Academy Award winner Brendan Fraser recalled an ugly ‘naked’ fight in his breakout role in 1992’s School Ties. In the Robert Mandel-led movie, Fraser starred as David Greene alongside notable actors Matt Damon, Chris O’Donnell, and Ben Affleck. Hence, a particular segment of the plot has ceased to escape the star’s mind throughout the years.
Fraser, who won an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role in 2023 for The Whale, was only in his early career during the filming of School Ties. Therefore, a greater motivation went behind then-17-year-old Fraser’s on-screen performance. He opened up about being intimidated by Matt Damon’s presence and filming the ugly shower fight in the movie.
Brendan Fraser recalled filming the shower fight with Matt Damon
In a candid conversation, the 55-year-old star detailed his memory of filming the “naked” scene during the shower fight with Matt Damon’s Charlie Dillon. The movie was a starting point for both Damon and Fraser. However, the former seemed to have fixed his spot in the industry by then while Fraser was still struggling to establish himself as a talented actor.
While there are no doubts now, the George of the Jungle star revealed that filming the naked scene was rather challenging for him. Appearing on The Howard Stern Show in early February last year, Brendan Fraser explained,
“It was scary. It’s scary to do that. And when you’re an actor and you’re starting off, you’re ambitious and game for pretty much anything. They say, ‘Jump,’ and you say, ‘How high?’ I appreciated that this isn’t really for wow or a scintillating factor of going, ‘Hey, look at that. Naked people.’ The point of it was that when Damon’s character says what he says about David, he just reveals who he is.”
In The School Ties, Fraser appears as a high-school student who has won an athletic scholarship. However, he hides the fact that he is Jewish, which Damon’s Dillon, also on the school football team, breaks it to the team later in the movie. This brings viewers to the climax scene where Fraser and Damon engage in an “ugly knuckle-dusting” fight, with both the actors bare-bodied. Furthermore, Fraser described the scene as,
“And the door is locked and they fight over it like shaved apes that need to be pulled apart because they’ve run out of things to say to one another.”
Yet, the Killers of the Flower Moon actor reflected on his character, claiming he shared thoughtful similarities with David Greene.
Brendan Fraser was the real-life David Greene
Diving deep into the essence of his role as the sporty Greene in the 1992 drama, Fraser claimed to have shared relativity with him. The Indiana native added that in the manner Greene was trying to fit into his new high school and make new friends, although hiding his Semitic identity, Fraser was also striving to make it in Hollywood. The 6’3 star disclosed,
“So for all that need of wanting to belong, I identified with that because I felt like I want to be a part of this Hollywood also.”
The Canadian-American actor vaulted to worldwide fame following his hit films in The Mummy franchise and with George of the Jungle. However, he had been out of the spotlight for quite some time following a sexual-assault controversy with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association President, Philip Berk, per People. Regardless, Fraser’s grand return with 2022’s The Whale has left his critics biting the dust.
