Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Adam Sandler says Brendan Fraser ‘made us feel bad about ourselves’ in George of the Jungle

‘You weren’t supposed to do that to us,’ Sandler teased

Inga Parkel
Wednesday 07 December 2022 04:46 GMT
Comments
Brendan Fraser arrives on red carpet ahead of The Whale premiere

Your support helps us to tell the story

This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.

The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.

Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.

Adam Sandler has claimed that Brendan Fraser’s award-nominated role in George of the Jungle made Sandler “feel bad about” himself.

Fraser, who appeared alongside Sandler and Steve Buscemi in the 1994 musical comedy Airheads, played the titular character of George in the 1997 family comedy.

Sitting down together in conversation for Variety Studio’s newest episode of Actors on Actors, Sandler recalled the American-Canadian star leaving Airheads and going on to get “very jacked for George of the Jungle”.

“I was disappointed how good you looked in that. You weren’t supposed to do that to us,” the Hustle actor joked. “You were supposed to remain like us.”

Responding to Sandler, Fraser said: “The wardrobe was... there was no wardrobe. George wears a loincloth.”

“You did right by the character. But you did wrong by us, man. You made us feel bad about ourselves,” Sandler further quipped, before questioning if Fraser had been “oiled up at all during George”.

“I was waxed,” the Mummy star answered.

Adam Sandler and Brendan Fraser
Adam Sandler and Brendan Fraser (Getty Images)

The 54-year-old Fraser revealed that at the time, he had been “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,” he remembered.

Currently, Fraser is making his Hollywood comeback in a completely different role.

Fraser plays Charlie, an obese and reclusive English teacher who struggles with disordered eating, in The Whale. His performance in the film has already made an impressive splash among critics.

In his four-star review, The Independent’s Geoffrey Macnab lauded Fraser’s performance as “one of those sad-eyed performances” that “many audiences will find very hard to resist”.

Sandler recently also explained how he came to terms with the fact that critics regularly “hated” many of his films.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in