Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
This is Fresh Air. I'm Tanya Mosley.
Chapter 2: What unique role does Brendan Fraser play in the film 'Rental Family'?
When Brendan Fraser first read the script for Rental Family, he recognized a world he'd never seen shown in film before. It follows an American actor adrift in Tokyo, barely scraping by, until he stumbles into a job with a rental family agency. It's based on a real phenomenon in Japan, companies where you can hire someone to fill a gap in your life.
A father to walk you down the aisle, a mourner at a funeral, or simply a companion for dinner. Brendan Fraser's character is a struggling performer who's suddenly given a new kind of role to play. In this scene, he's speaking with the head of the rental family agency, who's explaining what they do and why they think he might be a good fit. Takahiro Hira speaks first.
So, what do you think we do?
You, if I have to guess, you sell people.
No. No. We sell emotion. Oh, how? We play roles in clients' lives. But you can't just replace someone in your life. Yes and no. But people are willing to take a leap. The actor, the surrogate.
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Chapter 3: How does the concept of rental families work in Japan?
You don't have to be that person. You just have to help clients connect to what's missing. Like what? Well, could be anybody from their life or feeling they once had. Parents, siblings, boyfriends, girlfriends, best friends. We play it all. Well, we could just get a therapist. It's not that easy here. Mental health issues are stigmatized in this country.
So people have to turn to other things, like us. What do you need me for? We need a token white guy. It's a niche market, and I need someone to fill the role. Just a token white guy. I'm just an actor. I don't know how to help people. But you know how to perform. I've seen the resume. Look, what I'm offering here is a chance to play roles with real meaning.
As the story unfolds, Fraser's character discovers that pretending to be someone's family member just might be the most honest work he's ever done. And for Fraser, those themes resonate. His own career has been marked by transformation, early fame, a period of stepping back, and a comeback that felt like watching someone come into himself again.
Fraser first broke through in the early 90s with Encino Man and School Ties, and later became an action star, anchoring the Mummy franchise. To this day, millions of theme park visitors see and hear him every time they step into the revenge of the Mummy rides at Universal Studios.
But after years in the spotlight, Fraser retreated from big studio roles, continuing to work but often in smaller, quieter projects. Then in 2022, he delivered an acclaimed performance in Darren Aronofsky's The Whale, earning him an Academy Award for Best Actor. And Brendan Fraser, welcome to Fresh Air.
Thank you, Tonya.
Brendan, this is such an interesting premise because this is not fictional. There are rental agencies that provide this service to people in Japan. When you were offered this role, how was it explained to you?
Well, there are about 300 or so businesses that operate now and have done since, I'm told, the early 1980s. The model is based on a need for people to fill the absence of loved ones or friends, but they still have a want to connect. So very often, as I've learned, in Japan, people can become quite isolated for such a populist purpose.
It's so interesting, right? Because it's so populous. It's even shown in the film, like you can feel how crowded, how the population is so dense.
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Chapter 4: What personal struggles does Brendan Fraser share about his career journey?
Had you thought about that for yourself? Because it makes the audience think about that. If we were in this position where we had the option to hire someone to fulfill a role in our lives, who would it be? Did you ask yourself that question?
Yes. Who would it be? A sister. I'm the fourth of four sons. And I can recall being a kid when our family lived in Europe. I was given books that came from the UK because they were printed in English. And one of them was a book about growing up. And one of them had a picture that looked a lot, an illustration that looked so much like me and a girl. And they were depicted as brother and sister.
And I wanted that. I wanted that relationship. I wanted – I mean, I felt that because – and I'll share this with you. I did have a baby sister and she did pass away at birth. And in our family, that was a hole. That was a vacuum. I didn't even – couldn't make sense of it when – I was very young and it happened. So I think I had that intuitively in me.
That and I didn't want to hang out with my smelly, aggressive three older brothers all the time.
Right, because you were the baby.
I was the youngest.
But that yearning was always there, that understanding.
It was.
Brendan, a lot of people, a lot of places, I should say, claim you, in part because your father's work had you all moving around a lot as a kid. Where do you consider home?
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Chapter 5: How did Brendan Fraser's experiences in Japan influence his character?
I am a dual citizen. Born in the United States, my heritage is Canadian. I feel that every time I'm in Canada. The air somehow does something different for me. I feel energized. I truly feel like these are my people. My French-Canadian roots are strong. My ancestors fought on the plains of Abraham. And from what I can still see every time I've worked in Montreal, French Canadians are a tribe.
They really are a tightly knit group of incredible, polite pirates of sorts. They're pierced and tattooed and they've got interesting hairstyles and a prevalent attitude of if As long as you're not harming anyone or doing anything to hurt someone, you go ahead. You be you. You be good. And they're a tribe. They really do stick together.
And I see that from the film sets I've worked on, but just also in the proud heart of cultural heritage that they have. And that really speaks to me, too.
But growing up, how did moving around in that way sort of impact your sense of belonging?
It challenged it because to reinvent yourself or be picked up and moved and picked up and moved and picked up and moved causes you to need to redefine yourself, to find a way to assimilate. You're always the new guy, right? So it can be a challenge. But many of the actors I've met have had similar backgrounds in their lives by moving around.
But I have to say that it worked out for me in a way that made me feel like I was always constantly striving to find a place that was home. And it turned out to be home was where I was, wherever that was.
You also found home in this idea of acting. How old were you when it first came to mind for you that, first, I really like this, and then second, oh, wait, I think I can do this?
It would have been when I lived in Holland and we'd take our holidays to the UK and London. I first started seeing plays on the West End there in musicals. I think one of the very first musicals I saw was Oliver, which is seeing a revival right now in London. I noticed. I hope I'm there in time to catch it.
When did it come to you that I'm going to make this something that I pursue? I'm going to pursue acting.
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Chapter 6: What does Brendan Fraser reveal about his confidence and self-worth?
An opera in that courtroom scene because it was a Baptist church that had been designed on the inside to be brand new 1920s Federalist architecture. So it was squeaky clean columns and the galley was filled with, you know, the extra players. And they were First Nations. They were Osage members, authentically. They really were. So this was intensely personal.
This whole movie is about them for them. And it was populated by them purposefully. And there's a sense of authenticity. He shot with four cameras, quadruple coverage. Unless it's an action car wreck or something like that, you don't often see this. This was just to play the scene. A wide on them, one on me, one on Leo, and another one hunting for reaction shots.
And the scene went on for several minutes. So we really were in almost like a stage play when shooting that.
Let's take a short break. If you're just joining us, my guest is Brendan Fraser, and his new film is called Rental Family. We'll be right back after a break. This is Fresh Air. You know, a lot has been said about it being a comeback after The Whale. And you make the point to say that you had always been here, just in smaller roles or in television or in streaming series.
You know, one of the things that you talk about quite a bit, but you've talked about the beating that your body had had over the years, especially in your early career. over the mummy, when you were doing the mummy and some of those other very physical roles. When did you realize that you were in pain, that you had turned a corner?
That I was paying attention to myself and that I needed to slow down. I took every precaution and stunt teams are there for safety. And, you know, all precautions were always taken. But then again, at that time, I was, you know, I was a fit guy. I, I, I had plenty of practice with rough and tumble stuff, whatever. And I thought, you know, I can do this.
But I didn't have to, although I did because I had this misconceived notion that I had to be earning this somehow.
So you were pushing your body hard?
Yeah, a little too hard. Like, you know, if I wasn't in pain or bleeding, I wasn't working hard enough. And that's not necessary. I would caution actors to not do that. And anyone in any field too.
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Chapter 7: What insights does Brendan Fraser provide about working with renowned directors?
Yeah.
Was that ever something that was of concern for you or bothered you or felt like out of step with who you were? Absolutely.
And I've already told you, I contend with confidence on a daily basis, but I can remember feeling, being spoken of as if I'm not even in the room. Absolutely. Being picked apart by, I don't know, some production or executive as if I was a horse or something like that. And it made me feel like a walking steak or a piece of meat, I guess. And I could...
automatically empathize with clearly the women who've always had to contend with this kind of derision. And it made me aware. Like I got off relatively easy by comparison and knowing that type of objectification and the damage it can do to people.
In that way, does it feel like a relief to get older?
It does, yeah. That and I have fewer concerns, but I care about bigger issues now more than I did in a conceptual way. And I don't let things that really are superfluous bother me as much as I did because I learned to ask myself, what's the worst thing that could happen in this situation? And whatever the answer is... lets me know if or not I need to be concerned about it or if I should.
What aspirations do you still have as you look at roles? You know, you've now won an Oscar for Best Actor. You're taking on roles that really push you in direction, stories you've never heard before. What do you want to do that you haven't done yet?
I want to make movies that people genuinely want to see. And it's a challenge, like I say, in this landscape of so much
clutter and noise that comes from the product being beamed at us all at once i have to look for the places where it's quiet or i have to look for the projects that can can dominate in that very crowded place get in there and throw elbows and that's what it would take so to answer your question at the end of the day i really just want to make movies that people see
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