Brendan Fraser had 'life-changing' experience shooting Rental Family in Tokyo
Brendan Fraser had a "life-changing" time filming 'Rental Family' in the "wonderful" city of Tokyo.
Brendan Fraser had a "life-changing" time filming 'Rental Family'.
The 'Whale' actor had never experienced anything quite like the "wonderful" city of Tokyo, where the movie was shot, and praised the local crew who worked on the comedy in Japan.
Discussing his upcoming projects at the Red Sea Film Festival, he said: “I finished a film earlier this year in Japan called 'Rental Family', the director, Hikari… is a Japanese American who has written a story about what it means to have a family as not being the one necessarily that we were born into, but whom we encounter and collect in our lives.
“Rental Family is an absurd sounding, funny title in itself but you can rent just about anything in Tokyo: a hat, a go-kart and a family."
Asked by a Japanese audience member as to why he had accepted the project, Brendan added: “Because it was so far removed from anything I’d seen; anywhere I’ve been asked to go and work. My experience in Tokyo was life changing.
"I think it’s a wonderful, wonderful place. You can’t get a bad meal in that town.
“Technology is at a place that I think if I saw someone flying by with a jetpack, I just say, ‘I guess we’re doing that now’.
"Just the experience of being able to work with the Japanese crew do my best to chop my way through the tall grass of learning some Japanese myself, which I’ve already forgotten.”
The Oscar-winning star also explained he is currently sporting "very short" hair after filming D-Day drama 'Pressure', in which he plays Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower.
He said: “It’s the story of the 72 hours before the landing on the Normandy beaches on D-Day on Tuesday, June 6, and the decisions that went into Operation Overlord in light of one fly in the ointment, which was the weather was bad.
“My role is Dwight D. Eisenhower, hence the very short hair – it’s all growing back."
Brendan hailed director Anthony Maras a "fantastic collaborator".
He said: “He creates the reality of a scene to give an audience a feeling that it is a fly on the wall, and we’re seeing it in real time. Did I mention the movie is called 'Pressure' because that is exactly what it was.”
After decades in the movie industry, the 58-year-old star suggested he is keen to get into producing, though didn't offer details of any specific projects.
He said: “I’m glad to be able now to feel like I can have a voice that’s pertinent in the early stages of developing screenplays. I’m no director. I don’t want to be, but I do have interest in producing and that’s where I’ll head next."
