The Brenaissance is in full swing and Oscar-nominated actor Brendan Fraser has been making the rounds promoting his films, making surprise appearances and sharing entertaining and heartfelt stories from the past.
Fraser was recently on The Howard Stern Show and shared yet another little-known fact about one of his films from his three-decade-spanning acting career.
Fraser spoke with Stern about his role in the 1992 drama School Ties. Fraser played David Greene, a teen playing football on a scholarship at a prestigious prep school who attempts to hide that he is Jewish. The character's popularity soars because of his skills and contributions to the football program, but his classmates and friends turn on him when they discover his Jewish background.
In the film, tension rises and eventually escalates to a brawl in the locker room where Fraser's character and classmate Charlie, played by Matt Damon, break into a fight while completely nude in the shower.
Stern asked Fraser to elaborate on that particular scene.
"That scene in that movie, where you're wrestling... you know you're in the shower, you're naked, Matt's naked, and then you guys fight in the shower and you're wrestling..."
"Were you guys fully nude in that scene?"
Fraser replied affirmatively:
"Oh yes, absolutely."
When Stern told Fraser he "would've freaked out," Fraser shared:
"Well, yeah, it was scary. It's scary to do that and when you're an actor and you're starting off and you're ambitious and game for pretty much anything."
"They say, 'Jump,' you say, 'How high?'"
You can check out the moment below.
Some commented on the interview that it may just be time for a rewatch.
And there were some who felt that it was never a question.
But mostly, viewers commended his incredible performance in School Ties.
The Howard Stern Show/YouTube
The Howard Stern Show/YouTube
The Howard Stern Show/YouTube
The Howard Stern Show/YouTube
Fraser also told Stern the nudity was not meant to be a wow factor but rather to portray the degree to which tension mounted.
"I appreciated that this isn't really for a 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 say about David, he just reveals who he is. His antisemitism and his prejudice is stripped down naked and it's ugly."
"And the door is locked and they fight over it like shaved apes that need to be pulled about because they've run out of things to say to one another, and it just turns into an ugly knuckle-dusting fit."
You can watch their full conversation about School Ties below.
u/Duskymoonlight/Reddit
u/Duskymoonlight/Reddit