror into one heck of a good time at the movies. It was among the highest grossing movies of the year and went on to spawn a trilogy of films and The Scorpion King spinoffs.
Fraser spoke a lot about his experiences on The Mummy during his award season campaign, including recalling how he and Weisz had no idea how audiences would react to the movie when they were on set. His The Mummy Returns co-star Dwayne Johnson, whom he didn’t actually share scenes with on set, also made a point to share his excitement for the “Brenaissance” as fans have coined it as well.
While Fraser never really left Hollywood, The Whale marks the actor skyrocketing back to major prominence after taking on smaller-scale roles. Aside from the award season pick, he also notably played Cliff Steele in DC’s Doom Patrol series and was going to play a major role in the Batgirl movie before it was scrapped. He’s set to star in Martin Scorsese’s upcoming movie alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, Killers of the Flower Moon, which comes this fall.
If you’re wondering whether Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz could return to their roles for another Mummy movie, right now there are no plans for a reunion. Fraser previously said he’s be interested in playing Rick O’Connell again, but there’s been no word of a script in development at Universal. Weisz’s next project is an Amazon Prime series called Dead Ringers, premiering on April 21.
