Brendan Fraser’s Co-Star Had No Idea Who He Was

By Phillip Moyer | Published

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It speaks to how long it’s been since Brendan Fraser has been out of the limelight when his own costar, Sadie Sink, wasn’t familiar with him. Sink, who was born three years after The Mummy first appeared in theatres, admitted to Insider that she had no idea who he was when she first auditioned with him for her role in The Whale.

Sink, famous for her role as Max Mayfield in the hit Netflix series Stranger Things, said that the only thing she said upon meeting Frasier was “Nice to meet you.” It wasn’t until they started filming that Sink started to learn who Fraser was. Since Brendan Fraser and Sadie Sink first met, Sink has made a point of watching some of Fraser’s back catalog. 

The Whale stars Brendan Fraser as a terminally-ill, morbidly-obese man who is trying to reconnect with his estranged daughter, played by Sadie Sink. Fraser was nominated for both a Gotham Independent Film award and a Satellite award for his performance, and there are rumors that he may be nominated for a Golden Globe and an Oscar as well. However, Fraser had stated that he will not be attending the Golden Globes if he’s nominated — the man he claims assaulted him was the former president of the HFPA, which hosts the award show.

Brendan Fraser, unknown to the much younger Sadie Sink, has a career stretching back to the early 90s. He got cast in his first film as an unnamed sailor in the 1991 coming-of-age drama Dogfight. He went on to make a name for himself in both comedy and adventure films, starring in Encino ManGeorge of the JungleDudley Do-RightThe MummyThe Mummy Returns, and Inkheart with prominent roles in drama films such as Gods and Monsters and Crash.

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Brendan Fraser in The Whale.

Brendan Fraser was probably unknown to Sadie Sink because his promising career was stymied after a series of tragic events. Over a short period of time, he was allegedly sexually assaulted, his wife divorced him, and his mother died. According to Fraser, the events caused him to fall into a deep state of depression, putting his career on hold. 

While his major roles tapered off after those events, Brendan Fraser’s role in the 2021 film No Sudden Move and his part alongside Sadie Sink in 2022’s The Whale have led to a comeback in Fraser’s career. We almost didn’t get to see Brendan Fraser playing alongside Sadie Sink.

Brendan Fraser was worried he wouldn’t get to perform in The Whale with Sadie Sink because he got COVID-19 during filming. However, he pulled through and managed to kickstart his career again. While his role as the villain in Batgirl got nixed after the movie was canceled, he’s still set to appear in Killers of the Flower Moon and Behind the Curtain of Night.